Internet Resource Directory, Part 4:
Educational Telecomputing Application/Infusion Ideas
version 2: August 5, 1993
The information in this file is the result of Internet "prospecting" and
teamwork by 24 eastern Nebraska teachers and 22 teachers and trainers
from Texas who were enrolled in graduate Internet-based telecomputing
courses during the Spring 1992 & 1993 semesters at the University of
Nebraska at Omaha and the University of Texas at Austin. Much of their
work for the course entailed exploring different Internet resource sites,
then writing, fieldtesting, and revising friendly documentation describing
online resources that they felt to be of value to teachers, trainers, and their
students.
Below please find ideas for use of telecomputing tools in education and
training. Please forgive any grammatical errors that you find,
understanding that some of the authors who contributed entries to this
document are not native English speakers. Also, please remember that
Internet sites can change daily, so although the entries that you see below
were correct and up-to-date when they were created and tested, they may
not be so when you read them.
**This is NOT meant to be an exhaustive list of all of the sites of use to
educators**. Rather, it is a beginning of what we hope will be an ongoing
collaborative effort among telecomputing educators on a larger scale. We
invite you to use this, share it with other teachers, amend it, append to it,
and update it. We hope that the information that it contains will be useful
to you.
Judi Harris
jbharris@tenet.edu
& the students of EDC 385G:
"Internet-Based Telecomputing"
University of Texas at Austin (Spring 1993)
& the students of TED 8000:
"Computer-Mediated Communications for Educators"
University of Nebraska at Omaha (Spring 1992)
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
ARE THERE LEGOS ON MARS ?
Lego T.C. Logo and Telecomputing
Team up for Classroom Excitement.
by Denny Hanley
Students learn Science best when they are actively
engaged doing "real" Science. Using Lego T.C. Logo and
telecommunications with young scientists in your classroom
can provide "real" excitement to solve "real" problems related
to one of NASA's most exciting projects; "The Mars Mission."
The Challenger Space Shuttle tragedy led the American
people and NASA to re-examine the risks of manned space
exploration. A new emphasis on unmanned probes, satellites,
data collecting devices, and surface rovers emerged.
It is not surprising that research and development in
these areas has increased dramatically with promising results.
Although humans in space will be necessary, under certain
circumstances we can still "boldly go where no one really
needs to." The JPL, (jet propulsion laboratory) has been
working on an exciting project for the Mars mission. Their
objective is to construct a "Mars Rover" vehicle that will
enable scientists to explore, collect samples, survey and map
the surface of Mars by remote control from the Earth. The
vehicle is called "Robby" The objective of this lesson is
exactly the same as the scientists at JPL with one exception;
the vehicles will be constructed using Lego T.C. Logo kits.
For this project you will need :
1) A telecomputing connection with access to the
Internet.
2) The Lego T.C. Logo program.
3) Plenty of imagination, (student provided).
Step 1: Research
The current research and possibilities of the future in
space can be explored in a very dynamic and exciting way right
in your classroom using an array of resources on the Internet.
The type of site and their addresses are listed below. In
addition, Telnet sites are briefly described as to their
relationship to the project. FTP sites containing files
specifically supporting the research phase of this project are
discussed in greater detail.
Telnet Sites
1) NASA Spacelink Address:
Spacelink.MSFC.NASA.GOV or:
128.158.13.250
This is an interactive site in which students are able to
research the current status of every NASA project, including
the Mars mission.
2) SpaceMet Address:
SpaceMet.PHAST.UMASS.EDU or: 128.119.50.48
This is an interactive site with a wide variety of
information on space exploration and space history. The
information on the lunar rovers of the Apollo missions will be
applicable to this project.
3) Lunar Planetary Institute Address:
LPI.JSC.NASA.GOV or: 192.101.147.11
This site has general information on astronomy and
specific information on planets. Read information on Mars.
FTP Sites
1) NASA Archives Address: ftp
AMES.ARC.NASA.GOV
or: 128.102.18.3
This FTP site has many documents that you can download
on space and related topics. Articles on JPL's research on
"Robby" can be located using this file sequence;
SPACE/MARS.ROVER/mr10.26.90. Download all files beginning
with "mr", which stands for Mars rover.
2) Washington University Address: ftp
WUARCHIVE.WUSTL.EDU
This ftp site has a wonderful collect of Gif graphics that
can be downloaded. Detailed NASA photos of Mars taken by
Viking 1 from a distance and on the surface of Mars are
available. Additionally, there are photos of lunar rovers on the
moon and surface landers on Mars. The directory sequence for
each is listed below.
1) Mars: Gif / astronomy / L / lander2
2) Lunar Rover on the Moon: Gif / astronomy / L / lunarrover
3) Lander on Mars: Gif / astronomy / M / mars
These files and telnet research will be very helpful and
exciting for your students to get an idea of the task and the
objectives facing scientists in their endeavor. It will also set
the stage for this project.
Step 2: Brainstorming
It is important that students get a clear understanding
of the problems facing them and other scientists in trying to
put a "human presence" on the planet Mars.
Students will need to brainstorm on the human qualities
that can manifest themselves in machine form. Such as:
mobility, sight, sound, communication, grasping and retrieving
objects, and the ability to act, react, and interact with the
environment. The students should not be concerned with
the limitations of the Lego/Logo equipment at this point. The
important thing is to let the ideas flow.
The students will need to make value judgements as to
which attributes would be essential to a Mars Rover. Those
that are deemed necessary would be kept while the others
would be discarded.
After finalizing the list of attributes, the students are
ready to enter the construction and testing phase of the
project.
Step 3: Construction and Testing
As the students begin to experiment with different
designs that will meet the necessary attributes they felt were
important, they will also be constantly testing their ideas.
Some possible areas that could be tested and measured are:
1) Maneuverability - forward, backward, turn.
2) Speed - m/sec
3) Strength - (Incline test) What is the greatest angle the
Rover can climb a 1 m incline.
4) Durability - (Cliff test) What is the highest cliff, (in cm)
that the Rover can drive off while remaining intact and mobile.
5) Special Features - Ability to measure distance in cm or m.
Ability to "feel" objects and react.
6) Programming - The extent and quality to which categories
1-5 are controlled by the computer.
Of course these are only a few possible ideas. Your
students will supply variations of their own that only they as
"real" scientists would think of.
Step 4: Sharing the Data
Students need to share their test results and
descriptions of their Rovers with their peers within the class,
and possibly with colleagues from another class for
comparison.
Using Electronic mail they could quickly share testing
results and basic designs. They could also be encouraged to
suggest improvements to each other and offer programming
advice. They might even exchange programming codes.
The results of the entire project could be electronically
mailed to JPL scientists for their examination and comments.
They would be interested, supportive, and grateful for the
student efforts.
Step 5: GO TO MARS
If the proof is in the pudding then there will have to be a
"Mars Mission" in your classroom. Students would build a Mars
landscape and operate their vehicles without being able to
actually see them. After all isn't that what "real" scientists
do?
THE EARTH DAY TREASURE HUNT:
UTILIZING ONLINE RESOURCES AS RESEARCH TOOLS
by Kim Burry
I have never seen my students as motivated, excited, and on
task as they were when they performed the research needed to
solve the Earth Day Treasure Hunt (Douglas,C., & Levin,S.,
1992) on April 22, 1992.
The Earth Day Treasure Hunt is a networking project that
involves students in history, math, map reading, geography and
writing. Participating classrooms were asked to submit clues
by electronic mail describing a geographical place. All clues
from across the country were compiled and sent back to
participating teams prior to Earth Day. Students were asked to
conduct the hunt on Earth Day if possible.
My kids had so much fun compiling clues for their
geographical place and sending them on to the treasure hunt
headquarters that I knew that the actual day of the hunt would
be especially motivating and so I decided to plan for it to be a
special day. I met with my building principal and made
arrangements to work with my students for a four hour block
of time. (I work with G/T kids in a pull-out situation.
Students from grades 4-6 signed up to write clues and work on
the hunt.)
In preparation for the day, I collected maps, globes, and a
variety of reference materials and familiarized my students
with the Geographic Name Server and the Cleveland FreeNet.
(My students were familiar with the Geographic Name Server
because they had utilized it in their clue writing.)
I accessed the Geographic Name Server for my students
(martini.eecs.umich.edu 3000) and they were able to type in
U.S. cities and states as well as some mountains, rivers, lakes,
and national parks. This proved to be very valuable to my
students particularly as a checking device. Many of the clues
submitted contained latitudinal and longitudinal clues. My
students were able to type in their chosen place and check this
information relating to elevation, time zones, telephone area
codes, postal zip codes and population.
I also switched back and forth and had my students utilize
the services from the Cleveland FreeNet (telnet 129.22.8.75).
At the main menu, we chose the Library section, proceeded on
to the Electronic Bookshelf, then chose #5, Read the World
Factbook. This section contains information on Nations,
Oceans and the World. My students utilized this section when
searching for answers to clues in countries other than the U.S.
The atmosphere in my classroom on Earth Day, 1992, was
one of excitement. I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive,
particularly with the way the kids would handle the use of the
on-line resources. I was afraid of the congestion I might have
with students wanting to use the computer resources above all
other sources. However, my students utilized every source and
took turns using the computer. (Which I might add was
extremely popular.)
We had a visit from our local newspaper when we were in
the heighth of our clue searching. The kids were so excited
that they couldn't stop giving him information for his article.
Needless to say, an article and a picture of some of my
students appeared in the next "Gretna Guide."
My students have already asked if we could do this again
next year. Of course, the answer was "yes." Seeing students
have so much fun and learning at the same time, how could you
refuse?
References
Douglas,C.,& Levin,S.(1992). The Earth Day Treasure Hunt.
A project designed at the University of Illinois
Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
"Small World" Telecomputing Infusion Idea:
TELECOMMUNICATIONS TO AID
FOREIGN LANGUAGE ACQUISTION
by Jane Couture and Sharon South
How often have you, as a teacher, heard "Why do I need to
learn this?" In order for students to see the relevancy of a
course of instruction, they need to see some immediate use or
practical applications of the subject. Learning is easier, more
enjoyable and successful if the learners can directly relate
information to their lives. Foreign language is one of those
subjects that is difficult to persuade students to take because
they cannot foresee using it in the immediate future.
Transportation and technology seems to have shrunk the world.
Ours is truely a global community. People travel from
continent to continent as easily as they do from state to state.
Even though they may witness the Berlin Wall coming down or
watch the Olympics from Albertville, France and Barcelona,
Spain live on television via satellite, it is still difficult for
students to see themselves as part of this picture. We want to
find a way for students to speak and write to people
throughout the world without leaving their classroom. We
want them to discover that communication is not possible
without a common language; then they will realize the need
for the study of foreign languages. Like "The Man of La
Mancha", we dared to dream the impossible dream and make the
dream come true with telecommunications.
MOTIVATION
Getting students online with a computer, a modem and a
telephone line puts the world at their fingertips. By entering a
few simple commands on the computer keyboard, they can talk
to anyone around the world, but only if they speak the same
language. At last, we have found our motivating force. The
desire to communicate with others, whether they are around
the corner or half way around the world is so strong that all
we have to do is gently guide the students in the right
direction.
PROJECT
To introduce your students to telecommunications we
suggest our Small World project. Students choose a country
where the target language being taught is spoken. They
research the country through online telecommunications skills
using the foreign language.
EMAIL AND BULLETIN BOARD
Two different site schools (perferrably one in the country
being researched) exchange information, ask and answer
questions and prepare a report all in the foreign language
through email. A student bulletin board such as KIDSnet
(KIDSnet-Request@VMS.CIS.PITT.EDU) or Kidcafe
(Listserv@ndsuvm1.bitnet) can be used for this purpose.
LISTSERV GROUPS
Several listserv groups will be used to retrieve and send
information. We chose MCLR-L (MCLR-L@SMU.BITNET), MEXICO-
L (MEXICO- L@TECMTYVM.BITNET) and EUROPE-L
(EC@INDYCMS.BITNET). Here the students will read and write
messages in the target language to acquire information needed
about their country.
TELNET AND INTERNET SITES
Students will also access a variety of telnet and internet
site to locate reference material on their country. SERVICES
(WUGATE.WUSTL.EDU or 128.252.120.1) for example gets them
into libraries where they can actually do research online and in
the target language, much like ERIC. Telecommunications can
also provide exposure to ASCII Art which in turn gives the
students a chance to be creative, humorous and self-
expressive.
NEWS GROUPS
There are also many news groups like Soc. Culture Mexico,
Soc. Culture Spain, Soc. Culture French, Soc. Culture German
etc. which the students can use to post questions and retrieve
information for their project in the foreign language.
CONCLUSION
The use of new technologies and telecommunications will
help the students acquire writing, conversational and social
skills in a foreign language enthusiastically and successfully
while actively participating in real communications with
others. Learning a new language is now meaningful and
motivation is no longer a problem.
All telecommunications addresses were correct at
publication time, but could change in the future. We urge you to
explore with your students the new and ever-changing world of
communication, whether it be a new language, new
telecommunications or both!
REFERENCES
Roberts, N., Blakeslee, G., Brown, M., et al. Integrating
Telecommunications Into
Education. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,
1990.
Relevant Learning Experiences Using Telecomputing Activities
by Patricia G. Ross
Most students and teachers find telecomputing activities very
exciting at first. In fact, some many not really care "what" they do as long
as they are just "on-line." This type of phenomena is common with almost
any new experience. For instance, can you remember what it was like
when you first got your driver's license as a teenager? You would jump at
any opportunity to run an errand just for the chance to get to drive the car.
Getting behind the wheel was fun and exciting, and you didn't care
"where" you were going just so long as you "got to go"! However, the day
probably came when running errands just wasn't fun any more. Parents
had to coax you into making the trip, and you probably griped and
complained about "having" to run another silly errand! What happened to
the thrill and excitement? You had gotten used to it, and the process of
driving the car was no longer valued in and of itself. It had just become a
vehicle for getting you to one place or another. The "process" was no
longer fun, and if the "product" of your trip was not deemed beneficial to
you, it was no longer "worth" the trip.
