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Week-Long Free-Software Class for Kids?
mmol_6453 asks: "I have the opportunity to submit a plan for a week-long class about 'Alternative Operating Systems' to our local community college's Computer Camp. The students will be aged 8-16. We've had classes attended by students who used Linux, but we've never set up a class with alternatives as options. We've found that students in this age range, when interested in the material, can absorb a great deal of information in a short time. This means there's a lot of potential to teach them about Linux, *BSD, and open-source. We often get extremely bright students here, the kind who are likely to go out and earn $80,000/yr in a post-90s economy. Some of them are even on Slashdot. I want to give the rest a boost in the right direction."
"Considering that the great deal of material to choose from, I need to ask the Slashdot Community its advice:
- Do they need to know how to install the OS first, or should I let them look that up on their own while I make them power-users?
- What distributions of Linux and BSD should they be first introduced to? (I'm only familiar with Debian, and I know virtually nil about *BSD.)
- Initially, do they need to be more adept at the GUI, or do they first need to know how to use the shell?
- Should I give away Debian CDs no-questions-asked, or should I talk with the almighty Parents so little Daniel doesn't install Linux over Dad's 'work computer.'
- Are there any other key issue I need to think about?"
Some of them are even on Slashdot. I want to give the rest a boost in the right direction."
Aren't the kids in the first group the dangerous ones?
Do they need to know how to install the OS first, or should I let them look that up on their own while I make them power-users?
You shouldn't assume that they know how to install operating systems. The main thing is that it takes a long time to install software, let alone an entire operating system.
What distributions of Linux and BSD should they be first introduced to? (I'm only familiar with Debian, and I know virtually nil about *BSD.)
The one that they are most familiar with, in terms of GUI.
Initially, do they need to be more adept at the GUI, or do they first need to know how to use the shell?
As mentioned above, the one with the GUI will produce better results.
Who takes a whole week to teach kids Gnutella?
Oh...Free OS. Sorry. My bad.
Any sufficiently well-organized Government is indistinguishable from bullshit.
Start 'em off by teaching them to set up a dual-booting system. That way you're introducing the OS to them in less of a "sink or swim" approach.
Stay with a simple-to-install distribution to start, like Mandrake. Once they're comfy with the KDE screens, you can introduce them to the wonder that is the command line.
...the kind who are likely to go out and earn $80,000/yr in a post-90s economy.
Do you take 27 year old students?
I wear pants.
Which do people learn first: How do drive, or how to rebuild a car's engine?
Show the kids the cool things they can do with the software first, and once they're interested, then they will understand why they need to learn how to install it and do that on their own.
I wouldn't teach them installation, I think it's far more important to get them using the system. I would start them out with some command-line stuff, though. That'll give them some historical perspective, and reduce the fear-factor if they ever need to go into command line to recover from a crash. I would definitely warn the parents about the CDs.
Brevity is the soul of wit
-- Polonius
You should give away Knoppix
Knoppix is a Debian based LiveCD distribution. It runs directly from the cd. No worries about dads computer getting it's partition table wiped. You could hand these out to the kids day one with no worries.
It contains KDE, OpenOffice, KDevelop, xmms, Mozilla... The list goes on and on. IIRC there is 1.6 gigs on the CD.
Well I sure as hell wouldn't work in IT for less than 80k. As far as I am concerned, the dot-bomb was a good way to clear out a bunch of clueless lusers who thought that being a decent coder meant reading a few teach-yourself-something-useless-in-21-days books.
better off without them.
- Start off by explaining "FREE". Explain both free as in speach and free as in beer... though maybe not in those terms considering the age group.
- I would stay away from an install of Linux, you could be there all week answering questions on it alone (What does this package do?). Also, stick with a distro you know, but point out all the others. Nothing worse than not knowing right away where that config file is.
- Next up, make sure they're familiar with whatever editor you plan to use. Leave it open to use more complicated editors (vi) if they know it, but otherwise stick to simpler ones.
- Give lots of handouts/links to sites with further information
- Pick a few languages that you are very familiar with, be it PERL, PHP, C, etc.
