teach kids how to build a PC?

stefanDB · October 21, 2017

My mother works at a primary school (in the netherlands this means kids from ages 4 to 12) and she is in charge of organising what they call a "talent lab." Here the kids are supposed to do all kinds of practical things to learn general skills like cooking, basic electronics, woodworking (I think) and such things. Some of the kids also get lessons in basic coding, so since I know how to build a PC I thought that it may be fun to teach the kids how to build a PC. I am quite familiar with modern hardware, however due to budget limitations I would probably have to work with old PCs, (unless I can get considerable funding) and I am not sure if I would be able to install windows 10 and drivers on such old hardware (especially if it would contain proprietary hardware like a Dell or HP)

I am fairly confident that I could find a couple of PCs and that the school would be able to buy them if they are not more than a few hundred combined (I am not going to let more than 20 kids work on only one PC) and even if they only post that would still be an achievement for those kids.

But what do you guys think about this idea? and if there are any dutchies around, do you have old spare hardware lying around?

chilicheeseburger · October 21, 2017

1 hour ago, stefanDB said:

My mother works at a primary school (in the netherlands this means kids from ages 4 to 12) and she is in charge of organising what they call a "talent lab." Here the kids are supposed to do all kinds of practical things to learn general skills like cooking, basic electronics, woodworking (I think) and such things. Some of the kids also get lessons in basic coding, so since I know how to build a PC I thought that it may be fun to teach the kids how to build a PC. I am quite familiar with modern hardware, however due to budget limitations I would probably have to work with old PCs, (unless I can get considerable funding) and I am not sure if I would be able to install windows 10 and drivers on such old hardware (especially if it would contain proprietary hardware like a Dell or HP)

I am fairly confident that I could find a couple of PCs and that the school would be able to buy them if they are not more than a few hundred combined (I am not going to let more than 20 kids work on only one PC) and even if they only post that would still be an achievement for those kids.

But what do you guys think about this idea? and if there are any dutchies around, do you have old spare hardware lying around?

I think it's a good idea but how old are the kids that you're doing this with? 4-12 is quite a large range.

Let's say there's 25 kids, maybe about 10yrs old. I'd let them work in teams of 3 to 5 depending on how many PCs you can get your hands on.

As for the hardware, ask around for old PCs at local businesses, churches or the school itself. Disassemble them and have the kids put them back together. (Make sure they're all working first)