I think self-hosting a simple, static web site on a Raspberry Pi would be a good project.

• There’s something satisfying and motivating about creating a website from scratch and publishing it for everyone to see.
• It’s a good starting point for interested students to dive in even further, by updating the website, self hosting other things, or learning to program.
• Learning to host a website touches on many fundamental technology areas:
  • Basic linux commands, which introduces concepts like directories, executable files, and the root user that are applicable to all OSes.
  • Basic networking, answering questions like: How does the internet work? What really is “the cloud”?
  • Basic security, covering things like defense in depth and social engineering. I think for this one I would ask the question, “What would we need to do if this website accepted personal info?” as a way of talking about the enormous technical and legal complexity of securing data.

Overall, I think a practical, interesting project is a great way to make lessons concrete and engaging, and this particular project would an excellent springboard into a variety of topics that are fundamental to the invisible technology that underpins everything we do day to day.

I did a lot of research on digitizing old VHS tapes and ended up going with a local, professional service to have mine converted.

If you want to do it yourself, this site and its associated forum are a great starting place to learn how: https://www.digitalfaq.com/editorials/digital-video/professional-analog-workflow.htm

The EFF has an article that explains the latest changes (and why they still oppose the bill): https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/08/congress-amended-kosa-its-still-censorship-bill

And an article explaining the “original” bill: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/kids-online-safety-act-still-huge-danger-our-rights-online

* “original” in quotes because KOSA was created in 2022, rejected, then resurrected in 2023. This is the resurrected 2023 version.

If you oppose this bill, you can fill out this form to email your senator: https://act.eff.org/action/tell-congress-kosa-will-censor-the-internet-but-won-t-help-kids