- Get some interesting projects for them to work on, be it a webpage, game, utility, etc
That's about all I could come up with quickly.The title of the course reminds me of the term "Alternative Lifestyles." In that case, give 'em macs.
I speak from experience, having been a camp counsellor at a computer camp for two summers.
You'll lose the kid's interest unless you're giving them something to do at all points.
Since that's a given, I wouldn't get them to do an install. You might want to walk through a slideshow install or something, but the interminable waiting will get the kids bored and throwing things in a hurry.
Teach them the shell - teach them perl, turn them loose with a bunch of tools at their disposal, and see what they do.
We had one kid test the limits of wordpad, using copy/paste/select-all/repeat. He had a great old time, and actually gathered a crowd, as he was "breaking" things.
Show them how to build a dialectizer in perl - you'll be amazed at the fun they'll have with that.
Keep it fun. End of story.
You might want to have two separate ciriculums if you have such a wide age range in students. I think it would probably be damn near impossible to come up with something that was as engaging to someone in 2nd grade as it was to someone in 10th grade.
First of all, I think you need to ask yourself exactly what it is you want to teach them. If this is about "alternative operating systems", then are you going to teach them ABOUT operating systems? Most people don't even understand where the application stops and the operating system beings. So is it going to be:
A class on how to use Linux and run various user applications?
A class on setting up and administering various Linux server apps?
A class ABOUT operating systems, how they work, and the differences in technical philosophy among them?
A class about programming?
A class about Unix and its history?
It sounds like you haven't really pinned down what this class is about, other than you want Linux/BSD involved. I think it would serve you well to set back from the details of the course, and ask yourself exactly what concepts you want the kids to walk away with.
That said, given its a computer camp, etc, I would take the opportunity to teach about operating systems and what they do. Don't bother having both Linux and BSD, they are effectively the same thing (Unix). Have a Windows box, a Macintosh and Linux, and talk about the technical philosophies of each. Note that the Macintosh, while technically a Unix, does overlay a lot of technology, which creates a lot of interesting opportunity for discussion about where the operating system stops and the applications begin.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
The speed of their computer is not too important, Beos runs great on a P200.
There is a pile of software on BeBits (see my present sig), and it is easy to install.
It has a UNIX-esqe command line with many similar commands.
The Personal edition can be installed as a file on Windows and requires just 500 some megs.
Lots of hints and info on the BeOS Tip Server.
The GUI is easy and fast, and there is lots of new driver support.
It will have an OS version rather soon, with options of binary compatabilliy (openBeos) or intergrated with a linux kernal (Blue Eyed OS).
Just some stream of consciousness ideas here.
Consider releasing your course materials under the FDL.
(So I can snarf them!)
-Peter
LFS
That's where I wish I'd started.
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
First make sure that they are comfortable users, then worry about the Power User status.
The age group you are speaking of tends to be low on the wisdom scale, so I think that it may be a VERY good idea that you get the parent's permission to give them the CD, or even better, introduce them to Linux via something like Gentoo linux, where you simply need to boot off the CD and the Hard Drive isn't touched at all.
Using something like Gentoo eliminates the "Do they need to know how to install" question. I would include a few page document of "Linux options" with information on where to get different flavors, as well as cautions and howtos on installing them.
I think that understanding of the GUI would be more valuable initially.
And most importantly, teach them where to find information. Don't just say "do this, then do this". Say something like "There is a HOWTO here, read it and I'll help you if you get stuck".
Teach them what they need to know in order to teach others to be comfortable using(not administering) an alternative OS
Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but copyright will always protect me.
Start with the CLI, back when I started work on appleII and dos machines, CLI was all there was.. and it was a good thing, because I learned early on, that you don't ask "what am I supposed to do", but rather "what can I do".
Viewing the CLI, and computers in general, as an open book with nothing limiting what you can do with them is a key to making people use computers properly.
Stick with what you know. If you've never used anything besides Debian, don't teach the class using RedHat. The slight variations might make you seem uneasy. Remember, they can smell fear :)
Don't bog yourself down in installation. A coworker took a Linux class where they did nothing but install for the first two days! If at all possible, have the computers pre-installed before day 1. If some of the kids have prior knowledge, they could assist before the week starts.