Most users of telecomputing systems probably go through a similar
process. At first, it is fun and exciting just to be on-line and doing
something "different." But after a while, this novelty wears off and
students want more from the experience. Students, just like adults, need
to see relevancy in what they are doing. If the telecomputing trip serves
no useful purpose, or the journey is so arduous and the rewards seemly
so paltry, why even go in the first place? Besides being a waste of a
valuable instructional opportunity, having students partake in meaningless
or "contrived" telecomputing activities presents the risk of having students
develop a dislike for the very technology we are trying to encourage
students to appreciate!
Real and Contrived Uses of Telecomputing Tools
Upitis (1990) described the difference in real and contrived uses of
telecomputing tools in education. Basically, contrived activities serve no
true educational purposes for the students other than as an exposure to
the technology. Real activities, as the name implies, provide true
opportunities for relevant student learning. She made the very valid point
that the telecomputing tools "are best used when the need for using the
tool already exists, rather than where one simply finds ways to shape
traditional curriculum exercises into electronic forms" (p. 242). The key
factor in designing real telecomputing activities is to effectively utilize
these resource to assist in instruction. However, the same resources can
be either fully utilized or woefully mis-used based on the instructional
design of the activity.
Electronic mail systems have proved their effectiveness in distance
education programs and in other collaborative projects (Upitis, 1990).
Many teachers have effectively used email capabilities to run electronic
pen pal activities with students from other parts of state, nation, or even
the world. This timely and personal involvement with individuals from
other parts of the world can provide many real rewards for students.
Therefore, collaborative school projects and pen pals activities can be an
effective use of this electronic medium "if" both classes have full and
immediate access to computers and the telecommunications system.
Unfortunately, that time has not yet arrived in many schools.
Therefore, classes sometimes are limited to using the system only once a
week, if not even less often. This results in students being able to send
and receive messages infrequently. Students lose interest in the activity
and see no real benefit of this medium over conventional methods of
communication (Levin, Rogers, Waugh,& Smith,1989; Upitis, 1990).
Using email for pen pal communications in this type of situation provides
no benefits other than as practice and exposure to the technology. This
type arrangement also makes it impossible to utilize the strengths of email,
namely the speed and convenience. Therefore, this is not an effective use
of this medium. You might as well let students write letters and mail them
in the conventional methods. Or, let the students make and send "video-
tape letters" through the mail. These video-tapes could possibly provide
an extra richness not available through traditional letters or email
messages and would therefore be a more powerful instructional tool. The
key point is that if the medium (email) is not effective in reaching the
instructional objective, then it should not be used.
Telecommunication systems such as the Internet open up many
new tools for use by educators. The Internet abounds with FTP sites.
FTP sites allow for transfers of an incredibly large number of files from an
archive site to your computer. (See "Files for Free! FTP File Transfers on
the Internet" in the Dec/Jan 1992 issue of The Computing Teacher for a
full description of how to transfer these files, Harris, 1992) While these
files contain an almost unimaginable amount of information, how these
files are used is the key to their effectiveness as instructional resources.
For instance, students are usually very interested in popular music,
and they can obtain the lyrics for thousands of songs by different artists
from the site Lyric and Discography (address: ftp cs.uwp.edu;
subdirectory: pub/music). Since it may be time-consuming or expensive to
obtain these lyrics in a more conventional manner, this site allows
teachers and students quick and easy access to this resource.
A contrived use of this Internet resource would be to have students go to
this site, transfer files of specified songs, and then complete activities such
as, "What is the first line of the third song?", or "What year was this song
written?", or "Name the city this artist describes in this song." These
activities serve no instructional purpose for the student; they are strictly
"read and regurgitate" activities. There was no benefit for the student for
having "made the trip" on the Internet, and it was thus a poor use of the
Internet resources.
Instead, this resource could be for more meaningful purposes. For
instance, you could allow the students to go to the site, select several
songs of their choice, and then ask them, "How does this artist use
metaphors in her or his songs to convey meaning?", "Identify what you
think are the most common themes in the songs of this artist, and give
examples from the lyrics supporting your choices." You could also ask the
student to compare or contrast the writing styles of different artists, or
have them describe the sytlistic changes of one artist over time.
Remember, having students get the files is of far less importance than
what you have the students do with them once they have obtained them!
Examples of real or contrived activities can be identified for almost
any Internet site. If you are teaching a unit in social studies on Supreme
Court decisions, you could visit the Project Hermes site (address:
ftp.cwru.edu; subdirectory: hermes/ascii) and obtain files of different
Supreme Court opinions. A petty and contrived use for these files would
be to have students list the dates of the opinions, the dissenting judges, or
even the number of pages in the opinion. But the important issue here is,
"So what?" Why use the Internet resources for fill-in-the blank exercises?
Instead, have students take these opinions and "assume the roles"
of the different judges and have them hold debates as to why they made
the judgments they made. Have students try to identify what values or
principals seemed evident in the rulings of different cases. Ask them to
"sit on the court" and identify what actions they would have taken in the
same situation, and justify their own decisions by writing opinions of their
own. These "opinions" could then be posted on a conference for viewing
and debating by others.
In addition, don't go to an FTP site for information that is readily
available elsewhere. For example, the History Archive (address: ftp
RA.MSSTATE.EDU) provides a wealth of information relating to history. A
contrived use of this site would be to have students transfer files of
information that are readily available in textbooks, video tapes, or other
resources in the classroom. Instead, let the students explore the site for
some of its more current or unique information. For instance, one
subdirectory (path:doc/history/USA/ GulfWar) contains the diaries of
different individuals involved in the recent Persian Gulf War. Students can
read an Israelite's personal account of the missile attacks on his city, or
experience the war through the eyes of a young Iraqi lieutenant. These
resources are not readily available elsewhere, and this site would
therefore provide useful materials to the students.
Another resource on the Internet are Telnet sites, which allows for
interactive connections to different sites around the country and the world.
(See "Telnet Sessions on the Internet" in the October 1992 issue of the
Computing Teacher for a full description of these resources, Harris, 1992).
Many of these sites have continuous revisions of information which makes
up-to-date information readily available to students.
For example, the Weather Underground (address at telnet>
madlab. sprl.umich.edu 3000) provides an on-line weather service
covering forecasts for U.S. regions and cities, including long range
forecasts, ski conditions, earthquake reports, hurricane advisories, severe
weather advisories, and marine forecasts. I imagine you can already think
of several "contrived" uses for this site. You could have students go to this
site and find the temperatures for several specified cities, or list the snow
conditions in Colorado, or determine if any U.S. cities experienced an
earthquake the last month. But, as you know, all of this information could
readily be obtained in a newspaper. But even from this readily- available
printed source, the information still would be of little educational use to
students.
How might you use this great site for instructional uses? In a
science class, you could set up a "tracking station" for hurricanes or other
severe weather conditions. From the information they received from the
site, students could do hourly updates and mark on charts and maps in the
classroom the progression of storms. They could do projections as to the
direction or severity of storms based on background knowledge you would
have already provided them about weather tracking. This type of activity
utilizes the timeliness and richness of information from this site. It allows
active student involvement in a "real-time" event, making the learning even
more exciting and MEANINGFUL! By exploring the Internet, you will find
many other Telnet sites which provide similar opportunities for meaningful
learning activities.
When to Consider Telecomputing Tools
Telecomputing is still relatively new to most classroom teachers,
and many teachers may still be struggling with designing meaningful
activities for their students. How do you determine if the proposed activity
is a real or a contrived activity? One way is to ask yourself the following
questions as you design your telecomputing activity:
*What is the educational goal I want my student to achieve?
*Is this a worthwhile educational goal, whether it be in electronic or
traditional form?
*Am I trying to make my educational goals conform to the available
technology, or am I using these tools to more effectively meet my
instructional goals?
* When compared to other available tools, does this electronic tool
effectively assist in obtaining this goal?
*Can this goal be reached just as effectively using more traditional
methods?
*Is this electronic medium an effective way to teach an educational
goal, or is this activity just a skill-building exercise in the use of the tool?
Answering these questions should help teachers design
telecomputing activities which are more meaningful and useful for the
students. Also, this process should help reduce the tendency to go "on-
line" without a real educational purpose or need.
Skill Building as a Foundation for Real Learning
Some skill-building exercises are needed when introducing
students to telecomputing activities. This skill-building and "process"
learning is necessary in order to learn to use the tools effectively. As a
teacher, you should explain, demonstrate, or illustrate a skill to students
and allow them to practice it before they are expected to utilize the skill.
There is nothing "contrived" about designing telecomputing
activities for the sole purpose of introducing and practicing a skills. One of
the instructional goals of telecommunications should be for the needed
processing skills to become transparent. This "transparency" will evolve
as students use and refine these skills as they complete meaningful
classroom activities. Eventually, little thought or effort is needed by the
students in "completing the trip" because the processing skills themselves
have become established and unobtrusive.
Just like when you learned to drive a car, you needed some formal
instruction in order to learn how to use your vehicle to get from one place
to another quickly, effectively, and safely. But, once you learned how to
drive and mastered those skills, you wanted to then put them to real use.
Similarly, after initial introduction to telecomputing skills, there should be
real instructional purposes to the process, or the activities will be contrived
and of little benefit to the students.
We must guard against "stalling" students in their skills by having
them complete meaningless or redundant activities. Once they have
learned a skill, it is not beneficial to have them keep practicing it without
applying it for a useful purpose. You could compare it to having them
drive back and forth in the driveway to pick up the mail from the mailbox
after they have already learned to drive. Yes, they got the mail, but was it
really worth the trip, and was that process really beneficial to the student?
Couldn't they have put this "driving skill" to better use? This question
brings us to the important topic of the design of telecomputing activities.
Well-Designed Instruction
No matter what tool, resource, or instructional medium you are
using, instruction should be well-planned with specific goals and purposes.
In planning your telecomputing activities, follow basic lesson design steps
as you would with any instructional project. You should plan out relevant
activities to meet specific instructional goals. Also, student tasks,
deadlines, and evaluation methods should be clearly delineated from the
start of the project. (Rogers, Andres, Jacks, and Clausen, 1990). Also,
well thought-out projects are likely to be more successful. Teachers should
first understand what they want to achieve, and how they want to achieve
it, and what tools or skills are necessary in order for the students to
successfully complete the activity. Nothing is more frustrating to a
teacher, or to his or her students, than to have a much anticipated
instructional experience "crash and burn" because of a lack of preparation.
The teacher may not be prepared in the organization of the lesson, the
students may not be properly prepared with necessary skills or knowledge,
or unforeseen system restrictions may limit student access when needed.
For instance, some sites have restricted access during "business hours";
therefore, don't try to plan student activities around a site that most likely
will be closed to them during the school day. You need to be aware, as
much a possible in this rapidly-changing medium, what the characteristics
and restrictions are of different sites and systems. Even with all the
telecomputing resources available, you still have carefully design the
learning experiences for your students.
This type of design does not rule out the possibilities for discovery
or emergent learning as students participate in telecomputing activities.
There can always be opportunities for students to "explore" as they are
on-line. However, well-designed projects help reduce the likelihood of
presenting contrived activities which are of little benefit to students.
Sometimes we may get so caught up in the technology that we
forget that telecomputing activities in and of themselves are not
necessarily motivating or instructional to students. It is how these
activities are designed and carried out with students that makes them
meaningful. Systems such as the Internet are no more useful or
instructional to students than a quick tour of the library unless the learning
activities at the site are purposeful and well-designed. Teachers must first
learn how to use the available telecomputing tools and then use their
instructional design skills to provide meaningful telecomputing projects
and activities for students.
Developing meaningful telecomputing activities is still part trial-and-
error due to the emergent nature of the medium. Fortunately, more and
more ideas for activities are being made available to teachers from
published and on-line sources. K12Net, Kidcafe, and Kidprojects are just
a few of the on-line sources for classroom telecomputing projects
(Rousseau, 1993).
In addition, as a classroom teacher, you are one of the greatest
sources for designing instructional activities to meet the needs of your own
students. As you become more aware of the telecomputing tools and
resources available on systems such as the Internet, you can use
telecomputing activities as a wonderful tool to enrich the learning
experiences of your students.
References
Harris, J. B. (1992). Telnet sessions on the Internet. The Computing
Teacher, 20, (3), 40-43.
Harris, J. B. (1992). Files for free! FTP file transfers on the Internet. The
Computing Teacher, 20, (5).
Levin, J.A., Rogers, A., Waugh, M., and Smith, K. (1989). Observations
on electronic networks: Appropriate activities for learning. The
Computing Teacher, 16 (8), 17-21.
Rogers, A., Andres, Y., Jacks, J., and Clausen, T. (1990). Keys to
successful telecomputing. The Computing Teacher, 17 (8), 25-28.
Rousseau, M. (1993). Elementary school teachers and
telecommunications in the classroom. Unpublished paper. The
University of Texas at Austin.
Upitis, R. (1990). Real and contrived uses of electronic mail in
elementary schools. Computers in Education, 15 (1-3), 233-343.
Start Your Own Mail Art Club
Bill Rainey
For decades people have been using "snail mail" to exchange small,
personal works of art. These artists have usually made postcards which
might be sent around, added to or changed by a series of people. Others
will make multiple copies of a work to be sent to a list of mail art
aficionados. Whether the completed works are destined for the gallery or
the refrigerator, mail art is an excellent opportunity for kids and adults alike
to gain experience in the collaborative production of visual meaning.
As its name implies, electronic mail art consists of visual images which are
sent through electronic mail. This is achieved by the use of encoding
programs which allow a visual image to be changed into ascii text, sent as
an e-mail message and then changed back into a picture. The beauty of
this approach is that it requires only limited network access. If you can
send and receive e-mail, you can become a mail artist.
The following discussion will center on Macintosh home computers,
though all processes described are possible with DOS based machines as
well. Since the pictures are being changed into text, it is even possible for
Macintosh and DOS users to trade pictures through electronic mail.
Macintosh graphics programs support several different formats for storing
pictures. The most common is the PICT file. Other types you may run
across include GIF and JPEG. These are both commonly used
compression standards, and shareware programs discussed later will
allow you to freely convert your files between these types. If you plan to
exchange mailart with DOS computer users, it will be necessary to use the
GIF or JPEG formats.
So let's get started. As an example, I will take you through the creation,
encoding, mailing and decoding of a picture. First of all, you will need to
create the image to be mailed. Just about any graphics program will work,
as long as you can save a file in either PICT, GIF or JPEG formats. I have
worked with photographic files using Adobe Photoshop and drawings done
with Kidpix with equal success.
