29 Mar
2010
29 Mar
'10
4:46 p.m.
On 3/28/10 3:27 PM, Michael Black wrote:
Hello cctech community,
I am a computer science professor and an avid collector and restorer
of old computers, which I routinely use in my classes. (I am also a
long-time lurker on cctech, but haven't posted much yet, I'm afraid.)
I am interested in chatting with other professors and teachers who use
working demonstrations of vintage technology in their classes. I am
aware of many cases where professors have taught courses on computer
history, used pictures and simulations of vintage computers, or took
students on field trips to computer museums. However, I am
particularly interested in examples where professors bring actual
working vintage equipment into the classroom (like a pdp-11 or a
teletype machine) and tried to teach their students to operate it.
Has anybody on this list tried it or know of people who do it?
I taught UNIX/Linux basic security classes for IBM and RedHat for
quite a few years. I often started the one-week session holding up a 3"
x 4" piece of plexiglas with Velcro strips down the long sides, with a
photo on the projector screen of my MicroPDP-11/53 with the
corresponding Velcro down each side of the switch panel.
"This is a security device. It's called a 'Molly guard'" and
I'd
explain the name (which made its function obvious).
My real point was that "security", in its most basic sense, involves
simply ensuring that data and function available to the user. It was a
very good way to clear any cloak & dagger preconceptions and get
students thinking about the most ubiquitous security issue - human error.
Somehow that Molly guard, illustrating that security was a concern
before some of my students existed, made my point very well.
Doc