I've been thinking about how to put certain older machines we have
to better use at school. At the moment we have several SE/30s that are functional and even
sport ethernet ports, but they are in storage because, frankly, I have
enough computers as it is.
Still, it seems a shame to leave these machines in storage. Their
value certainly isn't increasing over time, and there ought to be
something I can do with them. It's time to see if there are any other
clever ideas for using these machines.
Here's what I've done with our collection of older donated
machines:
These are my loaner computers for kids who don't have computers at
home. I could loan more of these if I had more functional printers.
There's probably about half a dozen in use with another half dozen
waiting to be claimed.
Dedicated Lab Devices
With an inexpensive serial port adapter from Vernier software, such
as the two-port Serial Box, and a microphone that fits one of their
jacks, you can do experiments such as measuring the
speed of sound or recording sonograms. I put a IIci with this
equipment on a cart and delivered the entire thing intact to a new
teacher. Later on, I'll try to talk her into using other sensors.
You could do the same thing with various biosensors or a force and
acceleration sensor and call it a specific piece of hardware for a
single purpose, leaving it set up for when it is needed. It's no more
unwieldy than any other large lab equipment like an air track.
Parts
There are always parts, of course. I've got the empty husks of at
least six 5200s sitting around,
some of them stripped all the way to the tube: no motherboard
(installed in a Quadra 630
shell), no RAM, no HD, no CD, no mouse.
Now, what do I do with the SE/30s? You can't check 'em out, because
given a choice the kids will always ![SE/30]()
select the machine
that looks like a PC (having two beige boxes connected by cables) over
these tiny all-in-one Macs. They're really too limited to run our
standard suite of Office 2001 and AppleWorks 6 (as I recall, they won't
run 5 either), so if you plan on typing, you're going to be using
something like Nisus Writer, which is probably a step up in many ways
anyhow.
Here are some ideas:
Dedicated Bell Schedule Server
Our school uses a block schedule, so classes meet every other day in
100 minute periods. In addition, on Wednesday the entire schedule is
compressed so the bell rings at different times. Also, your lunch
schedule changes each semester. Consequently, I can never remember when
the bell's going to ring. There are also certain exception days, such
as standardized testing and pep rallies. How about a little Mac SE sitting quietly in a corner,
running a little Chipmunk
BASIC app that uses a lookup table to tell the bell schedule for
the day? I don't want this running on my desktop machine, because I
want to just look at a screen, see the time, and go on from across the
room. If I wanted to look it up, I'd use my teacher handbook.
Class Weblog Access
I keep my daily agendas on a weblog that also serves as a draft of
my future plans. As the days pass, I go back and edit the entries to
reflect what we really did and adjust what I plan to do. My Web pages
are simple (on purpose) and contain no Java applets or anything like
that; the fanciest thing I do is an animated GIF. Since the SE/30s have
ethernet, I should theoretically be able to bring them up on the school
network running iCab or Netscape 2 (I've not yet investigated the
system requirements, just so you know) and let them be available for
anyone looking for assignments.
Print or File Server
AppleTalk packets are blocked at the router level one our school
network, so I can't set up anything shy of OS 9.1 running AppleShare IP
6.3 as an IP-based file server. That (hopefully) isn't true for you, so
you might consider this. I used to use a Quadra 700 as my file server until the
AppleTalk packets were declared persona non grata. I imagine an SE/30
could handle light file shuffling, but I wouldn't recommend it for big
movie files.
The Sky Tonight
If I can find a planetarium program that will run on it - and I'm
sure I can - I could let it display the upcoming night sky, especially
the phase of the moon. Handy for an astronomy teacher. Again, I have
plenty of planetarium software on my teacher iMac, but I'm talking
about something more like a kiosk that I and my students can glance at
each day.
Tardy Log
When students are tardy to my class, they must sign a clipboard. If
instead they had to log into a database, I could run the database to
see who has accumulated enough tardies that detention must be
served.
Wow. Now I wonder if I have enough SE/30s. Or enough plugs. If you
have ideas for how to use your older machines or just want to rant
about my flagrant abuse of electricity during the tail-end of an energy
pinch, drop me a line.
is a longtime Mac user. He was using digital sensors on Apple II computers in the 1980's and has networked computers in his classroom since before the internet existed. In 2006 he was selected at the California Computer Using Educator's teacher of the year. His students have used NASA space probes and regularly participate in piloting new materials for NASA. He is the author of two books and numerous articles and scientific papers. He currently teaches astronomy and physics in California, where he lives with his twin sons, Jony and Ben.< And there's still a Mac G3 in his classroom which finds occasional use.