As far as which features to learn, ask yourself, "what excites me about *nix". Steer the course towards the answer. You will have to start with the basics no matter what. If you tailor the basics toward a goal, particularly one you enjoy, you're much more likely to inspire somebody.
You can never equivocate too much.
As a (fellow) O/S-Networking-Hardware instructor, lend me your ear: 1. I have heard (and felt) the Mandrake makes both installations and runtime easy, other than that...there is too much similarity between the distros to really have an impact 2. Inform your students that there are many things that can be done at the CLI as well as the GUI-- some things require the CLI or the GUI...research a dozen or so and walk them through it-- be careful what you choose as you want to let them see more than a few basic functions of an operating system. If you choose wisely, it may serve as a stepping stone for their future exploration/education. (I.T> stuff is always an exploration) 3.Just make sure the ramifications of installing an o/s are discussed-- distribute on! 4.Make sure you show them all of the windoze interoperability tools (wine, etc.) so that when they DO load the o/s on their own systems, they do not lose interest as soon as some of my students do (a few minutes or so) and can still chat with their friends, play games, etc. 5. Inform them of the MINIMUM requirements for their o/s so that if they do not have a dedicated machine, they know that a pentium2 or amd k-6 will run most versions of lin** just fine (and nowadays can be put together for less than $150!!)...perhaps you should send them over to me for a hardware lesson!! The children are the future....of open source as well as anything else!! braunr@pbcc.edu
What is important to kids in an OS?
I think if you can answer that one question, you'll know whether or not you need to turn these kids in to "power users" that are CLI wizards or just introduce them to KDE.
I don't want to sound cynical, but it seems to me that most kids would mostly be concerned about the quality of their gaming experience more than uptime and intellectual property discussions, and in this case, Linux and *BSD may not provide a satisfactory experience. I want to be wrong about this, so feel free to correct my possible misconceptions.
What do kids value in an OS? Cynics want to know.
I was one of those kids who went to a computer camp, got interested in Linux, and started to read Slashdot. Here are the tips I can provide about my experience:
:) If they want to learn about KDE or the command line, teach them that. They will learn much quicker, and be much happier (angry kids are not fun)
1. Personally, I already had a great interest in computers. Granted, if the kids are going to a computer camp, they already will, but I was *really* interested. I skipped BASIC and went to C++. (Mind you, this was when I was 10.) See topic 4.
2. The teachers love what they are teaching. If you tell a Microsoft cert to teach about Linux, nothing will happen. Get some hardcore Linux gurus who love kids (hah), and stuff will truly happen.
3. Give them as much as they want, and what they want.
4. This kinda coinsides with 3, but... If they want to go ahead and be very advanced, let them. If you are covering ``ls'' and they want to learn sed/awk, teach them that and let them learn. Again, they'll learn much quicker.
Well, a lot of what I said has to do with teaching in general. But still, being a good teacher is key.
To answer some of your questions, hand out CDs to the parents, so they know what will go on. Bootable CDs (like DemoLinux) preferibly. Don't teach them how to install until they love the OS. And teach them the command line or Gnome, which ever one they want. Teach them an easy Linux, like Mandrake or Redhat (not Debian, even though it's my distro of choice), although mention *BSD and pros and cons.
Hope this helps!
Orange
That's a pretty wide range of ages to cater for. An 8 year old would probably get bored with the shell pretty quickly, and opt to play a few games of xbill (Free games, a great way to learn about the benefits of OpenSource), whereas a 16 year old would probably be more interested in nmap and gcc (You'd better not produce a legion of script kiddies).
:)
And as far as the one who are on slashdot, the best directions you could give them is "Quit trolling"
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's just that yours is stupid.
Is this course supposed to be about "Alternative Operating Systems" or "Free Software Evangelism"?
I'm not suggesting you ignore Free Software at all, but give a little time at least to the non-free alternatives. OS/2, or whatever it's called now, would be a good example of something technically well-designed, but which failed in the marketpalce. Pre-OS X MacOS has a very long and interesting history. There are buckets of sites out there that'll give you enough material for a few hours on each one.
It might also be worth spending a little time on the differences between the various Windows incarnations, at least from 3.1 to 95 to NT.
