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| author | elioat <elioat@tilde.institute> | 2023-08-23 07:52:19 -0400 |
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| committer | elioat <elioat@tilde.institute> | 2023-08-23 07:52:19 -0400 |
| commit | 562a9a52d599d9a05f871404050968a5fd282640 (patch) | |
| tree | 7d3305c1252c043bfe246ccc7deff0056aa6b5ab /js/games/nluqo.github.io/~bh/lsrhs.html | |
| parent | 5d012c6c011a9dedf7d0a098e456206244eb5a0f (diff) | |
| download | tour-562a9a52d599d9a05f871404050968a5fd282640.tar.gz | |
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diff --git a/js/games/nluqo.github.io/~bh/lsrhs.html b/js/games/nluqo.github.io/~bh/lsrhs.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bcb2ede --- /dev/null +++ b/js/games/nluqo.github.io/~bh/lsrhs.html @@ -0,0 +1,107 @@ +<HTML> +<HEAD> +<TITLE>Case Study: LSRHS</TITLE> +</HEAD> +<BODY> +<H1>A Case Study:</H1> +<H1>The Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School</H1> +<CITE>Brian Harvey<BR>University of California, Berkeley</CITE> + +<P>The Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School is a four-year public +high school in Sudbury, Massachusetts. I was Computer Director there +from 1979 to 1982. Before 1979 there was a computer (a PDP-8) in +the school, run by the math department. The two math teachers who +were most involved had proposed the creation of a separate computer +department, partly to attract kids who didn't think of themselves +as mathematically inclined, and partly because they couldn't both +give the computer facility the attention it needed and also do the +rest of their jobs. + +<P>My own learning about computers took place mainly at the Artificial +Intelligence laboratories of MIT and Stanford. I decided to create +an environment at the high school that would be as similar as possible +to those labs. To me this meant a powerful computer system, with +lots of software tools, an informal community spirit, and not much +formal curriculum. + +<P>I installed a PDP-11/70 running version 7 Unix. The cost of +the machine was paid 75% by a contribution from Digital Equipment +Corporation and 25% by a special bond issue approved by the school +committee. Lincoln-Sudbury is a Unix source licensee; we were an +alpha test site for 2.9BSD, the PDP-11 version of Berkeley Unix. +The installation, testing, and debugging of this new system was carried +out entirely by students. + +<P>The administration of the facility is carried out by the Computer +Center Users Society, a group of about 50 students and teachers. +Members have keys to the computer center, and may use the facility +evenings and weekends without adult supervision. Students also use +the computer from home via modems. + +<P>In the early days of the new computer, many students took an +individualistic approach to it. Some students sought power and status +by writing game-playing programs, and including in the program a list +of their enemies, who weren't allowed to play the game. Later, as +the computer users became more of a community, students came to realize +that a more profound kind of status comes from being a helpful expert, +encouraging younger students to learn rather than standing in their +way. This change was the result of discussions among students; +I did no lecturing on the subject. + +<P>The results of allowing unsupervised students in the room have +been better than most people would predict, although not perfect. +No equipment has been stolen or damaged in the evenings, but there +has been damage to furniture through rough use. A couch was destroyed +because its pillows were used too often as swords. Litter is a recurring +problem; the room gets so messy that the students themselves complain, +but sometimes they don't exert themselves to do anything about it. + +<P>What about password hacking? Well, there is some. The first +time a student asked me how to turn off echoing to a terminal, I suspected +that what he wanted was to write a login simulator, but I encouraged +the project as one that provided a strong motivation to learn. I +thought that the reaction of other students, when the project became +public knowledge, would be enough to control password hackers. I +was a little too optimistic; it took a good deal of struggle to make +the point. The problem is a recurring one, partly because every year +brings a new batch of unsocialized freshmen. But a strong deterrent +is the fact that students aspire to ``superuser'' status, that is, a +privileged account given to system administrators. Superuser candidates +must be accepted both by the existing superusers, to ensure their +technical competence, and by the entire CCUS membership, to ensure +that they are trusted by the community. The students who have the +skill and interest to be potential password hackers are also the ones +who want to keep the trust of their colleagues. + +<P>Software maintenance and development is a challenge bearing much +more intellectual fruit than password hacking, anyway. Many Lincoln-Sudbury +students have written software that is distributed through Usenix +and widely used outside the school. The most outstanding example +is JOVE, an EMACS-like text editor written by +Jonathan Payne while +he was a student there. + +<P>Although I'm no longer at Lincoln-Sudbury, the facility still +exists. (As I write this, the PDP-11 has just been replaced by a +Vax; it's not yet clear what changes in the social structure of the facility +will result.) [1994 addendum: Alas, it's now a roomful of Macs. +But at least they teach the kids Object Logo.] +It has all the same problems of malicious users that any +computer does, but the problems lead to profound moral education when +the villains and the victims are all fellow-students, friends, and +professional colleagues. Putting the burden of dealing with these +problems on the students themselves is a powerful educational force. + +<P>Note: This is an appendix to +"<A HREF="hackers.html">Computer Hacking and Ethics</A>," a position +paper I wrote for the ACM Select Panel on Hacking in 1985. + +<P>A longer paper about Lincoln-Sudbury is +<A HREF="freedom.html">"Using Computers for Educational Freedom"</A>, +a talk I gave at Lesley College in 1980. + +<P><ADDRESS> +<A HREF="index.html"><CODE>www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh</CODE></A> +</ADDRESS> +</BODY> +</HTML> |