For the next step, you will need an encoding program. A common all
around encoding scheme used on the Internet is called Uuencode. There
are several programs out there which will uuencode or uudecode a file for
you. As long as both you and your recipients use the uuencoding process,
your files will be readable without a hitch. So let's say I've created a
picture using Kidpix and saved it as a PICT file. I want this to be available
to DOS users, so I use a conversion program such as GIFConverter to
change it into a GIF file. Some graphics software will allow you to save
files as GIF from the outset, making the conversion unnecessary. My next
step is to open up a uuencoding program, such as Uulite for the Macintosh
(see descriptions at the end of this article). This shareware program is
easy to use and will both encode and decode files using the uuencode
process. >From the program, I open up my GIF file and select "encode".
This produces a file of the same name with a different ending to indicate
that it has been uuencoded. My encoded file is now the original GIF file
stored as text. The original graphics program will not be able to make
sense of this file until it has been decoded. If you were to look at it using a
word processor, you would see line upon line of seemingly random
characters. These characters contain all the information needed to
recreate the picture at another site.
Now that my picture is represented in text, I can easily upload it to my e-
mail account and send it either as an attachment to a message or in the
body of the message itself. I may send this message to one or many
people, depending on who is in my mailart group. While I'm mailing this
picture, I notice that my friend across the country has sent me a piece of
collaborative mailart. If I look at the message from my mail program, I see
nothing but a header, maybe a short description, and line upon line of
gibberish. I can't look at it as a picture until it is downloaded and decoded,
so I save the message or attached file and download it to my home
computer as a text file. Once the file transfer has taken place, I start my
Uuencoding program, and select the decode option. This produces a file in
the original GIF or PICT format that the sender used. I now run my
graphics program, open up the file and voila, I have a picture from across
the country. Now it is up to me to manipulate it to my liking, save it as a
GIF or other file, uuencode it, and send it to another person as an e-mail
message.
The following is a list of helpful software for mailart. All programs are
available for anonymous ftp from mac.archive.umich.edu.
Graphics: Your favorite program will do, as long as it can save files
in the PICT or GIF format. If you donŐt have graphics software, programs
such as Kidpix (the less powerful shareware version) and LightningPaint
are available at Umich in the subdirectory /mac/graphics/graphicsutil as
files kidpix1.0.cpt.hqx and lightningpaint1.1.cpt.hqx.
Uuencode/Uudecode: There are several shareware encoding
programs available. Uulite1.4 is a ŇsmartÓ and easy to use program. It is
available in the subdirectory /mac/util/compression in the file named
uulite1.4.cpt.hqx and has a registration fee of only $29.
GIFConverter: This program is helpful if your graphics program will
not read GIF files or convert between GIF and PICT files. It is available in
the subdirectory /mac/graphics/graphicsutil in the file named
gifconverter2.32.cpt.hqx and has a registration fee of $40.
JPEGView: This is postcardware (in lieu of a registration, the author
requests a picture postcard). JPEGView displays JPEG, GIF and PICT
files, and has a neat slideshow feature. The file jpegview2.0.cpt.hqx is
available in the subdirectory /mac/graphics/graphicsutil.
Software Notes:
All of the software mentioned above, and much more, is available
for anonymous ftp from: mac.archive. umich.edu. If you are new to the
site, read the root directory file 00introduction.txt. This file contains many
helpful explanations of file formats and tips on how to retrieve and
translate software available by ftp. There are also several helpful files in
the /mac/00help subdirectory.
Now that we know the technical aspects of sending and receiving
mail art, the next step is to find collaborators. Perhaps you already have e-
mail partners at another school who would like to expand into the visual
realm. As a resource, I will also compile a list of those who would like to
hook up with others across the country. To put your name on the list, send
me an e-mail message containing your name, e-mail address, age group
and any other interests or helpful descriptive information. This information
will be compiled and sent to all others who replied. Send messages Bill
Rainey at the following Internet address: brainey@tenet.edu. While it may
not lead to works worthy of the Louvre, electronic mail art is an important
infusion of artistic activity into our everyday lives. As both producers and
consumers of visual materials, we need to develop our proficiency in the
discourse of images. Visual literacy has both a reading and a writing
component, and mailart is an opportunity for practice in both.
Archaeology Unit
Carolyn Morris
One of the most successful units of study in the fifth grade gifted and
talented classroom of Diana Guarniere and Shirley Dunlap is the study of
archeology. When updating the unit, the problem then was not to
restructure the unit, but to enhance it using the internet. This can be done
by using email to subscribe to MUSEUM-L and ARCH-L listserv groups,
using ftp protocol to get simulated dig software, and using veronica
searches to enhance the research. The following is an outline of the unit
and how it can be injected with a healthy dose of the internet.
Current student requirements for this unit are to choose a civilization as
a group and then choose individual topics of study within this civilization.
The students gather information and write a research paper about their
topic. At this time, they also choose one artifact to create out of clay for a
class dig. When this is complete, students plant their artifacts in boxes
filled with newsprint for another group to "unearth". The unit is then
finished in reverse mode with teams swapping artifact boxes (dig sites)
and repeating the research process in reverse. Thus each group
researches two civilizations. The new group of students apply for specific
jobs on the dig team and "dig" the site all the time recording their findings
and developing a dig manual. Artifacts are plotted as to location in the site
and a general hypotheses is developed as to which civilization has been
uncovered. Interpretations are made on the naming of each artifact.
Students research individual artifacts and write a paper to be included in
the team dig manual along with a class position paper using assenting and
dissenting evidence about the civilization gained through the dig and
research. The project culminates with the students creating a museum to
display the artifacts, research manual, and dig manual.
This well developed unit can be adapted easily to help the students use
current internet resources. Perhaps the easiest way for the classroom
teacher to begin using the internet is by subscribing to a listserv and
having students monitor the discussions. The two that could easily
enhance this unit are MUSEUM-L AND ARCH-L. ARCH-L is a group of
practicing archaeologist, professors, students, and amateurs interested in
the field of archeology. In the past, they have discussed topics such as
urban dig sites, upcoming conferences, and job opportunities. MUSEUM-L
is a group of interested museum personnel. Museums of all sizes are
represented in this group from very small private museums to the
Smithsonian in Washington DC. This group has recently raised questions
about everything from what is ethical to sell at a museum store to the
guidelines for developing display cases that are accessible to the
handicapped. While the topics discussed by these groups change, they
have been proven to raise thought provoking topics for class discussion.
Use the following guidelines to subscribe to these groups:
ARCH-L
SUBSCRIPTION ADDRESS:
LISTSERV@DGOGWDG1.BITNET
PARTICIPATION ADDRESS:
ARCH-L@DGOGWDG1.BITNET
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO THIS DISCUSSION GROUP:
1. Send an email letter to
LISTSERV@DGOGWDG1.BITNET
2. In the message type only:
SUBscribe ARCH-L Your First and Last Names
HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE TO THIS DISCUSSION GROUP:
1. Send an email letter to
LISTSERV@DGOGWDG1.BITNET
2. In the message type only: SIGNOFF ARCH-L
MUSEUM-L
SUBSCRIPTION ADDRESS: LISTSERVE@UNMVMA
PARTICIPATION ADDRESS: MUSEUM-L@UNMVMA.BITNET
.
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO THIS DISCUSSION GROUP:
1. Address an email letter to LISTSERV@UNMVMA
2. In the message type only: SUB MUSEUM-L
Your Full Name HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS
DISCUSSION GROUP:
1. Address an email letter to LISTSERV@UNMVMA.BITNET
(or LITSERV@UNMVMA.UNM.EDU)
2. In the message type only: SIGNOFF MUSEUM-L
For the more advanced Internet user there are other sources of
information available through Gopher. An excavation simulation program
called SyGraf is available, says listserv ARCH-L owner, Sebastian Rahtz. "
Connect with gopher to ftp.tex.ac.uk on port 70,and see item 4,
Archaeology. This reveals
1. ANU/
2. ARCH-L/
3. ASOR/
4. Anthropology and archaeology gopher sources (Yale, UWA)/
5. Archaeological Computing Bibliography (WAIS database)/
6. Clonehenge/
7. Conservation OnLine (cool) (WAIS databases)/
8. SyGraf/
9. WAC/"
>From there it possible to retrieve the software back to your computer for
use in the classroom.
Students can also use the program "veronica" that is accessible from
many Gopher sites. By using simple Boolean operations: 'and', 'or', and
'not', students can find out what is available on the internet about the
civilization that their group has chosen.
The above are examples of how the internet can enhance an already in
place unit of study. The internet is a fascinating research tool comprised
of primary sources of information such as the listserves offer and
secondary sources such as software and traditional written reference
material. As teachers become familiar with the tool, it will become obvious
that the internet does not need to be layered on as another "subject" to
teach but can be used as a means of adding zest to existing material. By
doing this, students will see a direct connection between what they are
learning and the reality of the work force while preparing themselves to
use the technology of the information age.
Page 1 of 5
WHAT'S THE SAME? WHAT'S DIFFERENT?
Project for 2nd and 3rd Graders
Project completed between two schools in May, 1993
International Community School
Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Africa
and
Comanche Elementary School
Fort Stockton, Texas, USA
Project Coordinator:
Peggy Wiseman, Librarian
Comanche Elementary School
803 N. Rio Phone #915-336-8339
Fort Stockton, Texas 79735
<pwiseman@tenet.edu>;
Page 2 of 5
Project Name: What's the Same? What's Different?
Purpose:
* To give 2nd and 3rd graders hands-on use of computers and to
view a modem as a tool for classroom use.
* To illustrate to students in two widely separated schools that
students are much more alike than they are different.
Content Area: Social Studies/Math.
Grade Level: 2nd and 3rd graders
Suggested time line: Best as a three week project.
* One week practice on using a word processor to key in
information off-line.
* One week sending and receiving information.
* One week analyzing and drawing conclusions.
Project requirements:
* Email connection between two widely separated schools,
preferably in different countries.
* Telecommunication software
* Computer and printer
* Connection to a modem
* Interested and willing teachers
* Enthusiastic students
Guidelines:
1. Teachers at the participating schools will agree upon the information to
be shared and construct a pool of questions to guide students. (see
attachment for possible questions.)
2. Actual dates and times to transmit information will be set in order to
coordinate transmission of information.
3. Maps will be evident in each classroom to remind students of the
distance between the two schools.
4. Pretest and postest of student's knowledge of distant school children
and the use of a modem.
5. There will be at least two exchanges of information.
A. Information about students and their schools.
B. Questions about the information received.
Possible Project Activities:
1. Comparisons of "Sames/Differents" will be done.
2. Graphs will be made from information gathered
3. Averages and rations made from information.
Evaluation criteria:
Post Test for information gained and teacher observation of
computer/modem use.
Other Benefits: An exchange of information on a personal basis should
make each group of people more real to the students. The exchange
between teachers as they prepare for the project should give them a wider
perspective of the whole educational and learning process.
Page 3 of 5
Suggested items of information for each student to send to the other
school. Some information which can be used for graphs, averages and
ratios.
Name:
Boy or Girl:
Birthday:
Birth City:
Birth State:
Birth Country:
Eye Color:
Hair Color:
Best toy/game:
Best Book:
Job of Father:
Job of Mother:
Who lives w/you:
Other information:
Page 4 of 5
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS: One best answer as decided by the students,
prepared in small groups or total class. Not all questions have to be
answered.
1. What time do you usually get up in the morning?
2. What do you usually eat for breakfast?
3. Describe typical school clothing for boys.
4. Describe typical school clothing for girls.
5. Describe the weather in May at your school.
6. What time do you go to school?
7. How do you travel to school (bus, car, bike)?
8. How many students go to your school?
9. What grades are in your school?
10. What is the 1st thing you do when you get to school?
11. What do you like to study best at school?
12. What is the hardest thing you study at school?
13. What do you like to play at school?
14. What is the name of your principal?
15. What is your favorite lunch menu?
16. What time do you finish the school day?
17. What do you like to do after school.
18. What do you usually do after school and before supper?.
19. What do you usually do after the evening meal?
20. What time do you usually go to bed?
GROUP QUESTIONS: (or at least many answers)
1. What is the average distance students travel
from home to the school?
2. Give a typical school day's schedule in your school.
3. What do your teachers do that you like best?
4. What do your teachers do that you like least?
Page 5 of 5
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS FOR PRE/POST TEST. (selected
questions from the information the students will send to each other.
Teachers should select information they believe will surprise the students
the most.
1. What do you think the children in_____________ wear to school?
2. What do you think the children in ______________ eat for breakfast?
3. How do you think the children travel to the ____________ school?
4. What do you think the children at the ________________ school like to
study?
5. What do you think the children at the _________________ school like
to play?
6. What is a modem?
PROGRAMMING PROJECTS THAT USE THE RESOURCES OF THE
INTERNET
by Kenneth Higdon
As telecomputing becomes more prevalent in K-12 education, students
will benefit from the vast resources and information that is available.
Student will need to learn how to use this resource to maximize the benefit
it provides. The following project ideas should provide the experience the
students need. These projects are designed for the students of a
computer science class to use E-mail, FTP, Archie, and listserv discussion
groups to enhance their learning experience and help them with their
programming skills.
E-MAIL PROJECT
The first project is designed to use E-Mail to conduct a programming
project between to different sites. The following could be implemented
quite easily only requiring both classes to use the same programming
language. The below project assumes that Pascal is the programming
language used but you should be able to modify it for what ever
programming language that is used. The idea for this project was
developed by Cindi K. Schroeder (E-Mail- cschroe@matt.ksu.ksu.edu), a
computer science teacher in Manhattan, KS, and myself.
PROGRAMMING OVER THE NETS
Description: A group of computer science students at one site
are assigned a task where each student writes one module of an
inventory program. The group writes a driver program and then
combines the modules and driver together to complete the
program.
Additional modules that sort and search by item name and price
are written by students at another site. These modules are
sent over the INTERNET and incorporated into the inventory
program at site 1. The original inventory program is sent over
the INTERNET to site 2 and the sort and search modules written
there are inserted.
OBJECTIVE(S):
SITE 1
Using procedure/function headers with pre and post conditions
and type definitions, a student writes program code for a
specific module of an inventory program.