You've got a great concept here - don't go turning it into a sermon. The merits of the Free stuff will be obvious, so there's no need to avoid mentioning the competition.
Wasting your time since 1997.
Being 16, a Linux user for [almost] 3 years, (and someone who earns $20/hr setting up Linux servers for local businesses), and having attended a computer camp, I can whole heartedly recommend that your students individually install Linux on a computer.
:P).
It can be tough, though, as some will bring computers that they can't touch. When I went to computer camp, there were a bunch of rental machines. Had they decided to teach us to install Linux (They didnt, I was the only Linux user... It was extrememly amusing to watch the VB trojans created by our loving counselers fail completely on my box, however... ), I think it would have been smart to image a rental box, store the image someplace, and let the campers go hog wild installing *ix.
You can study, and you can watch someone do it on thier screen, but its nothing like doing it yourself.
When I first started with Linux, I had by cobbled together box that I built for $40, which included 3 hard drives and an S3 Vision864 graphics card. Because I had a free CD of Turbolinux that I got when installing a router at my church, I installed Turbolinux 6.0. XFree86 3.3.6, kernel 2.2.14, all kinds of fun stuff. I tried to *resize* my Windows partition, which produced negative consequences for about 30 mp3s, otherwise failing to have any effect. And that graphics card. If you though S3 cards were bad in windows, you should try to get one working in XFree3.3.6. It took me hours of xf86config tweaking before I had two readable resolutions: 640x480 and 1024x768. Didn't touch XF86Config ever again.
All of that to say, it was a major pain in the butt. No kudzu holding my hand, I had to learn everything from scratch. It was a big deal, but now I configure XFree86 with ease, and can partition a harddrive with the best of them (well, for what its worth. It's not really all that hard
With Linux, its a learn by doing proposition. I urge you to offer your students this opportunity.
-geogeek
~Geogeek now runs an Athlon 1.4GHz box with a nice, big, 80GB hard drive, and a Radeon 8500. Funded in part by Linux skills~
I use Debian unstable currently, but I don't show it off. KDE is a beat slower than the blazing speeds I see in the Windows GUI. (Of course, KDE is Free, but some people don't get that.) This is because Debian has not yet recompiled its distribution with GCC 3.2.
GCC 3.2 offers a huge speed increase for C++ code. KDE, built entirely in C++, suffers from GCC 2.x's late symbol resolution slowness. To impress the power of Free software on the kids, make sure you use a distribution that has compiled KDE with a modern compiler. You want to make a good first impression, and that means killer speed and killer looks. For the same reasons, if you're going to be doing anything multimedia (even just playing music from XMMS), use recent ALSA drivers that support multiplexing (i.e., SB Live!), and be sure to patch the kernel with one of the real-time scheduling patches. Again, skipping music is not a turn-on.
From there on out, teach them the power of multi-desktops, keyboard shortcuts, and shell scripting. Start them on the platform with a positive view.
|/usr/games/fortune
Explain what the installation will do, step by step (disk partitioning and the like). I'd recommend showing them around the installation process, but coming up with something for them to do for the 10/20/30 minutes it takes to install.
2. What distributions of Linux and BSD should they be first introduced to? (I'm only familiar with Debian, and I know virtually nil about *BSD.)
I know next to nothing about *BSD as well, but I'd recommend showing them at least two different Linux distros (RH and SuSE, perhaps?).
3. Initially, do they need to be more adept at the GUI, or do they first need to know how to use the shell?
I know a lot of people will disagree here, but I would actually show them the shell first. Bash can do a lot of things here, and show them how to use the basic commands (rm, cd, cat, ls, w, id, top, grep, etc.) and then show them some of the cool stuff like Perl, tr, and awk. Then tell them a bit about X and desktop environments; then let them play with the pretty widgets like xmms.
4. Should I give away Debian CDs no-questions-asked, or should I talk with the almighty Parents so little Daniel doesn't install Linux over Dad's 'work computer.'
Knoppix. And talk to the parents as well, yeah.
5. Are there any other key issue I need to think about?
Tell them what not to do, and (most importantly) say WHY not to do it. If you just say "never never do 'rm -rf /'" then you can probably guess what's going to happen. On the other hand, if you say "if you do 'rm -rf /', you'll delete all of your important files (if not the entire thing) and then you'll be up the creek." Though they should be able to figure this out by themselves once you tell them about how the filesystem works and rm's different command flags.
