The $25 educational PC
May 5, 2011 by Katie Gatto 
(PhysOrg.com) -- Have you ever played Elite? What about games in the Rollercoaster Tycoon series, Thrillville, Lost Winds, or Kinectimals? If so, then you have enjoyed the work of David Braben. Mr. Braben is a fairly well known video game designer, he also runs the UK development studio Frontier Developments, but soon he may be known as much for his hardware as he is for his software.
Mr. Braben has developed a very small USB stick PC that has an HDMI port in one end and a USB port on the other. The machine, which runs on a version of Linux, is designed to help get programming and the general knowledge of how computers work back into the educational curriculum.
Mr. Braben’s central argument stems around the notion that computer science education has, in the 2000’s, veered away from development and towards teaching basic skills such as creating custom documents in a word processor, or making presentations, instead of higher-level skills, such as leaning about system architecture or development.
These small PC’s, which would cost about $25 a unit, would be able to be furnished to each student, and have courses structured around their use.
This video is not supported by your browser at this time.
You may be wondering what kind of hardware students will be able to get for that cost? As it turns out, the offerings are pretty solid. The system features a 700MHz ARM11 processor, which is paired with 128MB of RAM. The system runs OpenGL ES 2.0, which will allow it to have a decent level of graphics performance. The system is already confirmed to have 1080p output. An SD card slot provides storage for this unit.This computer will be distributed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, which promotes computer science education in schools. There is no final word on when the devices will be available, but its developer hopes to be shipping them out in the next 12 months.
More information: -- http://www.raspberrypi.org/
-- BBC
© 2010 PhysOrg.com
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May 05, 2011
Rank: 2 / 5 (1)
It would be far more useable if it were made so it only required a TV, keyboard and mouse - include 3 or 4 internal rechargeable AAs, an internal power supply and charger, a place to wind/store a standard-end (shaver-type) mains cord, and 3 or 4 USB ports.
It would even be better if it were built into a keyboard Commodore-64-style and integrated with a pointing device so that kids wouldn't have to try to keep a bunch of different components together.
May 05, 2011
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May 05, 2011
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Adding a 2nd SD card slot would be better than having permanent flash - this would allow loading, trading, and copying files on SD cards without having to have the OS on every card, while also allowing upgrading the size of the OS SD card later. I still think a power supply and more USB ports are a must, though.
This device could be the key module in a modular system, but it needs other modules in order to be a fully usable system - I/O (USB hub, maybe Ethernet or RF, or an alternative I/O module for embedded uses); a rechargeable battery and power supply module for embedded or tablet uses; cases for PC (integrated keyboard, pointing device and power cord storage) and embedded applications; a sensor module with microphone, 2 or 3 axis accelerometer, user-hackable header inputs, etc.; a motor-control module for robotics; an open interface / communication protocol for 3rd-party modules...
May 05, 2011
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May 05, 2011
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May 05, 2011
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May 05, 2011
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May 05, 2011
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May 06, 2011
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May 06, 2011
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Most cell-phones run on embedded RAM frugal OS's like linux . So programming in linux will prepare students with the basics like C / C++ . Also almost all cellphones run on an ARM processor , just like this device.
This isn't a PC . It's an embedded device just like a cellphone.
May 06, 2011
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C/C++ are not basics, they are mid-end languages. Basics have now shifted to java/.net ... sadly...
May 08, 2011
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