A team of students write a driver program that combines the
student modules to form an inventory program.
Students use telecommunications to transfer the inventory
program to students at another site.
Students incorporate a program module from another site into
the current inventory program.
SITE 2
Using procedure/function headers with pre and post conditions
and type definitions, a student writes program code for a sort
and search module(s) of an inventory program.
Students use telecommunications to transfer the module to
students at another site.
Students incorporate their sort/search module into the base
program received from site 1.
PROJECT ASSIGNMENT
Description of the program Site 1: A team of 4 students are to
write an inventory program. The program asks the user for item
name, price and quantity. This information is saved to a
textfile. The program also allows the user to view the entire
inventory along with total cost per item (item price * item
quantity). Each team member will write one of the procedures
below and test its correctness with a stub program. The team
then writes a driver program that combines the procedures and
driver together to complete the program. Additional modules
that sort and search by item name and price will be
incorporated into the program.
Description of the program Site 2: A team of students are
writing the inventory program described above. You are to
write one sort or search procedure listed below that will
fulfill the pre/post conditions listed. Write a stub program
to test the validity of your procedure. This stub will be sent
over INTERNET to site 1 where it will be integrated into their
inventory program. The students at site 1 will send their
original inventory program to you so you can integrate your
procedure into their program.
Itemtype = Record
ItemName : String;
IntemPrice: Real;
ItemQuantity: Real;
ItemTotal; Real;
End (* record *)
Itemarr = Array[1..20] of Itemtype;
Procedure GetInfor (Var Items:Itemarr; Var Count: Integer)
Pre: None
Post: Array of records filled with item name, price, quantity
and total cost per item
Procedure SaveInfo (FileItem:Itemarr; NumItem: Integer);
Pre: Array of items and number of items in the array
Post: All records and fields saved on textfile
Procedure RetreiveInfo(Var GetItem:Itemarr;Var AmtItems:
Integer)
Pre: None
Post: Array of items filled from reading from textfile
Procedure Display (DisItem:Itemarr; NItem:Integer)
Pre: Array of items
Post: Display all Field values of all records in columnar form
on the screen
Site 2
Procedure SortName(List :Itemarr; ListLen: Integer)
Pre: Unsorted list and the number of items in the list
Post: Sorted list by item name
Procedure SortTotal (List:Itemarr; ListLen: Integer)
Pre: Unsorted list and the number of items in the list
Post: Sorted list by total cost per item
Procedure SearchName (List:Itemarr; ListLen: Integer)
Pre: List and number of items in the list
Post: Price, quantity and total cost per item for desired item
name
Procedure SearchPrice (List:Itemarr; ListLen: Integer)
Pre: List and number of items in the list
Post: Price, quantity and total cost per item for all items of
a particular cost
Procedures/Activities
Site 1 (4-5 class hours)
1. One class period to discuss project design and allow
students to plan their module.
2. One class period for students to write their module and
write stubs to test for accuracy.
3. One period to combine modules into one inventory program
and to test and verify.
4. 10 minutes to upload and send program to site 2.
5. 10 minutes to download sort/search program module from 2.
6. One class period to integrate sort/search module (received
from site 2) into the inventory program.
Site 2 (3-4 class hours)
Same as above but omit step 3
GRADING CRITERIA:
4 points for individual stub that works
3 points for group project that works
2 points for approval/grading of someone else's algorithm
1 point for your individual algorithm
Each person will fill out a criteria sheet and staple it to
his/her algorithm. This algorithm must have the signature of
the team member who approved it.
All the team's algorithms will be stapled together as the
group project packet.
SUMMARY: The purpose of this activity is to illustrate how
large programs can be divided into independent sections that
work on their own and perform just one task. These independent
sections can be placed together in a main program to allow the
program to perform many tasks. Most software companies use
this method when writing programs since it allows for division
of labor.
Cindi's class and my class just finish doing a programming project over
the net. The result were excellent. One additional idea that I suggested to
Cindi was to have the student's at each site do a constructive criticism of
each others programs. This turned out to be an excellent teaching tool.
You could start with a simpler project like having one site do the main
part of a math quiz program and the other site doing the various math
modules like addition, division, etc. that would be used in the program.
LISTSERV DISCUSSION PROJECT
The next telecomputing project would be to have the students monitor
a discussion group for the language you are teaching. The one for pascal
is INFO-PASCAL@brl.mil. This would provide the students with another
resource to help them with there programming. It would also let them see
some practical application of the Internet. The students could be taught
how to search the listserv database for programming topics that they are
currently working on. These previous discussions would provide your
student real life experience of other programmers.
FTP PROJECT
The last project would use the FTP and ARCHIE resources of the
Internet. The students would be given an assignment where they would
have to retrieve programming code that they could use in a program that
they were assigned. You as the teacher would first have to explore the
various resource so that find code that would work with your assignment.
You could either tell the students where the programming code is located.
If you wanted to provide a little more of a challenge to the students, you
have them use an ARCHIE site to find where the programming code is
located.
SUMMARY
These are just few ideas on how you could use the Internet in your
computer science classroom. I do know that the E-Mail was very
beneficial project for the students. Not only did it give them programming
experience, it sharpened there writing abilities since they had to critique
the programs. They also benefited from the interpersonal relationship that
results from any interaction between different groups. If any one that
reads this would like to get one of the above projects going with another
site, you could post a request with a teacher discussion group. You could
also E-Mail me, Kenneth H. Higdon, at khigdon@Tenet.Edu or Cindi at
cschroe@matt.ksu.ksu.edu. Currently Cindi is doing a
Young Children Using Computers for Language
Arts and Telecommunication
Yolanda Esparza
The world of technology continues its never ending quest to move
us into the technological age. For educators that means accepting
computers as tools to enhance the learning opportunities of our students.
Computers and their peripherals have become the technological tools of
the 90's. As an elementary school teacher, who has recently become
involved with establishing a computer lab at our elementary school, I have
become curious to seek information about the potential of computers to
enhance the teaching and learning of language art skills and whether
telecommunications is appropriate at the early elementary grades. The
following is information that I found to support the use of computers in the
instruction of language arts and the use of telecommunications with young
students.
It appears that computer use can integrate the essential
components of language abilities by providing opportunities for speaking,
listening, reading, and writing (Roberts, Blakeslee, Brown, & Lenk, 1990).
There are now available many software programs that provide practice
with the essential reading skills needed by young students learning to
read. It is even possible for students to learn phonics, because of the
ability of computers to produce sound. Some of these programs are highly
sophisticated and offer management programs for individual instruction
according to the student's individual needs. These types of assisted
instructional programs address many of the reading and listening skills of
the language arts instruction for the young elementary child. It would be
naive to believe that this is the only way computers provide instruction and
practice in reading and listening, but it accounts for much of the software
on the market today. It is also what most teachers first become familiar
with. I mention it only to emphasize the ability of computer instruction to
address the reading and listening skills. It is the writing skills, in my
opinion, that have been enhanced greatly by the use of the computers in
the educational setting. It is due primarily to the word processor and the
features it offers. A word processor is a software program that allows the
writer to see what he has typed on the screen and offers editing features
to make modifying the work much easier. I know my first graders easily
learned the basic editing features of Bank Street Writer. In a study by
Fisher (1983) teachers reported that students using word processors write,
edit, and revise more often and students reported they enjoy word
processing because it makes fixing mistakes much easier. Marcus (1990)
reports the word processor teaches about the composing process by
giving students the control over their written words.
The dilemma with word processing especially with the young
elementary student is the skill of keyboarding. In order to use a word
processor, it is necessary for a student to know how to use a keyboard. In
other words, he must know how to type. Knowing how to keyboard has
become an issue for educators. Some believe it is essential to have
adequate keyboarding skills before a student can benefit from a word
processor. Others feel it is the writing that should be emphasized and not
the keyboarding skills. Perhaps because I am a teacher of young children,
I agree with the latter statement. If the goal is to get students to express
themselves by writing, then it makes little difference to me whether they
peck at the keyboard or use proper finger positions to type. A study
comparing fifth graders that were taught keyboarding skills on a regular
basis for two months with third graders who were not given any
keyboarding instruction showed that the fifth graders were not typing
anymore proficiently than the third graders (Kahn & Freyd, 1990). Another
study showed that kindergarten students produced meaningful messages
earlier on the word processor than with pencil and paper (Kahn & Freyd,
1990). The mention of these studies is for the purpose of focusing on the
goal of writing instead of the physical mechanics. It should not be the
keyboarding or handwriting skills that are the objective here, but the ability
to express oneself through the written word that is the prime objective.
The speaking component of the language arts skills was
interestingly addressed by two studies of young children communicating
by using a cooperative learning approach with and about computers. A
study of kindergarten children learning to use Logo found the children's
talk during practice to be task-related, other-directed, cooperative, and non
playful (Genishi, 1988). It appears that the young students were eager to
share what they knew and seeked information verbally from their peers.
What a great way to get students to practice verbal communication with a
real purpose. In another study by Dickinson (1986) the computer was
used as a tool for a collaborative writing project with first and second
graders. The project forced the students to discuss with their partners
ideas, opinions, objections and plans for the writing assignment. The
project made oral communication a necessary component for
accomplishing the task. These are just two ways in which computers have
provided opportunities for students to practice and expand their speaking
abilities. Computers and appropriate software can enhance the
teaching and learning of the language art skills for the young elementary
student as suggested by the sited examples above. Therefore, I suggest
since telecommunications uses written language as the method of
information transfer and young students can begin to communicate with
written words it is worth investigating the possible advantages it may
provide for our students.
First, telecommunications is communication among computers
across distances by use of computer networks (Roberts, Blakeslee,
Brown, Lenk, 1990). The necessary equipment needed to access the
information source of the future and the communication link to places
around the world are a computer, a telecommunications software program,
a modem, and a telephone. If the goal of education is to prepare our
children for the future then telecommunications must be a factor in that
goal (Roberts, Blakeslee, Brown, Lenk, 1990).
Telecommunications is a language arts tool that gives teachers
another strategy for increasing the student's communication skills
(Roberts, Blakeslee, Brown, Lenk, 1990) Since language arts is all about
communication skills, telecommunications makeng. The use of a special
projectors allows the students to monitor the words transposed to print.
Telecommunication could begin in this manner with another class and as
the year progresses small groups of students will likely be able to write
letters and stories with little help from the teacher to send to their
electronic buddies. It is the excitement and joy that telecommunications
bring to the study of language arts that should not be ignored by any grade
level.
We have at our disposal spectacular New Age machines. The
worst we could do-whatever the age of the learner-is use
them for groundless or unimaginative purposes that fail to lead to
children's understanding and control. Used thoughtfully, computers
could change traditional visions of classrooms to enhance the
children's thinking and learning (Genishi,1988, p.199).
References
Dickinson, David K. "Cooperation, Collaboration, and a Computer:
Intergrating a Computer into First-Second Grade Writing Program."
Research in the Teaching of English, Vol. 20 (December 1986), pp.
357-378.
Fisher, Glenn. "Word Processing Will it make all kids love to write?"
Instructor and Teacher, Vol. 92 (February 1983), pp. 87-8. Genishi,
Celia. "Kindergarteners and Computers: A Case Study of Six
Children." The Elementary School Journal, Vol. 89 (November
1988), pp. 185-201.
Holvig, Kenneth C. "Jamming the Phone Lines: Pencils, Notebooks, and
Modems." English Journal, Vol. 78 (December 1989), pp. 68-70. Kahn,
J. and P.Freyd. "Online: A whole Language Perspective on
Keyboarding." Language Arts, Vol. 67, No.1 (January 1990), pp.84-
90.
Marcus, Stephen. "Computers in the Language Arts: from Pioneers to
Settlers." Language Arts, Vol. 67, No.5 (September 1990), pp.519-
524.
Roberts, N., G.Blakeslee, M. Brown, and C. Lenk. Integrating
Telecommunication into Education. NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990.
THE YEAR IN REVIEW
WHAT MATTERS TO YOU?
by
Cynthia Zapalac Garrett and Julie McMahon
Racial Violence, School Finance, Economic Stimulus, NAFTA, National
Health Care, European Economic Community, Crime ...What does this
have to do with me?
Many educators find it difficult to interest students in current issues
beyond the "in" brand of jeans and the week's top ten hits.
Telecommunications may be the key to awakening young people's interest
in the world around them and to creating an awareness of the accessibility
of the global village. With this in mind, the ultimate goal of the "The Year
in Review -- What Matters to You?" is to allow students to actively explore
current world events utilizing the global resources of the Internet.
However, as is true with any adventure, many other important skills are
developed along the path of exploration.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
"The Year in Review -- What Matters to You?" is an interdisciplinary
project involving the Social Studies, Language Arts, and Computer
Literacy content areas. Because of its flexibility, the project may be
effectively utilized in grades 6-12. Furthermo re, although designed as an
interdisciplinary unit, it may be delivered successfully in a single subject
area. The project time line would need to be adjusted accordingly. The
final outcome of the unit is the production of a current events newspaper,
designed and written by the students, entitled "A Year in Review -- What
Matters to You?". Telecommunications is employed as the medium to
"interview" students all over the world and gather source material for the
news stories the class will write. Instead of merely reading about world
events as assigned by a teacher, students are asked to "discover" what
was truly important to their peers around the world by asking other
students. To begin the project, cooperative teams design a survey which
asks other students to name what they believe are the most important
events of the current year. The survey should en courage the contribution
of events which are important to their school, city/state, and country. After
the survey is designed, it is then sent out across the Internet to elicit world-
wide response. Upon receipt of the responses, student teams categorize
the data, develop a database, and graph the frequency of response
themes. Finally, the students use the survey responses and the research
capabilities of the Internet to create world events newspaper articles.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
Although the overall goal of the project is to enhance student
awareness of world events, several other educational objectives are
stressed during the course of study. These specific objectives are listed
below.
* The learner will design a public opinion survey.
* The learner will post the survey on Internet bulletin boards and
LISTSERV's.
* The learner will monitor e-mail, save, print and reply to responses daily.
* The learner will compile and code the results of the survey.
* The learner will create a database of the survey responses.
* The learner will use the Internet to research the events described
in the survey responses.
* The learner will create a newspaper article based on the research
findings.