Note to M1-ers: a curt but otherwise insightful message is not "Flamebait" or "Troll".
This means there's a lot of potential to teach them about Linux, *BSD, and open-source.
I read this statement and saw a similar version right next to it: "There's a lot of potential to teach them about economics, history and socialism."
Two of those things are disciplines, one's a specific political theory. Two of your topics are operating systems, one's an often controversial intellectual property concept. What are you trying to teach them -- about Linux or a BSD, or to proselytize about Open Source?
Sure, how Linux or BSDs are developed ("Who makes Linux Mr. Smith?") is likely to be addressed, but a simple explanation that it has many developers collaborating and is distributed freely would be an adequate explanation. Especially considering you're dealing with kids -- even adults with a good grasp of what intellectual property is don't always grasp the concept of open source well.
I wish you well, but don't lose focus as to what you're doing. If you want to preach open source, fine, but don't call it an operating system class, call it an appeal for open source.
Sarcastic or not, here. Lets you create compressed filesystems (including CD-ROMs) that can only be read under Linux, particularly those live CDs that are stuffed beyond capacity.
Intelligent Life on Earth
"Knoppix."
microsoftword.mp3 - it doesn't care that they're not words...
>You shouldn't assume that they know how to install operating systems
No, but I'm willing to bet that given a week, they can learn to install Linux. Especially those with GUI-based installers.
>the one with the GUI will produce better results
They might be more familiar with the GUI, but they can probably learn to use the shell without much difficulty.
---
Open Source Shirts
then i would want to see a "free" box next to it doing all of the same things. xmms, openoffice, mozilla, gimp, evolution.
then go on to show them how it is different thatn windows in terms of cost, freedom, opensource, configurability. then show them all of teh aditional software. show tehm sourceforge and fresh meat.
the command line is scary for non-geeks, i bet very few OSX users even know they have it, let alone use it, (and im not refering to the /. crowd OSX users) show them it only to enhance, not confuse, their experience.
in short, show them linux as an alternative, and how it can seamlessly replace their current tools, and extend their computiong functionality.
I want 2D games back.
Make sure that they understand that Linux can be a great gamming PC. Be sure that you demo Linux on a decent PC with an accelerated graphic card, the correct drivers for it and then demo Quake 3.
That should get their attention.
The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
OK, I'll bite...
/proc/cpuinfo. /proc/meminfo. Just about anything in /proc that tells you all sorts of stuff about your PC.
/boot/vmlinuz > /dev/dsp. Oh, wait, don't do that :) I guess for kids, logging in remotely and playing random sound files to scare people in the room.
* How about symlinks? And no, shortcuts don't count (though that's how cygwin fakes it). NT can barely do hard links (you need a third party tool to create them).
* Mounting partitions in any directory (I know win2k can do this, but you still have the c:, d:, etc. drives). And mounting many different filesystems.
*
* cat
* A well set up security model (yes, NT _can_ be set up correctly, but it seems like often the whole drive is wrold writable)
* Easy remote administration (through ssh of course)
* Native X forwarding.
* This client terminal servers. And kind of along with that, though different is clustering technology.
* Cron. Though NT kind of has this, it's not as easy to use (and the jobs don't run if you're not logged in!)
* Compiling programs.
* Shell scripts. Hell, having a decent shell. Perl, python, sed, awk, grep, less, and all the other productivity tools Linux users take for granted (sure, you can get them for win32, but most people don't).
* More than one workspace for your GUI. More than one viewport within each workspace.
* Text based logins in case you screw something up and the GUI won't work.
* Almost all the software is written with the user's interests in mind and not some corporation's bottom line (though sometimes those two interests are both accomplished). So you get things like popup blocking, for example.
I could go on and on. Most of the things I mentioned Windows can do, but it's not as polished, or isn't as easy to use. Things like Cygwin do clean up Windows a lot, and are great if you have to use Windows (can gcc cross compile to win32?), but having so many nice things native to the OS makes everything smoother.
