Devices for students to access MoodleBox

danmcguire

The team working on a MoodleBox implementation in a Grades 0 & 1 school in the Western Cape is trying to determine what device to use for students? A concern about potential theft of devices led to considering using a Raspberry Pi connected to a monitor with a keyboard instead of a smartphone or tablet.

Does this idea seem practical and replicable? What are your thoughts about this approach?

What would be the minimum Raspberry Pi configuration to use?

Ratna

danmcguire

Just to make sure that I understand you correctly, these "student" RPis won't run Moodle servers, they are meant to be the students' client devices, to run the web browser and other desktop applications, right?

Then, by attaching monitors, keyboards and mice to the RPi, its main advantage, the portability, is lost. But if your aim ist just that, to permanently mount the RPis against theft, then it may be. The only observation I have is, if RPi for desktops, for that there is the Pi 400. I estimate both solutions to be substantially more expensive than cheap mobile devices.

danmcguire

Ratna Thank you, Ratna, for your response. I agree with you. It's possible that we may use one or more of each and then test the results by observing the difference in actual cost as well as, maybe more importantly, the difference in the engagement of the students. This is an early elementary school where students are 5, 6, and 7 years old. Having students work together in groups of two or three has learning advantages at this age.
Another consideration is the ease of management of all of the devices by the teacher which is necessary at this age, including supplying power to each of the separate devices.
A separate Pi touch screen is another option.
This will most certainly be an experiment with multiple possible variables. Thank you for your suggestions.

ralfkrause

If you want to use the Raspberry Pi 400 for your working places you can use a cabled setting. In this case you can use additional mobile devices with the MoodleBox Wifi.

danmcguire

ralfkrause Thanks, Krause. But, I'm not sure what you mean by a 'cabled setting.' ?

It may be that the Pi 400s could be used initially and then if we find that separate more portable WIFI devices are practical, the Pi 400s could be re-deployed as MoodleBoxes for other classrooms.
Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Ratna

danmcguire I have no experience with kids that young and IT. Personally I believe that one should leave them alone (in the analog world) for healthy growth. From what I gather from various reports on the web, the kids are usually gathered around tablets and work in groups.

ralfkrause

danmcguire
A MoodleBox can be used with 20 mobile devices via Wifi. If you are using the Raspberry Pi 400 it has an ethernet port to connect to a router or switch. So if you are using 5 Raspberry Pi 400 in your classroom with a cabled setting then you can use 20 additional mobile devices.

You wrote about using the Raspberry Pi 400 as a MoodleBox … yes, this will work but a MoodleBox does not need a keyboard or a mouse.

I can’t say if a Raspberry Pi with a touch screen will be useful for Moodle courses. I think that a cheap Android tablet will be easier to use. And the tablets are mobile … you can use them at any place in the classroom not only cabled with a power adapter.