SAMPLE ACTIVITY SCHEDULE
Day 1 & 2 (Social Studies Class):
The teacher leads a class discussion of basic survey design.
Students analyze and discuss various surveys which have been collected
from newspapers and magazine sources. Finally, the class develops
criteria for the World Events Survey to be distributed across the Internet.
Day 3 (Computer Lab):
Students work in cooperative groups to design the World Events
Survey, using the criteria developed previously in Social Studies class.
The class will select the best survey design from all those developed by
the cooperative groups, and that survey will
be posted on the Internet.
An example of the survey posted by our classes at Stafford Middle
School and Wharton Junior High School is shown below. Note that a
response deadline is given, which allowed two weeks for students to
respond to the survey from the date of the original p osting.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Hello World!
We are 8th grade middle school students from Texas and would
like your help with a class project. We would like to create a database
which contains the most important world events from the past year. Then,
we will research the important world events and create newspaper articles
based on our findings. Our classes are willing to share these reports with
those who reply to our survey.
If you can help us, please answer the following survey by April 26,
1993. E-mail the results to:
jmcmahan@tenet.edu
Thank you from:
Computer Literacy Classes Computer Literacy Classes
Stafford Middle School Wharton Junior High
School Stafford, TX USA Wharton, TX USA
******************************************************************
IMPORTANT EVENTS SURVEY
1) How old are you?
2) Are you a male or a female?
3) Where so you live? (City, State, Country)
4) What is the name of your school?
5) What was the most important event that happened in your school
during the past year? (Please explain briefly why you feel this event was
so important)
6) What was the most important event that happened in your city or
state during the past year? (Please explain briefly why you feel this event
was so important)
7) What was the most important event that happened in your country
during the past year? (Please explain briefly why you feel this event was
so important)
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Examples of places to post survey:
-KidSphere (previously KidsNet) Internet BBS,
address Kidsphere-Request@VMS.CIS.PITT.EDU
-KidCafe LISTSERV, subscription address
LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU
Tip: To get more international responses, have your students
"cruise the KidCafe". Have students mail the survey to
international students who are looking for penpals. These
students are anxious to write and the survey is a good basis
for developing a pen-friend relationship.
Days 4 - 17 (Computer Lab)
Cooperative learning groups take turns monitoring the e-mail for
responses to the survey. Students should save the results to a file, print
the results, and distribute them to the social studies teacher. Students
should also acknowledge responses via e-mail.
Days 12-17 (Social Studies Class)
Students should begin to discuss and categorize responses by
themes. Then, the class designs a Key Word Code structure to aid in
consistent data entry for the computerized database. An example of a
Key Word code structure is shown below for the most im portant events
responses:
Survey Response Key Word
Presidential Election Politics
Rodney King Trial Racial Tension or Police Brutality
Toronto Blue Jay's win World Series Sports
Day 18 (Language Arts)
Teacher should discuss format and criteria for the newspaper
article as well as the proper documentation techniques for
telecommunications sources. Students should select research topics for
their newspaper article, based on the survey responses.
Day 18 (Computer Lab)
Students and teacher design a database that would be appropriate
for entering the survey results. The database should utilize the keyword
codes developed in social studies class.
Day 19 - 21 (Computer Lab)
Two activities will be going on simultaneously in the computer lab (if
as in most schools, access to the modem is limited). Students should be
placed in pairs to work on database entry, having one student enter the
results while the other checks for acc uracy. During this time, each set of
partners can have a chance to use the Internet to research their article
topic(s).
*Examples of Internet Resources for Research*
Telnet Sites:
SERVICES - wugate.wustl.edu or 128.252.120.1
This site has a large variety of information including many
science databases, the geographic name server, and access to
many libraries.
UMD Info Database - info.umd.edu or 128.8.10.29
This site has a gopher system available which will allow
students to perform Veronica searches and WAIS based
searches. From the main menu of the site, government
information such as the CIA World Fact Book and economic
data are available.
Cleveland Freenet - freenet-in-a.cwru.edu or freenet-in-b.cwru.edu
There is a wealth of information available at this site. For
the research project, students may be interested in the on-
line access to USA Today.
FTP Sites:
Lyric Server - cs.uwp.edu
This site contains a wealth of information on music and would
be appropriate for students researching topics related to music.
(CARL) Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries -
pac.carl.org or 192.54.81.128
Online database, book reviews, magazine fax
delivery service. On-line encyclopedia.
Access to library catalogs. Access to ERIC.
Earthquake Info.- geophys.washington.edu or 128.95.16.50
Seismographic Net Info.
Handicap/Medical Site - handicap.shel.isc-br.com or 129.189.4.184
General medical information and information for specific
diseases and conditions.
World News - ftp.uu.net
World news (usenet newsgroups) and court opinions
Day 22 (Computer Lab)
Students use the database to create graphs and charts which
represent frequency of response themes. On-line research may
continue if necessary.
Days 19-22 (Language Arts)
Students write articles for the newspaper based on research
findings.
Days 23-25 (Computer Lab)
Students use desktop publishing software (or a word processor)
to create the final newspaper, "The Year in Review - What Matters
to You?"
Summary
Teachers are encouraged to utilize this project description as a
framework for their own world events research units. Each school has
slightly different computer lab access and team structure, therefore the
project can be adapted to suit each school's n eeds. Parts of the project
may need to be omitted or enhanced to emphasize a particular teacher's
objectives. However, this project teaches many valuable research skills
and allows students to think critically about the events happening in their
world. Through incorporating different activities, and different disciplines,
students see a variety of views of the same problem which enhances
lateral thinking. Do you need a fresh way to teach old topics -- database,
current affairs, journalism, desktop pub lishing? Why not try "A Year in
Review -- What Matters to You?".
BUILDING A BETTER TOMORROW
by Sue Vasser <suev@tenet.edu.>;
3rd grade teacher
Austin, Texas 78731
RATIONALE: With the overwhelming evidence that interactive activities in
education produce better learning, I wanted to incorporate several facets
of this style of learning into my Social Studies project. It is my belief that
with only a little modification, teachers from others grade levels would be
able to adapt this lesson idea.
SUBJECT AND AUDIENCE: Social Studies (Communities), 3rd grade
OBJECTIVES:
1. Students will describe how their community is similar and different from
other communities in the United States.
2. Students will simulate the growth and development or decline of a city
or small town.
3. Students will cite factors relating to a population's growth or decline.
4. Students will gather data from different communities in the U.S. to assist
in their research.
5. Students will relate their findings to the cities they have connected with
through the internet.
MATERIALS NEEDED: Computer with hard drive, printer, modem and
software, access to the internet, and SimCity (software program by Maxis),
and classes around the United States willing to contribute information
about their community through e-mail.
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Students should become familiar with the
computer program, SimCity. In this program they will need to be able to
maneuver around so as to construct their cities and deal with disasters.
They will experience the need to make ,save and spend money wisely.
There is plenty of opportunity for teachers to expand this program into the
areas of math and science as well as social studies. Students will also
need to feel comfortable logging onto the internet and the tasks necessary
to accomplish the task. For this particular unit students will need to be
able to use e-mail, the Geographic Name Server, the Underground
Weather Service. and the World Factbook.
TIMELINE: 3 weeks to establish prior knowledge and teacher preparation
and 3 weeks to complete assignments.
TEACHER PREPARATION: Create an invitation to participate in the
project, and post the invitation on matchmaker with the appropriate
guidelines as outlined by two articles presently posted on
Matchmaker,"Keys to Successful Telecomputing" by Al Rogers, Yvonne
Andres, Mary Jacks, The FrEDMail Foundation, Published in The
Computing Teacher, May, 1990, Page 25ff and "Tips for Successful
Telecommunications Projects" by B.J. and J.A. Dodge. Both of these are
great. Through this preparation, I would hope to find classes from several
different kinds of communities such as farming, mining, and port
communities. The teacher should learn the program SimCity City and be
prepared to teach it as a large group instruction. Later students will break
into groups for their own special endeavors.
TELECOMMUNICATION SITES USED:
1.Geographic Name Server telnet martini.eecs.umich.edu 3000
2.Underground Weather -telnet madlab.sprl.umich.edu 3000
3.World Factbook-Telnet lib.dartmouth.edu
4.Matchmaker (News and Conferences)
5.e-mail
PROCEDURE:
1. Several weeks prior to starting the unit post the call for collaboration.
2. Teach the students how to log on to the internet and perhaps let them
practice e-mailing some classes in nearby schools.
3. Prepare the students to use the software program, SimCity.
4. Begin the unit. Students will be divided into three groups; mining,
farming, and ports. These groups will brainstorm the kind of information
they would like to collect from their new internet friends and then make
contact with the participating schools respectively. Hopefully, the students
will in turn use the data and information they are collecting to help them
make some good decisions when building their different communities.
Each group will be constructing the kind of community they were assigned
to Students will keep a log or journal of each day's activities and record
pertinent information gathered either from telnet sites, e-mail or their
SimCity program. Each group will at the end of 3 weeks report their
findings in a class presentation, using charts and graphs showing data
collected and success or failure of their community and tell why.
As a part of each day, I will present general but basic information
about these three types of communities. Our textbook has a lot to offer in
terms of basic information. Each day students will also check the
Underground Weather Service (telnet madlab.sprl.umich.edu 3000) to
record the temperature of their 'sister city' or one nearby. In the beginning
students will telnet to martini.eecs.umich.edu 3000 to access the
Geographic Name Server. Using this they will record longitude and
latitude, population etc. from this site.of their sister city. This information
will be used in their class report.
Students will also telnet lib.dartmouth.edu to use the World
Factbook. Using this will take some teacher guidance at the 3rd grade
level. From this site information about specific ports, mines and farming
regions around the world are available.
The conclusion of this project will be the presentation of the group
reports. If students show reasons why changes took place and can
explain or justify their choices when building their community, as well as
give first hand information from the internet city, I will consider the project
successful.
INTEGRATED ACTIVITIES:
1. Display a world may showing location of cities that we are "typing' to .
2. Write stories whose settings are in our different communities.
3. Write a song about our kind of community.
4. Draw a diagram of of each simulated city.
5. Read stories and books set in each of the communities. (A Paradise
Called Texas by Janice Shefelman)
6. Write letters to the internet cities explaining what we are learning and
share our final data collection with them
SUMMARY
The students will be personally involved in being city planners of the
future. They will use information gathered from their internet friends and
their communities to make good decisions in creating the simulated cities.
In this process students will use many skills and resources from all
classes as they learn some new and valuable computing skills.
Software Program Information:
SimCity, 3rd grade through adult,
Maxis Software
Two Theatre Square, Suite 230,
Orinda, CA 94563-3346
$39.95
KEEPING CURRENT WITH FREEWARE AND SHAREWARE
APPLICATIONS
by Emil Biga
Audience:
k-12 mac-lab care-takers and teachers with some knowledge
of the internet
Lead:
I am a teacher sitting at my desk wondering where I would find
the time to write an application that would help me in my
classes. I also know that others are probably thinking the
same thoughts, and that one of those people might actually
write a similar application, but how would I find time to find
out?
Or I am a network supervisor and the users of the Mac-lab are
loading on and removing applications from the hard drives on
the networked computers. Someone could and should write
shareware applications to help me manage the network. Where
could I find time to find such resources?
Establishing section:
You will now find out by to teaching your students how to
access a newsreader to find the availability and brief
descriptions of new applications. These applications range
over the entire spectrum of applications that creative Mac
programming minds can produce. Many are just what you may
be looking for--even if you do not realize that now. Your
students will also be taught where to get the applications, and
then store the applications in the hard drives of the computer
lab.
Development:
The two newsgroups that I frequent are comp.sys.mac.announce
and comp.sys.mac.digest
Both groups are moderated so the information is current and
stays in the newsgroup for only a few days.
The comp.sys.mac.announce newsgroup contains announcements
that are of interest to the Mac community as interpreted by
the moderator. The latest virus released on the Mac
community will be announced here, and in a few days, the
updated virus protectors will be posted. For those virus
protection applications which need only to have a few lines of
information changed, that information will appear in this
newsgroup. With those virus protection applications that are
redone, the ftp site will be given.
For a particular example, on 27 Apr 1992 13:43:58, Peter Dodd
from the University of Texas at Austin posted a note that a
free Laboratory Administration Utilities package was
available from Western Australia University CS-Department.
One of the utilities was called BootPass. BootPass is a simple
password protection system extension which can protect
certain applications from tampering.
The other newsgroup, comp.sys.mac.digest, contains zero to
five daily digests of Mac-related questions, comments,
thoughts, and new applications. Every digest is less than a
week old. They are also archived at SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU,
in the info-mac directory, if you miss them in the
comp.sys.mac.digest newsgroup. SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU is one
of the ftp sites that you can download virus protection
applications, especially the freeware Disinfectant.
The following is the list of the many subdirectories in the
info- mac directory, each of may contain hundreds of
applications. Monitoring this list is a time-consuming task,
which students could enjoy doing.
info-mac
app(lications)
art
gif (compressed pictures and applications to view them)
qt (quick time movies)
card (HyperCard stacks)
comm(unication applications)
cp (computer programs)
da (desk accessories)
demo(nstrations of applications)
digest
csmp (com-sci mac programmers digest)
im (general questions and answers digest with
newlistings
of files added to info-mac archives)
tb (tidbits archive)
(new additions to the above digests are available on
comp.sys.mac.digest newsgroup)
vapor (vaporware archive)
ex(tras applications that don't fit any where else)
fkey
font (fonts)
tt (true type fonts)
game
help
lang(uages computer languages)
misc(cellaneous)
report
sound
source
c
pascal
tech(niques)
tips
unix
util(ities)
ad (after dark files)
virus
One of the comments posted on Mon, 27, Apr 92 22:03 EST by
Jerome A. Levin, from the Medical College of Ohio, describes
Hard Drive Updating software. He wrote that there is an
application called RevRDist that will compare every file on the
Hard Drive with a reference folder, when the Mac starts up. If
any extra files are found, they will be placed in a Junk Folder,
which can be placed anywhere and will be discarded at
specified intervals. If any extensions or control panels are
replaced, the client Mac will reboot when the process is done.
This can also be used to add or update any files on the client
Macs by placing them in the reference folder. Of course the
caveat is that this will slow the initial startup process and
put heavy traffic on the network when the Macs are turned on
at the beginning of each day, but this application will save the
Lab staff (us) time.