Don't get me wrong, there are nice things about windows (the GUI is much snappier than X, even on much slower machines; it's gererally easier to get started on; it's familiar for most people; high end games run on it), but there are lots of deficiencies. And I for one prefer working on Linux/Unix to working on Windows, for a lot of the reasons above.
"Save the whales, feed the hungry, free the mallocs" -- author unknown
First I think your title is misleading, talking about 'alternative operating systems' when it seems you blatantly mean 'free Unix clones'.
If you are giving a talk on alternative operating systems, I think you'd do well to mention other things than just Unix clones (especially those trying to emulate windows). Try to show more variety - MacOS, RISCOS etc. Remember the gui/WIMP operating system as you know it is not here to stay.
I'm not convinced buy all this WIMP (Desktop) environment stuff. I started using a command line of sorts (BBC model B), before switching to RISCOS which was (debatably still is) a very good alternative operating system - there are many advantages with being stored on a ROM.
RISCOS is also in some ways the purest graphical desktop I've ever used. It is almost entirely mouse driven and is the only OS I've found with true drag'n'drop saving. (you drag what you want to save into the folder you want to put it in and let go instead of typing(messing around) in save dialog menus.)
Nowadays I tend to use X-windows with a completely blank desktop without KDE/Gnome or any of that stuff and just use keyboard shortcuts, and the occasional terminal. I've completely forsaken graphical file managers.
Windows XP initially keeps the screen as uncluttered as possible and tries to obscure the filemanager by hiding the 'mycomputer' icon. So we are already moving away from our mid 90s obsession with graphical file managers. The next version of windows (the evil copy protection infested one) is rumored to be moving further away from a desktop to create a more 'integrated' feel and is said to use some database backend instead of a normal file system.
Anyway my point is, operating systems (or at least their user interfaces) are changing, and in 10 years time, will look nothing like what they currently do. So try to equip these Kids to be flexible, and please try to inspire them to think about what they want operating systems/user interfaces to be like.
We must surely be heading towards computers like Holly from Red Dwarf or the computer on the Heart of Gold. We have the technology we just need the will to develop it so please don't kill anyone's imagination by showing them, 'alternative operating systems' that are merely less flashy immitations of Windows.
Computer operating systems and user-interfaces are in cars, wearable computers, cash points, phones, robots, not just dull PC clones. We are already moving away from being tied to using keyboards and mice the whole time.
First of all, I'd like to say how much I love your idea for creating a cirriculum for budding geeks.
;)
:)
Speaking from experience, it is extremely difficult, time-consuming, and frustrating to learn about *nix alone, and a mentor-like system would help kids greatly.
Here are some of the things I wished I knew before I bought books at Barnes and Noble:
What technologies Unix has, what they do, what they are used for, and why they should be used. Talk about languages like Perl, PHP, and whatever else to give the kids a roadmap. I had no roadmap, and I ended up buying an ASP book because I wanted to learn web programming. -_- I was young, naive, and unable to return the book in time to get a refund. It did burn brightly, though.
Go through the compile process and explain dependencies and things like that. Before I got my first Unix machine, I had used classic mac os and I knew nothing of the 10000000000000000 extra libraries and such I had to install to get the gimp working. On that thought, talk about package managment systems- the where, why, and how.
Talk about geek culture. Where did open source start? Larry Wall's Camel Book has a rather good chapter about perl culture, and much of it can be applied to more than one place. Mention slashdot, and tell them to read often
Talk terminals. Please! Get students familiar with the command line, insert a few *modifications* into a configure script to aquaint people with the compiler, linker *gasp*, and the shell environments. Teach kids what LDFLAGS, CPPFLAGS, etc. they can tweak to get code running on their machine. Also, cvs is really useful, so please teach kids how to use and navigate that! The first initial hump in cvs learning can be hard to get over, and I would definately have liked it if I could have had some direction.
Literature. Teach kids how to buy computer books, how to read computer books, and how to amass a library of computer books. Personally, I cannot stand reading text from a computer screen as it hurts my eyes, so don't limit offerings to online documentation.
