online lesson instructions week 10

Tonight's class will take place in ScienceMOO and BigBlueButton

Introduction to tonight's online lesson:

Make sure to read through the instructions on how to use ScienceMOO and BigBlueButton BEFORE class. Also test the computer and web browser you will be using BEFORE our online class. BigBlueButton tips: Try to make sure that your computer can play sound, that way you will be able to hear me speaking. You can use the speakers in your computer or plugin earphones or headphones. If you have a microphone you will be able to ask questions and talk in BigBlueButton.

I recommend that you open up at least four tabs in your web browser (you can do this by pressing the CTRL T keys). (You can check out this screencast if you aren't sure about this.) (Higher resolution screencast in avi format)

In the first tab you can have the class website, http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/~bmurfin/classes/fall2010/seys753/course-outline-seys753-fall2010.html#week10
In the second tab, you can have ScienceMOO, http://sciencemoo.org:7001/
In the third tab, you can have our BigBlueButton website, http://billionbytes.com:83/bigbluebutton/demo/demo3.jsp
In the fourth tab, you can open up BlackBoard. http://www.cuny.edu/portal-login.html

If you need to do a google search or visit another website, you can press CTRL T to open another tab.

Part 1 - Login to ScienceMOO (Please use Firefox or Chrome). If you need your ScienceMOO account information, email me at brian.murfin@qc.cuny.edu. If you cannot login with your account, you can login as a guest without a password.

Go to classroom 4. Take a look at the seating plan. Once you find your table use the command, sit table1, sit table2, sit table3, sit table4, depending on your group's table. Remember, you should have the "Normal" radio button selected to enter commands like sit, stand, etc. When you want to chat, select the "say" radio button. When you want to chat with everyone in the room, either use the stand or speakup commands.
Complete the OS poll
- For this activity, post your group's responses on the discussion board in BlackBoard. Read and skim through the four links below:

Linux history
What is linux?
Common linux distros
Distrowatch
The instructor will give a short introduction to tonight's topic using the MOO web projector. After the presentation, work in your groups to answer the following questions
What is linux? How is it different from Windows and the Mac operating systems?

Who invented linux?
What is the most common distribution of linux?

Part 2 - IMPORTANT: Now we are going to use BigBlueButton for this part of our online lesson. Leave your ScienceMOO session open in its own tab, just in case there is a problem with BigBlueButton.

If you have not already done so, open up a new tab in your web browser. One easy way to do this is to press the Ctrl T keys. The reason we are opening a new tab is so that you can stay logged in to ScienceMOO and BigBlueButton at the same time. To move back and forth you can just click on the tab you want.

Visit the BigBlueButton link for our class. Type your name in the white box next to "Full Name".
Select SEYS 753 from the "Course" menu.
Type in the password, student123 and click the "Join" button.

The instructor will now give a short presentation on the second topic, "How to use linux from the command line". After the presentation will share his desktop with you in BigBlueButton so you can see the procedure to login to qcpages.qc.cuny.edu using Putty.
Download putty.exe (Click on this link and save the file to the desktop), then double click the file putty.exe and use ssh to connect to qcpages.qc.cuny.edu

launch putty
hostname is qcpages.qc.cuny.edu and click open
login as: INSTR\username (for students)(Note: this is case-sensitive)
or login as QC\username (for faculty) ( Note: this is case-sensitive)
enter your password: (remember this is case sensitive)

Once you have logged into your account, you are now at the linux command line. Notice that there is no graphical user interface. Instead, you have to enter commands by typing them. Try entering the following commands:

ls
ls -al
ps -aux
pico (this is a simple text editor, you press the ctrl key with various letters to carry out commands)
help
man
exit

If you weren't able to see the procedure in BigBlueButton, you can check out the Using Putty screencast on Youtube or a higher resolution avi screencast
Here are some other useful linux commands

Part 3 - Practical applications of Linux - Ubuntu

How can you recycle computers using linux

Volunteers will install ubuntu on a discarded (and rescued) desktop computer (We will do this week 12 in class)
freegeek
recycling hardware with linux
PC-recycling
Smart Reuse with Open Source: Linux Goes Green

What is ubuntu?

Ubuntuscience
scibuntu
scibuntu - Ubuntu Linux for scientists
Uber Student
How might you use linux to enhance your science teaching?

Post your group's responses on the discussion board in BlackBoard

Volunteers will install ubuntu on a discarded (and rescued) desktop computer (We will do this next week in class)
If you have an old computer, you can bring it to class and install ubuntu on it.

Download Kubuntu and burn on CD-ROM
Change boot order on machine
Boot up with CD-ROM, install Kubuntu
Configure Kubuntu and install software

Part 4 - Comparison of Online Lessons and Face to Face lessons

Take the online learning poll
Go back to ScienceMOO and meet with your group, discuss the following questions and post your group's responses on the discussion board in BlackBoard:

What technology tools were used in tonight's lesson?
Are there any technology tools that were not used that might enhance the online lesson?
How is an online lesson different from a face to face lesson?
What are the advantages and strengths of an online lesson?
What are the weaknesses and disadvantages of an online lesson?

Part 5 - Work on group video project - Go back to ScienceMOO and meet with your group to discuss your group project. Each group can sit at a table. If you have questions let me know.