How can this all be accomplished?
Pick a group of students who enjoy working in the Lab. Have
them monitor the newsgroups and keep electronic notes on the
applications and announcements that are current for that week.
At weekly meetings of these various students (sooner if there
is a virus alert), an agreement will be made as to which
applications look inviting. Let the students go to a ftp-site
and download the applications to an account at your
cooperating university. From there, the students will download
the application for distribution. They will play with the
application and return to the group with comments on its use.
These comments will lead to an evaluation as to the
usefulness and appropriateness of the application, and the
application will be put on your network or it will be saved for
more thought, or you will decide not to put it on the network.
Not only will students be learning a process, they will be
freeing you from the monitoring and acquisition of
applications. This time can be spent on the less mundane tasks
we all have to do.
INTERNET TO THE STARS
by Becky Larson, Jody McQuillan, & Barb Andersen
The study of astronomy is found in upper elementary
through middle level science classes. Through
interdisciplinary activities within science, language arts and
telecommunications, astronomy may be enhanced.
Telecommunications can be used to enhance the scientific
method approach to learning because of its motivational
interactive platform. Not only can we measure, predict,
hypothesize and communicate within our own class, but we can
also do the same with distant classrooms. Language arts and
telecommunications enhances astronomy by allowing the
learner to ask, seek and find, and interact with his/her own
ideas on what astronomy is.
SCIENCE Within the science classes, the students, using the
scientific method, will observe and measure the location of
the constellations or specific planets at their own site and
through analysis and computations predict the location of the
constellations and planets at a different site school. Students
will be using email, telnet, and ftp internet resources to
accomplish these activities.
To find a school to collaborate with, a posting can be
placed on SpaceMet, an internet telnet resource, KidsNet, or
KidProj, both Kids are listserv groups. To connect to
SpaceMet, use the telnet address,
spacemet.phast.umass.edu. When at the SpaceMet main menu,
choose the Bulletin submenu, within this submenu choose
(B)ulletin Boards in Massachusetts, within this submenu
choose SpaceMet/Physics Forum, within this submenu choose
the file educator.lst. At the beginning, there will be directions
as to posting in this list or you can scroll through the list
looking for schools you might contact yourself. To subscribe
to KidsNet use the address, request-KidsNet@vms.cis.pitt.edu,
leave the subject line blank and in the body type, Subscribe
KidsNet Your full name. To send correspondence use the
address, KidsNet@vms.cis.pitt.edu, type your request in the
body of the message. To subscribe to KidProj use the address,
listserv@ndsuvm1.bitnet, leave the subject line blank and in
the body type, Subscribe KidProj Your full name. To send
correspondence use the address, KidProj@ndsuvm1.bitnet, type
your request in the body of the message. Science students
using email will communicate their astronomy predictions to
other students from at least one other school.
Since weather can be a limiting factor, students can
access current weather data and conditions from Weather
Underground, a telnet resource site, or WX-TALK: Weather, a
listserv group. To connect to Weather Underground use the
address, madlab.sprl.umich.edu 3000 or 141.212.196.79 3000.
To subscribe to WX-TALK use the address,
listserv@uiucvmd.bitnet, leave the subject line blank and in
the body type, Subscribe WX-TALK Your full name. To send
correspondence use the address, WX- TALK@uiucvmd.bitnet,
type your request in the body of the message.
To access information concerning the different planets,
Spacelink can be used. To connect to Spacelink, use the telnet
address, spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov or 128.158.13.250. When it
asks for user-id type: newuser. Password is also newuser.
When at the NASA Spacelink main menu choose Classroom
Materials, within this submenu choose Astronomy Information,
within this submenu choose Our Solar System at a Glance,
within this submenu choose the file Mercury. This file
describes Mercury's attributes and location on the horizon at
dusk and dawn. Currently, information on the constellations
has not been found at telnet or ftp sites on the Internet.
Astronomy textbooks and reference books from your own
library or the public library may be of assistance. Another
possible contact may be your local university physics
department and/or local planetarium.
To implement and verify the predictions of this activity
the students will need a protractor, sextant and a compass.
Use the compass to locate magnetic north. For the lower to
middle level grades, a giant protractor can be made. By placing
it on the ground, the students will stand in the middle facing
magnetic north and turn clockwise to obtain the location, in
degrees, of the planet or constellation in reference to
magnetic north. To find the location, in degrees, of the
constellations and planets above the horizon, students will
utilize the sextant. Predictions can be obtained by
determining the longitude and latitude of the sister site, as
well as time of observation and inserting these figures into a
software application such as Voyager 1.0 or MacAstro. These
figures will render the right ascension and declination of the
particular constellation or planet under investigation. If
weather conditions do not allow synchronous viewing by
participating schools, a factor of .986 degrees per day needs to
be added to the initial right ascension figure.
LANGUAGE ARTS
The study of astronomy will cross discipline lines using
the language arts curriculum to enhance the science curriculm.
While learning about astronomy, the student will have the
opportunity to gain insight into astronomers of the past, and
some possible origins of the constellations. A character
online, through email, would be a sounding board for students
to communicate their ideas to and be a disseminator facts and
information. We felt the idea of our students being able to
ask questions, share ideas about constellations and planets,
and explore possible mythological origins of the solar system
is a very powerful way to initiate discussion and aid in
student communication and language skills.
THE PLAN: for Language arts integration
Your online character could be recruited from a planetarium,
university physics department or interested high school
students.
Third-Fourth grades : Galileo Project
After being given the initial lessons on the solar system,
and being introduced to Galileo, one the first astronomers, the
students would be asked to write a letter to him. They could
brainstorm in small groups some "important" questions they
could ask Galileo. The teacher could direct them toward
questions like : "Where did your ideas come from? What did
you to make your telescope?" During this time the student's
questions could be compiled and through group consensus and
electronically mailed to him. Use groups of three students
per "letter" to compose, edit, and scribe (Type in this case).
The students then will receive messages back from Galileo
that may contain a few old english terms, and of course as
accurate information compiled by our team. We will continue
to "communicate" in this way through out the year building our
writing, spelling, editing, and collaboration skills. The
discussions will increase in information exchange as we learn
more about the solar system and planets from our other
electronic sites.
Fifth and Sixth Grades: Ask Starmann
After being given the initial lessons on the solar system,
and being introduced to a fictional character named Starmann.
The students would be asked to write letters, asking questions
about their most recent learning about the stars and planets.
They could brainstorm "important" questions in small groups.
The teacher could direct them toward concepts and ideas that
need further exploration. Starmann may ask them more
questions than they ask him. He would communicate in a very
sci-fi futuristic tone. The language arts infusion would
incorporate the writing skills and highlight the use of clear
communication and character development.
Seventh and Eighth Grades: Mythology and the Stars
After being given the initial lessons on the solar system,
and being introduced to mythological Greek characters that are
found in the sky, the students would be asked to write a letter
to their favorite astrological cluster. They could agree upon
the possible character to discuss for the week and then write
a letter to that character at a Heavenly address. IE: Zeus at
Hera's Palace, Mount Olympus. The students would be asked to
compose possible myths about why the stars were placed in
the sky. They could also ask for possible hints. This could be
used with word bank lists from actual myths about a
particular firmament placed in the sky. IE: The story of Icarus
which contains these words: wax-wing- melted-ocean-flew-
wishes-warning-sun-capture-chariot-Zeus. Now construct a
story using these words about the creation of the constellation
Icarus. The main goal of this extension to the stars, would be
for short story fiction writing, again incorporating skills of
communication, editing and writing into science and space
exploration. These activities can be adapted to a variety of
grade levels with minor alterations. The thrust of our ideas
focuses on the students' realization that information is no
longer a limiting factor in our experiences. The advent of
telecommunications has allowed for the expansion of
interactive learning, cooperative thinking and global
awareness. Students are now able to tread where no student
has trod before.
BRINGING THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS
INTO THE MATHEMATICS CLASSROOM:
BY
CAROL A. WALDRON
5 MAY 92
Our society is entering the Information Age, a time in
which information is the raw material and communication its
means of production. The transition from an industrial to an
information society is being attributed to the increased
availability of affordable technology such as computers, VCRs,
and Video Cameras. The effects of technological innovation on
business, government, and industry are paralleled by dramatic
changes in the physical, social, and life sciences. More than
many other areas of study and application, mathematics is
being taken in new directions. Modern technology has caused a
shift in what mathematics a person needs to know. Yet, in the
midst of this change, the teaching of mathematics has
remained relatively unchanged.
We can not continue relying on rote memorization of
rules as enough to prepare students for productive, fulfilling
lives in the Information Age. The National Council of Teachers
of Mathematics have noticed the need for change and have
developed the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School
Mathematics. The following lesson plan, is an idea I had that
is aimed at accomplishing at least two of the five goals. The
first goal states that students should learn to value
mathematics through numerous, varied learning experiences
that illuminate the cultural, historical, and scientific
evolution of mathematics. The second goal states that
students should become confident in their mathematical
abilities.
The following lesson plan involves the study the
evolution of mathematics with emphasis on the various people
and cultures that shaped it. Students need to be aware of the
variety of contributions each culture has made to
mathematics, especially the non-European cultures such as
Africa or Asia. Our history texts frequently leave out the
contributions of non-European cultures and women. Racial
barriers are hard to break down; blacks, Hispanics, and women
are often led to believe they can't succeed in mathematics, so
why even try. By giving all students a chance to study the
contributions of past cultures, I believe students will not only
learn to value mathematics and its relationships to other
disciplines, but become confident in their own mathematical
abilities. By understanding how mathematics evolved through
the different disciplines, students will develop an
appreciation for mathematical skills in today's world.
CONTENT AREA/TOPIC: Mathematics History: The study of
mathematicians and their cultures with the use of
telecommunications
GRADE LEVEL:7-10
OBJECTIVES: Students will...
1. Learn how to research facts related to a historical period,
culture, or topic.
2. Learn how to collect, organize, store, and retrieve
information using telecommunications.
3. Discuss the information obtained on past mathematicians
and their contributions.
4. Learn how to communicate with a distant audience via
telecommunications.
5. Learn how to engage in electronic transfer of information.
6. Develop descriptive writing skills.
7. Broaden cultural experiences by learning about people and
cultures from other geographic locations.
8. Learn how to upload and download text files.
9. Learn how to create and enter information into a data base.
10. Practice their word processing skills.
PREREQUISITES:
Prefer some previous experience with using database
and word processing software. Otherwise, the teacher should
allow another week for developing basic skills.
MATERIALS
Software: Word processing software such as
FrEdWriter or WordStar that can be used for uploading and
sending to other computers. It is easier though to use
integrated softare that includes word processing, data base,
and telecommunications capability all in one such as Apple
Works or Microsoft Works. This would be better since you will
be using all three applications.
Hardware: Internal or External modem, a telephone
line, access to Internet (contact your local college or
university for access), an IBM PC, Apple II, or Macintosh
microcomputers.
COMPUTER ACCESS:
1. During the research and data collection phases of the
lesson, students will need intermittent access to the
computers to perform online searches of libraries. These
libraries should be in the local area, if your school does not
have access to online libraries or services such as BRS or
Dialog Information Services, Inc. which provide downloading of
full text.
2. Students will need access to computers for development
and transmission of electronic messages to the Cleveland
Free-Net (telnet to 129.22.8.75, 129.22.8.76, 129.22.8.82, or
129.22.8.44).
PREPARATION:
1. Gather software and resource materials.
2. Make group assignments. Suggest groups of four.
3. At least 4 weeks before starting the project, you will need
to contact the Cleveland Free-Net and register as a new user.
Once you have received approval, your ID and password, you
will need to go to the Academy One directory and enter your
class as an Academy One school. Next, print a list of the non-
US partners identified in the Academy One
Directory.
DISCUSSION:
1. Motivating Activity: As a whole class, have students
pretend they live in an Indian village like the one in the movie
"Dances With Wolves". Have the students discuss how or why
they would use math. For example, how would they barter with
other people or villages. How would they calculate time. Who
are these people who devise theories or methods about
numbers. Ask the students to think about how people became
involved in mathematics hundreds of years ago. Were there any
mathematicians who were women? Did other cultures such as
Africa or Latin America have mathematicians like Einstein?
2. Introduce the lesson by stating that the object of the
project is to collect information on mathematicians from
around the world throughout history. To prevent duplication,
you may want to provide a list of possible mathematicians and
let them choose those individuals they want to research. The
students will first start by researching information about
mathematicians that we have in our Libraries. The children
will collect preliminary information by accessing Online
Library Catalogs to develop a list of books or other references
that have information on mathematicians. Remind the students
that many mathematicians don't have books written about
them, so they will have to research books on mathematics
history or mathematicians in general. Encyclopedias and
magazines may even have some information. The teacher can
either obtain the books for the students or let the students get
the necessary books/information on their own. This depends
on the age of the students.
3. After the students have collected preliminary information
on the mathematicians, have them discuss what information
they want to include in the data base. Here is a selection of
data base fields you might list on the chalkboard for your
students to consider: Last Name, First Name, Date of Birth,
Date of Death, Place of Birth, Nickname, Nationality,
Occupation(s), Known for, and Interesting Facts. When your
students have decided what fields the data base should
include, have each group design and sketch out possible data
record layouts on the chalkboard. Once the design of the data
base is chosen, set it up on the computer for them using your
data base software. Print out a blank data record, and make
photocopies for the students to use for information gathering.
4. After the groups have filled in their data records, print out
the records and have each group quality check the other groups'
records. Once the data base is complete, have each team brief
what interesting information they found and what, if any,
difficulty they had finding information about certain
individuals. Pinpoint on a map where each mathematician was
from and discuss any cultures such as Blacks or Asians that
they did not have any information about? If so, discuss why
there is no information on these cultures?
5. The next step is to separate the list of Academy One
schools among the groups. Their task is to send an email
message that explains their project and outlines what they
discovered during their research and the class discussion.
They are to ask the school for information on mathematicians
from their country to be added to the data base. A copy of the
data base information will be sent to them once all the
information has been compiled from around the world. Each
student in the group should write at least one of the email
messages.
6. Once all the international information is added to the data
base, have each group discuss what additional information they
found. What conclusions can they draw?