After all this fundimental knowledge is gained, talk about how to compile a linux (or other) kernel, installing an operating system (i.e. not redhat; installations that use a simple text-based interface, as if some geek threw a linux distro together together that afternoon
I attended java programming classes at my local community college, which were a big waste of time. The lesson is to teach kids how to have some self-direction, so that when they grow up they can be autonomous learners. I had to learn my lessons the hard ways, so I'm glad someone is making an effort to reach out and help students.
I would stay with fun things, and GIMP is probably one of those. I might be biased though, as I think GIMP is a really wonderful program. You are welcome to use my Photo Editing with GIMP presentation. It is a good introduction, but it doesn't get into layers or anything like that. It does get you stared with GIMP though, and most people have a few digital photos.
Other points:-
In regards to your curriculum, I would suggest informing them about different types of software, not just operating systems. The idea is not just that you want them to learn how to use linux and let that be the end. All you'll end up doing is teaching them how to use unix, which won't turn out to be immediately very useful unless they have a computer with a spare partition at home. The following ideas might be useful to you...
;) Pico/nano or something like that for the shell, or a plain text editor like nedit in the GUI. This shouldn't be too long of an exercise, as they probably know how to use an editor already. The main idea is to expose them to a plain text editor in a shell environment.
;)
1) Operating systems. Spend the first day letting them boot and play with linux. As others have suggested, use a CD-based distro like Knoppix or Gentoo. Show them the GUI AND the shell. Don't worry about shell programming; just go over the basic commands like ls, cat, grep, etc. Nothing too fancy. You've only got a week, so don't swamp them. If they've got the mind for it, all you'll have to do is provide the introduction at this point. Don't forget to provide a nice handout for the various commands. Include pipes and redirection.
2) Go over using an editor. For god's sake, don't start the poor kids on vi. You want them to get something useful done, not spend all day trying to figure out why they can't exit.
3) Explain the various categories of software like web servers, databases, programming languages, etc., and let them know there are completely free versions out there that are just as useful as versions for which people pay hundreds of thousands (sometimes millions!) of dollars.
4) Let them tinker with making their own website. If you gather a large collection of free images and backgrounds (and GIMP so they can make their own), then give them a handout on basic HTML, they should pick it up pretty quickly. Kids who finish earlier can take a handout on PHP and learn to make pages dynamic w/ database access. This will allow them to see several different functional areas (the OS, programming, web server, database, and browser) all come together in a cohesive way.
5) Possibly cover some basic programming. Perl or ruby would be a good start. Maybe Python, but I'm not a big fan of its forced indentation. I think it might be ok to talk about the difference between interpreted languages and compiled languages, but teaching C or C++ is probably a little much.
You could probably spend a week on that stuff and instill in them an idea of the types of open source software available, how open source benefits people (especially point out that the class they are in wouldn't be possible without open source because of the cost!), and how they can use open source themselves at home. With any luck, you can start another generation of computer-philes who will understand why the Copyleft is a good thing, not a virus.
bytesmythe
Hypocrisy is the resin that holds the plywood of society together.
-- Scott Meyer
Stick to the concepts. There's nothing worse then spending a week learning one particular operating system, then having to use a different one later on.
Teach the concepts instead. For example, teach them about harddrive partitions, and not about a specific partitioning program. I don't care how much you know the Mandrake or Redhat partitioning GUIs in the installer, it won't do you any good when you're faced with fdisk. But if you know the concepts, you at least know the shape and pattern of what you need to do.
And teach them how to use the available documentation. Man pages. Info pages. How to use lynx or another textmode browser for html files. They will never know everything there is no know about UNIX, but they *can* know how to find out anything they might not know.
Finally, give each one in the class a different system. Use as many as you can scrounge up. FreeBSD, Mandrake, Debian, Slackware, OpenBSD, etc. Then when you teach about partitioning the harddrive (for example), they'll realize that there are a dozen different right ways to do it.
As the old saw says, "If you learn Redhat you learn Redhat. If you learn Slackware you learn Linux." There is a kernel of truth in there. Someone who is exposed to just Redhat Linux isn't going to transition to a job working with Solaris as easily as someone who's been exposed to a couple of different distributions plus a BSD. You do NOT know what the tech world is going to be like in ten years, so don't make your students live in the past when they get there.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned