JEvents

Wished For In-Kind (Equipment and Software) Donations

As of: April 12, 2011 | Misc | Server PCs | Client PCs

None of the items below are absolutely essential to the short run work of WebLearningTools Research through the end of 2011.  However, monetary donations made via PayPal will help the PI purchase some of the equipment and software listed below from online stores such as eBay and Amazon, as well as from other real and virtual stores with online listings of new and used equipment and software.

Miscellaneous Devices, Parts & Software
• One of the following Canon $300+ digital cameras: S90 or G11 or ideally: an EOS-1D Mark III (10 megapixels per frame), or EOS-1D Mark IV (16 megapixels per frame), or EOS-1Ds Mark III reborn (21 megapixels per frame), or EOS-7D or any other camera in the EOS series. 
  This very high resolution camera with 1+ high quality interchangeable lens will allow the PI to manually digitize in very high quality images other books in her personal library and which donors ask to be digitized.  This mode of digitizing is much cheaper, but more time consuming, than buying a used automatic microfilm-to-digital-web-files scanner-digitizer. 
  With digital images of book pages, she can "OCR" the digital images and securely web-publish the contents of 1+ books on this web site within the constraints stated in the "Fair Use" section of U.S. copyright law.  Thereafter she also can experiment with various multi-book contents search strategies, some of which may be deployed for user-testing and feedback on this site. 
  Also she can experiment with the automated generation of multiple learning "threads" (or paths) through similar technical book contents according to various student learning objectives. Minimally the PI and assistants will report on this web site the best processes these experiments reveal with which educators and institutions can digitize and securely web-publish contents of their own institutions' physical libraries. 
  See the "virtual library" building overviews, white-papers, and projects on this site for more goals and details.
• 1-3 Iogear GPU202 or GUF202 USB2.0 pcmcia card(s) to enable older laptops in or donated to the test-classroom to use USB 1 & 2, plus FireWire.
• 1-3 Logitech "Quickcam for Notebooks Pro" web cam(s) with USB 2.0 cable for test-classroom laptops.
• 1+ USB-switch. This device will allow a WLT instructor or TA (i.e. someone presenting "stand-up" instruction or training) to switch between 2+ USB 2 web-cameras placed in their physical classroom. The switcher should also switch between live and pre-recorded parts of a class presentation where that material comes from various servers in the classroom or audio/video sources available to the classroom.

Minimally the PI and assistants will report on best use and best cases that utilize this hardware in the WLT test-classroom and in other nearby classrooms that are suitable for educators to adopt.

Server Parts & Software to improve existing 3 server tower lab on an 8-port Belkin KVM.
• 1+ CD/DVD-R/W internal drive(s).
• 1 nVidia AGP-3 video card for 2 monitors for P4 server.
• 1 Adaptec RAID-1 PCI card for SATA hard disk drives for P4 server.

Client Parts & Software for the lab's test classroom.

• 1+ used Pentium 4 laptop(s) 1GB RAM preferably upgradable to 2+ GB RAM, A/B/G or N WiFi, 10/100 ethernet, IDE HDD bay, reasonably good Li-ion battery (45+ minutes running on the battery-only), power adapter.
• 1+ older Apple MacBooks, PowerBooks minimally with 1GB RAM preferably upgradable to 2+ GB RAM, A/B/G or N WiFi, 10/100 ethernet, IDE HDD bay, reasonably good Li-ion battery (45+ minutes running on the battery-only), and power adapter.
• 1+ newer Apple MacBooks or "Mac Airs"minimally with 1GB RAM preferably upgradable to 2+ GB RAM, A/B/G or N WiFi, 10/100 ethernet, IDE or SATA HDD bay, reasonably good Li-ion battery (6+ hours minutes running on the battery-only), and power adapter.
• 1+ Apple iPad-1 or iPad-2 tablets and power adapter.
• 1+ used Android OS or Mac-OS smart-phones with WiFi.