7. Have each of the groups compose email messages
expressing their appreciation for the additional information
and the findings/reactions of the class about the project. Each
group should send a copy of the data base to each school they
corresponded with during the project.
EXTENSIONS/ADAPTATIONS:
1. A follow on project could be to publish the information for
other mathematics classes.
2. You might want the students to interview professionals in
other disciplines such as business, medicine, arts, agriculture,
crime control and prevention, and science use mathematics.
The students can interview professionals found in the
professional Online Discussion Groups (often found in services
such as USENET and LISTSERV) that are available on the
Internet or Bitnet. This will impress on the students the
importance of math in the future as well as the past.
USING TELECOMMUNICATIONS CAN HELP TEACH AT-RISK
STUDENTS
by Shirley Hasche
Jolene Langan
Barbara Renkenberger
The number of students that are not graduating from
traditional schools is increasing. We, as educators, need to
find a way to make these at risk students become contributing
members of society. As the computer becomes a vital part of
the future job market, we need to make sure that at risk
students are empowered with the knowledge of computers so
that they may join the next generation of productive thinkers.
SCANS Goals
According to the Department of Labor, SCANS (Secretary's
Commission of Achieving Necessary Skills), there is a three-
part foundation that students need to have in order to find and
hold jobs. The first one is the need for Basic Skills which
deals with reading, writing, performing arithmetic and
mathematical operations, listening and speaking. The second
one is Thinking Skills which deals with thinking creatively,
making decisions, solving problems, visualizing, knowing how
to learn, and reasoning. The final part is Personal Qualities
that display responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-
management, integrity and honesty. Infusing
telecommunications into the education of at risk students will
help achieve SCANS goals.
The Project
The at risk students attending two high schools will be
involved in telecommunicating with each other as they learn to
use the computer skills needed for their future. Computers
will be integrated into every class that the at risk students
attend and will be used for homework, extra credit projects
and classroom work. The introduction to computer use will
start with these different levels.
Level 1: One-Way Electronic Mail
Level 2: Online - Participative (Bulletin Board)
Level 3: Online - Full Interactive Communications
Level 4: Online - Interactive and Planning
E-Mail and Bulletin Boards
There will be a bulletin board and E-mail system set up so
that both schools can link up. Students will start by sending
surveys to each other about cars, sports and other topics of
interest. They will be required to report in their English and
Speech classes the results. The bulletin board will be
designed as a place where they can relax, chit chat and
compare problems. By using the bulletin board, the students
will be improving their listening (reading) and speaking skills
as well as learning proper social skills (avoid flaming) and
relating to peers in a positive ways. This will also improve
their self-esteem.
File Transter Protocal Sites (FTP)
The fine arts will be the FTP Archives site Lyric and
Discograph (FTP cs.uwp.edu) where the students will be able to
get information about music, it's lyrics, and information about
the classical and popular musicians. The students will be
assigned a song, composer or band and will have to research
and gather data about that time period. The students will have
to do a report about their topic for Social Studies about the
mood of society in that time frame. The use of computers in
this area will aid in the development of reading, writing,
gathering data, decision making, and creative thinking.
Telnet Sites
The students will work on the computer for math class by
developing story problems. The students will be given zip
codes for the 24 cities that contain professional football
leagues. Each school will receive 12 zip codes. The students
must create two step word problems that have the zip code as
the answer. They will exchange the problems and then solve
the ones sent to them. They will have to use the Geographic
Name Server (telnet martini.eecs.umich.edu 3000 or telnet
141.212.100.9 3000) to discover the teams that they had
correct. This will help in the acquisition of such skills as
performing arithmetic and mathematical operations, problem
solving, reasoning and cooperative learning.
The spinoff from this Level 3:
Full Interactive Communication will be to use other telnet
sites for a host of integrated activities that the at risk
students can identify with as relevant to their lives. For
example, in the area of Science, the students will be able to
use telnet sites to: find out the weather in all parts of the
world (Weather Underground: telnet hermes.merit.edu or telent
35.1.48.150), to check natural disasters that are happening, to
get updated on ecology, and to do comparison shopping of
staple food items of our global village.
The at risk students also need to have the experiences of
art and P.E. Telecommunications will provide exposure to
ASCII Art which will provide humor, creativity, and positive
self-expression. the P.E. experience will include building
manipulative dexterity, improving left and right brained
crossover activities, and eye/hand coordination.
Conclusion
The use of telecommunications by at risk students will help
them to change from being possible dropouts to becoming
positive, enthusiastic members of society. By including
telecommunications within the education of at risk students,
we are adding to their education, the goals that SCANS
demands for productive members of society.
The addresses given were current at the time of writing,
but could change in the future. Teachers need to use their own
experiences to explore other sites and develop other uses of
telecommunications. They need to expand the suggestions
above to teach students in a new way which is exciting to both
the teacher and students.
References
Drucker, P.F., (1992). Performance, accountability, and results.
The American School Board, March. A4-A11.
Frymier, J.R., (1989). The phi delta kappa study of students at
risk. Phi Delta Kappan, October. 142-146.
Gross, B. (1990). Here dropouts drop in and stay! Phi Beta
Kappan. April. 625-627.
Kagan, D.M., (1990). How schools alienate students at risk: a
model for examining proximal classroom variables.
Educational Psychologist, Vol.25, 2: 105-125.
Kagan, D.M., (1988) How do teacher define students at risk?
The Clearning House / AEIS / ASU. Vol.61, 7: 320-324.
Mailing address Arizona Educational Information System
Bureau of Educational Research and Services
Tempe College of Education
Arizona Stat University
Tempe, AZ 85287-2611
U.S. Government Department of Labor. (1991). What work
requires of schools / a scans report for america 2000.
U.S.Government Printing Office. Telephone 1-800-788-SKILL
for a free publication.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS: YEAR ONE...a BEGINNING
by Arlene Haynes and Karen Spellman
Telecomputing began at Oak Valley School as a result of
receiving a classic Macintosh from a school community
promotion in partnership with a local adopt-a-school partner.
The capabilities of the computer were quite limited and little
appropriate software was available to meet the needs of the
students. In addition, the staff was not familiar with the
Macintosh and would need training. Utilizing the site-based
management budget monies, the necessary hardware was
ordered to make the low functioning Classic Macintosh into
a 21st century telecommunication center for our school of
290 students. Thus the beginnings of telecomputing at Oak
Valley School.
Knowing that the equipment would be in the building and in
place sometime during the first semester of the school year,
plans were needed for the training and implementation of this
system. The principal and a second teacher decided to take a
course and learn more in-depth about telecommunication. As a
result of the university course, the training, and research that
was done, the implementation of telecomputing became a
reality through the following projects.
The second graders began preparing early in the school year
for telecommunications. They became familiar with the
keyboard and a few basic programs. It did not take long for
the children to become comfortable using the computer
every day to practice and extend the skills they were
learning. Portable, battery-operated keyboards were used to
familiarize the children with the keyboard. The use of these
keyboards allowed the students to practice locating the main
keys without monopolizing the computer for keyboard
instruction. The computer itself remained available for work
on assigned programs. The children quickly learned the
location of the keys needed to type their names and to run a
basic program. Practice on these keyboards was assigned to
the students as a learning center activity.
After the students had a chance to become familiar with
the keyboard, the concept of telecommunications via a
computer was introduced. A public domain program, KidMail,
simulated an actual telecommunications situation. This
simulated program required account names and passwords.
Another class of second graders became involved. Partners
were assigned and the children began corresponding. Each
child typed their own letters, with some help from the
teacher. The letters were short reflecting their age and
writing ability. Instead of sending these messages over the
phone lines, the disks were exchanged by hand (sneaker mail as
it is called) and the children read their partners letters and
responded. This correspondence continued for several months.
As a culminating activity, a sixth grade teacher, second
grade teacher and principal began collaborating on how the
students could write and answer "Dear Santa" letters using
KidMail. The project was well received by the sixth graders.
The second grade students were thrilled that their letters
were answered via the computer. Santa has gone hi-tech!
The sixth graders expanded their knowledge and expertise
of telecommunications through instruction by the principal and
sixth grade teacher. A compatible telecomputing program was
installed which allowed the students to correspond with a
local magnet classroom. An exchange of mail between the
schools began.
Through the use of telecommunications a group called Kids-
92 was discovered. This listserv group enabled the second
graders to locate a fourth grade classroom in Juneau, Alaska
who wished to correspond via EMail. This correspondence was
conducted as a class project. Group letters, rather than
individual messages, were preferred, especially when working
with primary children. With the EMail penpals in Juneau, the
children compared weather conditions, averaged the growth of
daylight as the seasons changed, offered suggestions for a
problem with bears on the school playground, measured
distances, shared creative writing, compared local grocery
store prices, learned of local traditions such as the Iditarod
Sled Dog Race, and shared experiences about a field trip to a
local rain forest. The children were always anxious to receive
a new message and were eager to respond.
The benefits of this type of correspondence are limitless.
The study of Alaska became real to the students. They
actually learned about the people and the land in a meaningful
way. The second graders have learned more about Alaska than
they ever could from a textbook. They have conversed with
real people and have discussed real situations. They have been
doing projects with a real purpose and have been very excited
about sharing their work with their new friends. Our world is
indeed becoming smaller and the students are realizing the
benefits from sharing knowledge and ideas with others.
Another project has been the exploration of SpaceMet, an
FTP site. Exciting lesson plans and activities for a space
exploration unit have been found. The class of sixth graders
used some of the information when studying about rockets.
The sixth grade teacher has been introduced to a wealth of
complete lesson plans available to educators. These lesson
plans can be utilized at all grade levels. These files have
been accessed and downloaded so they maybe presented to the
staff for infusion into the science units.
A final project involved work with a small group of gifted
and talented students. These students were highly motivated
and extremely eager to undertake this challenging task. This
project involved the use of a telnet site called Cleveland
Freenet. (Telnet 129.2.8.75 or 129.22.8.786 or
129.22.8.82) This telnet site offered a plethora of
knowledge. The challenge for the students involved being able
to make decisions concerning how to locate the desired
information. A scavenger hunt activity designed by Sue
Anderson, an assistant professor at Texas Christian
University. (ag941@Cleveland.freenet.edu) was used. The
scavenger hunt was modified to make it appropriate for the
interest and abilities of the students. Eight students were
divided into two teams. Each team was given five questions
and timed to see how long it took to locate the answers. The
teams worked on identical questions, but on different days
since there was only one dedicated phone line for computers.
The students were astounded by the information available.
When the time came to return to the classrooms, they begged
for time to do more research! One team required thirty-three
minutes to locate the answers, while the other team
completed the assignment in twenty-five minutes. It was
interesting to listen to their reasoning concerning the choice
of submenus. The children learned not only facts, but more
importantly they learned how to locate answers quickly and
efficiently. As we move into the Information Age, the ability
to locate, analyze, and use information will be invaluable.
The telecomputing activities were truly an experience in
probing the future for the students and adults involved. After
all, the future is where we will be spending the remainder of
our lives!
Arlene Haynes
AHaynes @odin.unomaha.edu
Karen Spellman
KSpellman @odin.unomaha.edu
A SNIGLET!! A WHAT?? A SNIGLET!!
by Nancy Paben
Have you ever wondered how a language develops? Well I
have and I thought it would be a wonderful project for the
students to investigate. Just in talking with my own children,
who are now in their teens, I will be snickered at because of
some outdated use of our language. They may even ask me to
interpret, like I was speaking a foreign language. GEE WHIZ!!
There are several different avenues one could take the
students down in this venture. Interviews with grandparents,
parents, and other teachers could give them a list of words and
phrases that have changed meaning and possibly even become
extinct. Another avenue would take the students to a large
library where they could browse through some really "old"
literature to add to the list of "outdated" words and phrases.
Yet another group will wander down Report Lane and write on
how the English language originated. Did it start at the Tower
of Babel? What's its history?
The project would come to life if several classes around
the country would connect through E-mail. As an interested
teacher you could telnet to the Cleveland Freenet. This tel-
net site can be accessed from: telnet freenet-in-a.cwru.edu or
telnet 129.22.8.44. Once at the Main Menu select the Arts
Building. Now that you are in the Arts Building you will choose
Literary Arts from the menu. Read about the area and then
choose the appropriate Bulletin Board for your age students.
(This area may also be accessed under Academy One, Kid-Lit
menu.) Exchanging funny phrases and word meanings over the
Bulletin Boards would keep the students excited and more than
likely entertained.
The grand finale will be the SNIGLET PROJECT. These are
words that appear to be words but are not found in the
dictionary--yet. Examples: an informary - The place where you
keep the piles of stuff that you have accumulated while down-
loading files off your computer. a snipit - an "R" rated sniglet.
How to implement. This will more than likely be a 4 - 6
week project. You will want to make sure that you have enough
time to complete it. Recruit at least one other class to
collaborate with through telecommunications. Once this is
done you need to break up into teams or units each with a
different assignment. Team one - - interviews. Team two - -
browse through "old" literature. Team three - - brainstorm for
ideas on why words change meaning and where new words
come from. Team four - - a report on the history of the
English Language. At least once a week the classes need to get
on line and share some of the interesting items they have
discovered and chuckle together. The age of the students will
determine the level of telecommunications involvment. Older
students would be able to use nationwide library searches in
their reports, etc. Once all team assignments have been
completed the information would need to be compiled and put
into a unified report. The instructors involved could best
determine how to do this. This report will be so enlightening
that the participants will want to place it in one of the
Journal sections back at the Cleveland Freenet. Now for the
icing on the cake. Make up your own SNIGLETS. Have each class
come up with say ten to twenty sniglets (words that look like
words but are not found in the dictionary - - yet!) These will
be exchanged with the other participating classes. If the
students have a definition in mind do not pass this along, as
part of the fun will be to see what the other class thinks the
meaning is. My guess is that your meanings for the words will
not even come close to what the other students come up with.
You will be doing the same with the SNIGLETS you are given.
Be sure to end with the TOP 10 list and post them for others to
see and "use". Now wait and see if any of these SNIGLETS show
up in a dictionary 20 years from now!!
