Fancy a Linux comic book in your classroom?

Comics have long been used as supplementary materials for  education.  My twenty-years-old collection of Gospel comics, Noli Me Tangere comics and El Filibusterismo comics – required readings during my high school years, are still stacked in my basement and I just can’t bear to throw them away.  For decades, comics like these have made learning  more enjoyable and achievable.  Though commonly available for major subjects like Araling Panlipunan, Religion, Science, etc.,   I have never , in the past few decades, heard of any published comic book  that was designed for teaching Computer subjects. Thus, I was ecstatic when I very recently discovered a  new comic book for Linux learners…sweet!   Hackett and Bankwell, written by Jeremiah Gray, and released by Intarcorp Ltd.,  revolves around the Linux  operating system.  Its objective  is to help educate new Linux users , in order to promote the widespread acceptance of the Linux platform. 

 

The first issue covers topics including UNIX, the General Public License, Cyber crime, open source, binary files, source code and Open Office.org, among others. The website (http://www.hackettandbankwell.com/) offers links to valuable learning resources to  supplement the reading.  Mind you, it is not a dumbed down version of a Linux training guide.

 

The comedic approach of  Hackett and Bankwell is essential in motivating new users to read on, without fear of encountering complex  technical jargon. The main characters  of the comic are Woody Hackett ,  a penguin that has a striking resemblance to the Linux icon, Tux ,  a young hacker named Jerome Bankwell,  Kaori , a young lady who is new to Linux,  and to whom  Hackett  serves as a mentor, and a system administrator. The first issue shows the two main characters on an early morning telephone conversation, where Bankwell presumably requested the penguin to   assist Kaori and her friend in installing Ubuntu.  Hackett explains to an apprehensive Kaori  that Linux is not as complicated as it seems, particularly because it uses a graphical user interface. They further discuss distros ( distributions) , disk partitioning and the steps to install Ubuntu.  Hackett even suggests the use of thumb drives to back up files instead of CD’s because plastics are bad for the environment.  The strip ends with   a loud crash  that leaves readers pining for the continuation in the next issue.

 

The comic book is a little bit expensive, though. One issue costs USD $11.99 + $6.50 for international shipping. That’s P758 per copy, which I am not sure parents would like to add to the cost of their book fees.  However, I think this would be a fine investment for schools .  Compared to  the huge amount of savings from  replacing proprietary software with Linux, the cost of the comic book tends to be immaterial.

 

The comic is the first of its kind to come out in print for educational use. However, other Linux-related comics have been in existence online many years earlier. One such popular comic book is  Hackles, named after its main character , a programmer dog who codes and drinks coffee in an office. He is joined by a cat, a mouse, a pig , a rabbit, a robot and a couple of penguins named Peter and Percy, network administrators  who also resemble the famed Linux penguin. This online comic  (http://hackles.org/) had been popular among Linux fans from 2001- 2004 but had sadly been discontinued. 

 

I am pleased that traditional reading materials like comics are making its presence felt in open source education.  Computer  teachers are often faced with huge pressure to learn new technologies ahead of their students.   Textbooks, though just hot off the press at the beginning of the school year, could not fill the need for  current information. On top of that, the technical jargon that  dominates its pages make it rather unappealing to young students .   Teachers thus have to  scour the Internet for more interesting, up-to-date  learning materials on Linux and open source.   The fact that computing technologies change at lightning speed  makes it very difficult for often resource-deprived teachers to catch up.  Often, more tech savvy students would be fashioning the latest tech gadget or tinkering with a newly released operating system before teachers have ever even read about it. Alternative learning materials like comics  are a welcome resource for teachers struggling to keep their classes both fun and interesting.