For this year, we ended up with twenty-two units. Meaning, we had to crimp 22 cables of different length and scatter them across the room going through a bunch of tables into two switches. This took us a long time even though we got around seven people working (yes, most of us are new to this job as well). Other than that, our OS guy Chris managed to lead the team to study the Linux’ NFS configuration. We then managed to configure both the Server and Client Side of the network. With some research and a bunch of experiments, we got the LAN network up for file sharing and printer sharing.

Come next year, we will look into configuring the built in Thin Client of Edubuntu. This will allow the Server Unit to manipulate all other units in the room. This is a pretty handy tool for an elementary school laboratory. And of course, the treasure hunt for the all important internet connection will also be up in the air this coming school year.

This was our biggest challenge at the end of the year! It is a different thing to wire eight units to the main circuit panel. All you need is a small 20 Amp circuit breaker and a bunch of outlets. This time around, we needed a 200 Amp circuit panel with a bunch of sub breakers. What makes it hard is that you have to tap your 200 Amp main breaker to the main line. If you’re not careful, you could end up dead. Other than that, you have to mount the heavy, twelve or so slot panel to a cement wall by drilling holes and placing expansion bolts. And to top it off, if you compute your amperages and wire gauges wrong and your breakers don’t trip for some reason, you’ll have over heated wires which will end up burning the school.

But good for us, we have the competent help and advices of Mr. Toledo and Mr. Cabacungan of the Ateneo ECCE Department. Mounting the circuit panel was actually the last challenge for the first generation ANT members. But with a lot of help and some time, we were able to mount the thing. The Ateneo Office of Administrative Services was even kind enough to donate a bunch of gauge 12 wires. After that, all 22 units were powered up simultaneously. It was a sight to see for us first generation members! It was the fruit of a year’s effort! We are finally ready to educate 200 kids a year!

So far, ANT has deployed a total of twenty-two units. Out of those 22 units, only 7 are brand new. If it were up to us, we would want everything brand new. But these days, it seems hard for a bunch of college kids to get that much money in only a year’s time.

So the smarter thing for us to do was to utilize, what we would like to call, our “ECE skills” in reviving dead units. What we did for majority of the units was, first, to collect them as old, dusty units that no one wanted. If we were lucky, we would get things which worked. But more often than not, we would receive dead ones.

We diagnose the unit. Is it a dead CMOS battery? This was typical because we would get units which were 10 years old, after all. Is it a dead memory (repetitious long beeps)? Faulty power switches perhaps? And so on. We then write a list of items for the unit to be revived to usable levels again. We place an Edubuntu OS with KDE education applications to the HDD. Finally, we handle the black-finish paint job. And before, you know it, we have another unit to deploy!

After you get a computer laboratory up, you probably will not have any use for it if you don’t have a curriculum. Especially if you’re using a Linux machine as opposed to a Windows machine. See without a solid curriculum, you cannot actually say that you’re making 200 kids a year computer literate.

Needless to say, crafting a solid curriculum is a major concern. Going back to when ANT first deployed 8 units back in April 2007, we made sure that the lab we built came with a module set for the kids. Fast forward to April 2008. John Isiderio’s team has just released a second edition module set covering History, Touch Typing with K-Touch and Tux Type, Inside the System Unit (Yes, we let our kids assemble and disassemble actual System Units or what people would normally call CPU’s), and of course the almighty Open Office set from Word Processor, to Spreadsheet, and to Presentation. On top of that all topics include KEDUCA module sets for easy review with the kids.

And may I add that the second edition is indeed a huge step from the first edition modules. On our second go, we decided to consult with Ateneo Grade School ’s Mr. Marbella on what a solid elementary computer literacy curriculum ought to look like. Other than that, we sought the advice of CP Garcia High School’s Mr. Picardal on what a secondary education computer literacy perquisite ought to look like. CP Garcia High School, by the way, is where majority of our students go for secondary education. We also held a focus group discussion so that we would be able to understand the children’s needs and interest. And lastly, Mrs. Blanco and Ms. Villanueva of ERSES was kind enough to write us critiques of the first edition ANT module set.

Finally, I am happy to report that Principal Rivera, Mrs. Blanco, Ms. Villanueva, Mr. Gilbert, and Mr. Joseph are currently holding a one month crash course for 15 selected students this April-May 2008! And once we set everything up, we can educate 200 kids a year!