[K12OSN] OT : Ideas for K12LTSP usage?

[Dave Hopkins]

All,

I have a curious request.  The director of the school where I volunteer 
has asked me what innovative ways are out there to use K12LTSP in place 
of more traditional approaches to IT beyond the simple use of thin 
clients in classrooms.  He is willing to set up the school as a tech 
demo for other local schools to see, provided we can get some funding 
approved (which seems likely).  We already get a few other school 
directors and DOE personnel looking at what is currently in place, but 
he is willing to expand .... so ....  innovative  ideas?

I  already use LDAP for authentication, and tie into W2K Terminal 
Servers via rdesktop.  I am implementing Backuppc (thanks Les) for 
school-wide backup (have server on order, over 1TB storage will be 
available). Teachers also want more MS OS-like capabilities: local 
CD-RW, multimedia, etc.  Others want the instant grading/feedback 
systems that are now popular (kids get the handheld devices that let 
them select answers). I will be upgrading this summer to the latest K12 
versions and thus will get some of this.   The director is interested in 
just how close can the k12ltsp solution get to the traditional approach.

One of the things that I think would be very intriguing is using 
TeacherTool/VncReflector to display student/teacher desktops to 
ceiling-mounted projectors (and/or other thin cliens) throughout the 
school.  (there are commercial packages that do this, but can cost $$$ 
and I have had requests from other schools for exactly this capability) 
But ... can this be done easily?  And would it be user-friendly and 
secure?  And could video be streamed to such systems to provide 
in-school video broadcast?  All of the projectors can be on a separate 
subnet if needed.

Also, how about a central network-accessible CD-RW solution?  Or an 
easy-to-access virtual CD tower using loopback-mounted ISO's?

Anyhow, giving how well the K12LTSP 'experiment' has worked so far, he 
is willing to set up the school as a tech demo for alternatives to the 
traditional approach.  I just need some help figuring out what can now 
be done while simultaneously holding down costs (both time, material and 
long-tem maintenance).

Thanks,
Dave Hopkins
Newark Charter School
Newark, Delaware