Who Is This Book For?

This book is for anybody who’s looking to deploy Raspberry Pi computers in a classroom or lab situation.

Most likely you’re a teacher or educator in a school or college, and that’s the scenario this book and its examples aim at. But even if your situation and aims for deploying multiple Raspberry Pi computers are different, you’ll find useful information in this book. For example, you might run a community computing club providing Internet access, or you might offer private computing lessons to small groups.

What Does This Book Cover?

This book contains eight chapters that take you from planning a classroom deployment of Raspberry Pi computers to managing the classroom and troubleshooting the computers.

Chapter 1 , “Planning Your Raspberry Pi Classroom Deployment,” walks you through planning your deployment or Raspberry Pi computers in your classroom or lab. The chapter briefly discusses what the Raspberry Pi boards are, the capabilities of the computers that you can build with them, and what Raspberry Pi computers are suitable for in the classroom. The chapter also discusses the key questions you will likely need to research and answer in order to plan your Raspberry Pi deployment: How you will use the Raspberry Pi computers, which ones to get, which operating system or systems to install, how to manage the computers, and so on.

Chapter 2 , “Choosing Raspberry Pi Hardware,” discusses the hardware you’ll typically want for deploying a fleet of Raspberry Pi computers in a classroom. First, you’ll need the Raspberry Pi boards, plus essential hardware—such as power sources, SD cards, and cases—to turn the boards into working computers. Next, you’ll need peripherals, such as displays, keyboards, and pointing devices; your educational establishment may have some or all of these, so the chapter covers how to get existing (and possibly legacy) peripherals working with your Raspberry Pi computers. Last, you’ll need wired (Ethernet) or wireless (Wi-Fi) network connections for the Raspberry Pi computers.

Chapter 3 , “Choosing Operating Systems for Raspberry Pi,” lays out your main choices of operating systems. Raspberry Pi computers can run an impressive range of operating systems, most of which are based on the widely used Linux operating system. The Raspberry Pi Foundation provides a helpful installer called NOOBS (New Out Of Box Software) that enables you to install not only Raspbian, the version of Linux customized for the Raspberry Pi, and Raspbian Lite but also two media-center operating systems—LibreELEC and OSMC—and Windows 10 IoT Core, a version of Windows for building projects and apps for devices. Beyond these, you can install other Linux desktop operating systems, Linux server operating systems, the blazing fast but rather limited RISC OS, and versions of the UNIX-like BSD operating system.

Chapter 4 , “Brief Tutorial on Raspberry Pi Essentials,” makes sure you know how to use and configure a Raspberry Pi computer running the Raspbian operating system. The chapter covers everything from startup, shutdown, and restart to configuring your pointing device, keyboard, and network connection; using the Raspberry Pi Configuration tool to configure the Raspberry Pi; navigating and customizing the desktop, exploring the file system using the File Manager app, and configuring File Manager to work the way you prefer.

Chapter 5 , “Building the Raspberry Pi Computers and Installing Software,” discusses how to build your Raspberry Pi computers—essentially, putting the Raspberry Pi boards into the cases you’ve chosen—and how to install operating systems on them. The chapter shows you how to get the NOOBS installer, use it to install Raspbian and the other operating systems that NOOBS supports, and how to perform “headless” installs on remote computers using Virtual Network Computing (VNC). You also learn how to use Recovery Mode and how to perform advanced moves with NOOBS, such as installing an operating system automatically and creating a custom version of Raspbian for your school.

Chapter 6 , “Connecting the Raspberry Pi Computers to the Network,” shows you how to set up your Raspberry Pi computers in your classroom or lab, connect them to your establishment’s network, and verify that the computers and the network are working to your satisfaction. Coverage includes setting hostnames and static IP addresses and connecting to Wi-Fi networks.

Chapter 7 , “Administering and Managing Your Raspberry Pi Network,” shows you how to run your Raspberry Pi network either individually or by using the free PiNet server system. You’ll learn how to create user accounts, how to set up remote access to computers you want to administer remotely, how to install and configure PiNet, and how to control your computers—and maybe your students—using the free Epoptes ­classroom-management app.

Chapter 8 , “Troubleshooting Raspberry Pi Computers in the Classroom,” shows you how to deal with the problems you’re most likely to encounter with Raspberry Pi computers deployed in classroom situtations. The chapter starts by recommending a restart-and-replace strategy designed to keep your classroom functioning smoothly and avoid disruption from trying to troubleshoot problems that seem minor but turn thorny. The chapter then covers how to keep the system software on Raspberry Pi computers up to date; how to deal with issues involving startup, SD cards, and network connections; and how to resolve problems with displays, keyboards and pointing devices, and audio output.

The Appendix, “Raspberry Pi Resources and Training for Educators,” gives you brief lists of resources for deploying, running, and managing Raspberry Pi computers, plus information on training for educators.

Involving Your Students

One of the great things about Raspberry Pi computers is that they’re well suited to having students build them and set them up as well as simply use them as classroom computers. So this book suggests several points at which you may want to involve your students in setting up and maintaining your classroom deployment of Raspberry Pi computers. These include:

• Building the Raspberry Pi computers. Because each Raspberry Pi board contains a full computer system—processor, graphics processor, memory (RAM), networking, USB, and so on—which greatly reduces the potential for damage and mistakes. Building a Raspberry Pi computer involves only putting the Raspberry Pi board in a suitable case, not installing multiple sensitive components using a variety of technician tools.

• Setting up the Raspberry Pi computers in the classroom. Having students help you with setting up the Raspberry Pi computers at the workstations, distributing peripherals, and connecting the devices and cables can not only save you time but also develop students’ skills.

• Testing the Raspberry Pi computers and the network. After setting up the computers and the network, you can have students power on the computers and run through a list of tests that you specify, to make sure that the computers are running correctly and that they are able to access the Internet.

These are activities that many students should be capable of. But the Raspberry Pi computers also offer many other opportunties for you to involve your older or more able students. For example, you may want to have more advanced students learn to troubleshoot problems that occur frequently with Raspberry Pi computers, or at least have them replace failed (or problem) SD cards, peripherals, or computers when the need arises.

Additions and Errata

If you have suggestions for additions or improvements you’d like to see in future editions of this book, please send them in. Go to the Apress website ( www.apress.com ), enter this book’s number (9781484223031) in the Search box, and click the Go button. Click the book’s cover or the View Book button to get to the book’s page.

Click the Errata tab to display a list of the errata and additions available so far. On this tab, you’ll also find the e-mail address to which you can submit corrections or suggestions for additions or improvements.