ELEMENTAL SEARCHES
by Cece Schwennsen
Every year I get a new group of chemistry students. At
first, these students feel that they have no use for chemistry
in their daily lives. They believe that there has been no new
information gathered on elements and chemical bonding since
before their parents were born. I have tried in the past to have
them do a library search on an assigned element. One of the
questions I ask them to answer is: What is a common and/or
interesting use for your element? Invariably , one generally
overachieving student discovers the Handbook of Chemistry
and Physics. I end up with 92 paragraphs paraphrased from
this resource. Not only is that boring to read but it is
perpetuating the notion that chemistry is unchanging. What
would it be like for them to talk to a chemist? To find
research on new findings? To discover the wonders of
telecommunication while doing some investigation work?
With the help of the computer teacher in the school I plan to
provide just that experience.
BACKGROUND RTRAININGS
Using several resources on the Internet, students will do
on-line searches to include but not be limited to following
appropriate Newsgroups, telneting to sites where they can
obtain information, and emailing contacts I have gained on the
Net. Once they have what they consider to be comprehensive
information on their assigned element, they will transfer that
knowledge to a card or cards in a Hypercard stack. These cards
may be rearranged to present the material in any order I like.
Before we begin the students will need some background
on: 1. How to access the Internet resources.
2. Appropriate *behavior* (students forget that they
are talking to professionals).
3. Types of information that should be included.
4. Basics on designing a card.
To introduce the students to the Internet we will have a class
scavenger hunt. Working in teams, the students will search for
information given clues and instructions. (This hunt will
include mostly Telnet sites.) This will take a day or two. It
should be designed to be short, fun and interesting.
THE TASK
Once students are familiar with the Internet, they will
be assigned an element to research. (Because of the limited
number of phone lines, each student will be given a limited
amount of time in class to do this.) The sites they will search
include:
Telnet and FTP sites (access address listed):
Archie (archie.unl.edu)
(archie.rutgers.edu)
(quiche.cs.mcgill.ca)
User name: archie
Terminal type: vt100
Services (wugate.wustl.edu)
(128.252.120.1)
Login: services
MacSciTech (ra.nrl.navy.mil)
(ftp) (128.60.0.21)
Login: anonymous
Science Education Archives (ftp)
(Bio.Indiana.Edu)
(129.79.224.25)
Login: anonymous
Newsgroups (follow postings):
K.12 Science Education
Chemed-L
Science Education
K.12sci.chem
Email resources (access through email addresses
will be given in class):
University of Wisconsin
University of Ontario
SAIS-L
BIOPI-L
CHEMED-L
Chemistry
Students are asked to include basic information on the card(s)
like: atomic weight, density, reactivity, general
characteristics and a brief description. They are also
requested to include uses the element has in their daily lives
and some information or discovery about their element that
has occurred recently.
After students have gathered the information, they will
create one card in a Hypercard stack. The class will only
receive basic training on writing and building a Hypercard
stack. (Some students are more knowledgeable about
Hypercard than others and may include graphics and interface
with our Periodic Table laserdisc. Others may have text only.)
The only assessment I will make is whether or not they have
worked up to their respective abilities. I will use the
stack to present the class information on the periodic table, as
the cards can be arranged in numeric order or realigned to
demonstrate periodicity with relative ease.
OTHER APPLICATIONS
Although this is topic specific, many of the same sites
can be used for a variety of subjects. With a small amount of
modification, the plan can be used for students to research
endangered species in my Zoology course. Using the same idea
but different sites this would be a way for social studies
teachers to keep up with the political and geographic changes
in Africa and Europe. (When a card is outdated it can be thrown
away and replaced with currentinformation.) Students enjoy
interacting with others across the Net and most finished
products exceed my expectations.
UPDATING INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE FOR THE 21ST
CENTURY
by Joan Miller
Computer Science, as most of you know, is an exciting,
everchanging field of study. One of the most challenging parts
of being a computer science teacher is keeping informed of
new technological breakthroughs, and in turn, relaying these
findings to the students in the classroom. In the past, I
have made an attempt to keep students abreast of new
knowledge by dedicating part of every other Friday to the
sharing of "new technologies." The students were required to
bring in an article from a magazine, book or newspaper and
report their findings to the class. The class then discussed
the technology, and how it may affect them. Next year, I plan
to update this part of the Introduction to Computer Science
curriculum through the use of a Bulletin Board System,
Internet sites, file transferring, newsgroups, a scanner and
mail messages. In the following article, I will discuss how I
plan to infuse this into a first semester high school computer
science classroom.
THE HEART OF THE SYSTEM-- THE BULLETIN BOARD
The Bulletin Board will contain two sections: a message
section and a file section. The message section will be an
open forum for discussion among class members about the
information they have found. The second section of the
Bulletin Board will be used for storage of files. The file
portion will contain graphics as well as text files. The text
files will include articles that have been found on the Internet,
in Newsgroups, FTP sites or scanned in from print.
The Bulletin Board will be on twenty-four hours a day.
Those students who have access to modems at home will be
able to access the board any time they choose. Members of the
class who do not own a modem, will complete their work
during school time. Although Bulletin Board maintenance
can be done by the instructor, I recommend selecting two or
three students to oversee these duties. These students will be
known as the System Operators or SYSOPS. Training should be
given to these students on how to maintain the board. As the
semester progresses, these students will be responsible for
showing other students how to run the board. By the end of the
semester, each student in the class should have had the
opportunity to act as the SYSOP of the board for at least one
week. SET UP REQUIREMENTS
Hardware--
Computer with Hard Drive-- (to run the Bulletin
Board)
Phone Line(s)
Modem(s)
Software--
Bulletin Board Shareware
Telecommunications Software
File Decompression Shareware (Optional)
WHAT WILL THE STUDENTS NEED TO KNOW
Every student in the class will be given a one week mini
course on how to use the Bulletin Board, scanner, newsgroups
and selected Internet Sites. The curriculum time invested in
this week of instruction, will pay off over the semester, as
the students will be using it on a daily basis. As the students'
abilities with telecommunications increases, additional
Internet and FTP sites can be introduced.
Although many Internet sites, FTP sites and newsgroups
may contain information about recent technologies in the
computer industry, the sites and groups mentioned below are
excellent sources of information. Information in
newsgroups is the most easily accessible source of
information for new telecommuters. At the beginning of the
semester, the students will read the postings in the newsgroup
of their choice, and write short summaries of their findings.
The summaries will be stored in the file section of the BBS.
As the semester progresses, additional instruction may be
provided to the students on how to download the postings from
the newsgroup, and transfer them directly to the BBS. There
are hundreds of suitable newsgroups that are available. Below
are listed some of the groups I plan to use in my classroom.
POSSIBLE NEWSGROUPS
acm.forum.macintosh
comp.compilers
comp.patents
comp.robotics
comp.research.japan
news.software.anu-news
The first Internet site I plan to use in the classroom, is
the SERVICES site. SERVICES is one of the largest and easiest
telnet sites to use. Through SERVICES, nearly one hundred
other sites may be accessed through the use of a menu system.
Although most of the sites in SERVICES are not strictly
computer related, updates in technology may be found through
careful searching. After the students are comfortable using
the menu system in SERVICES to access other telnet sites,
they may begin telneting directly to the sites of their choice.
A couple of sites, along with SERVICES, I would recommend are
listed below with their Internet address, and a brief
discription of what is stored at that location.
SITE NAME INTERNET ADDRESS WHAT TO EXPECT
ISAAC isaac.engr.washington.edu
Provides information about IBM computer technology.
MicroMUSE michael.al.mit.edu
Provides a 24th century Science Fiction Environment
students can communicate in.
SERVICES wugate.wustl.edu
Provides access to a menu system from which other sites
can be accessed.
STIS stis.nsf.gov
Provides access to National Science Foundation Publications.
UNCOVER uncover.carl.org
Provides article summaries from 10,000 journals.
The third source of online information can come from
FTP sites. FTP sites are the most difficult, yet most
rewarding sites to use. The downloading and decompression of
files can be a confusing process to experienced computer users
let alone high school students. I would recommend using FTP
sites only after the students have had lots of success with
telneting. Below are listed three FTP sites, their addresses,
and a short description of the type of information they may
contain.
SITE NAME INTERNET ADDRESS WHAT TO EXPECT
Computers and fftp.eff.org General
information
Academic Freedom (then: cd pub/academic) about
computers
Archive
Macintosh Software sumex-aim.stanford.edu Macintosh
software. (then: cd info-mac)
Washington U. Public wuarchive.wustl.edu Collection of
freeware Domain Archives and shareware for various
computers.
PARTING THOUGHTS
The destiny of computers in education has not been set.
We as educators have a responsibility to provide students with
the types of computer experiences that will make them
computer literate members of the 21st century. I feel the use
of a BBS in a high school classroom is one small step in the
right direction.
INFUSE YOUR SCHOOL WITH THE CLEVELAND FREENET
by
Nancy Lyman
Library/Media Specialist
Platteview Central Junior High
Since teachers in my school seemed too busy "winding up
the year" with their curriculum but interested in
telecommunications, I decided to try and whet the appetites of
those who showed interest. Even though they were busy I
thought if I started a project for them and let them see it,
some would like to try this new method of learning. To start
at a very basic level and build up a program is the key to
getting people started in telecomputing. If teachers new to
this kind of communication wanted to try any of these
projects, they would need to acquire an account on a computer
that has Internet access. These accounts are most frequently
available through a University, a registered educational
service center or if they belong to a large school district.
Upon acquiring an account, the teachers would type at the
prompt Telnet>
c freenet-in-a.cwru.edu
or try
c freenet-in-b.cwru.edu
or try
c 129.22.8.82
Teachers can enter as a visitor to browse for 1 hour or set up a
permanent account by registering. It is strongly suggested
that users not register unless they plan to use CFN frequently.
NPTN Student News Network
The reading department is the most closely linked to the
media center in their activities in my school. I work well with
the teacher. She is very creative and we share a love of
innovative projects. She assists the students in making a
school newspaper each quarter and expressed interest in the
NPTN Student News Network under Academy One of the
Cleveland Freenet. I plan to submit their last paper on the
freenet with her permission and see what kind of feedback we
get. When we see just exactly what this entails, we can make
more definite plans as to how to use this. It will be
interesting to show the students when they return over the
summer.
EMail and KID-LIT
The English department is a very friendly and risk-taking
group. E-mail would be a very logical place to start. Since it
would be more interesting to converse with students from
another country, we could establish groups with a Great
Britain contact I made over the Freenet thru my own email.
This may be exciting to contact another country, but I would
have to monitor how long my answers come from him this
summer before I would attempt this in the fall. Once
comfortable with telecommunications commands, I would have
them begin KID-LIT on Academy One of the Cleveland Freenet.
The seventh graders produce a booklet of stories, poems and
written science experiments, they have done during the first
quarter. Classes could decide which stories should be sent or
each one could be sent. I plan to try sending a few from this
spring's booklet to KID-LIT over the summer so I can show the
English teachers what happens in this group when entries are
submitted. One of the teachers helped me pick four to send so
I know she's interested. Later we could co-write stories with
a middle school in Texas I have contacted thru E-mail on the
Cleveland Freenet.
Scavenger Hunt using CFN
The seventh grade math department has been teaching
students how to log on to a site using the modem. Using their
problem solving skills, I would like to use a modified program
of a scavenger hunt on the Cleveland Freenet I searched in my
college telecommunications class. I would add some questions
so each group of four could have three questions for which to
look. At the end they could share their data and devise a new
scavenger hunt for the group nextyear.
ListServ, WX-TALK and Weather Underground on CFN
The science department loves to gather data and do group-
drawn graphics. With the way our weather changes in
Nebraska, their charts could be very dramatic. They could use
information from the listserv, WX-TALK. The address from
email at the To: would be LISTSERV@UIUCVMD. I would
subscribe to this and could download the information for them
to use. We could also use Weather Underground in the
Government section of The Cleveland Freenet. They could
spend about a week gathering the data before charting their
findings. I would teach one of my student library aides, how to
download this information in the morning as one of their daily
duties. It would be fun as an ongoing project to get seasonal
and climatic comparisons from the Great Britain penpals.
KIDS-INTERNATIONAL on CFN
A language link would be an easy link to incorporate by
using KIDS-INTERNATIONAL from Academy One of the Cleveland
Freenet. Each quarter, the students do reports on topics such
as holidays, foods, sports, favorite places, and other aspects
of life. This is the kind of information exchanged in this group.
Since I'm not sure of the teachers receptiveness, I would leave
this until last so that the interest generated from other
classes would draw the teacher.
CONCLUSION
Even though no single department knows each part of
telecomputing, as they discuss their experiences over lunch
different ways of using material might be generated. Those
with no experience will want to be included in the excitement.
The students will talk about what they are doing. All will
want to see what new things can be done thru the modem.
Currently we only have one phone line connected to a modem
and the board office does not support the cost of any more
lines. Once this ball of telecommunications gets rolling, we
will be able to more than justify the need for the extra lines
and modems.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Academy One: A Natinal Online Educational Community,"
Telecommunications
in Education News," II, 2 (Spring, 1991) 9-11.
Anderson, S.E. [The Cleveland freenet scavenger hunt].
Unpublished electronic
document. 1991.
Roberts, N, Blakeskee, G., Brown, M., & Lenk, C."Integrating
Telecommunications into education". Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 1990.
SCAVENGER HUNT FOR INFUSION PROJECT
by
Nancy Lyman
adapted from Sue Anderson's hunt
On-line Scavenger hunt on the Cleveland FreeNet
At the YOUR CHOICE ===> give number commands or letter
commands.
For example, p go back to previous menu
h help
q leave this menu
x exit from CFN
Each "hunt" question has one word that is a hint about the
answer to the question. The word is *starred* in the sentence.
1. What is the first line of the Koran? (hint: Where can I
*find information electronically*?)
2. What is the name of the drummer from the *musical* group
"Genesis" and what is he doing today?
3. Give me a rule of puppy training? (hint: What expert will
answer your *question*?)
4. How much did Mozart charge for his Requiem? It is a
*music*
piece and considered in the *art* section.
5. Where would you look for a new law about grandparents in
our
*government*?
6. What is the name of the virus that causes *Feline*
Leukemia?
Is it contagious?
7. What is the weather like today on the West Coast, especially
Los Angeles? (hint: Check in *government)
8. Where can I get a recipe for Peanut Butter Pie? I want one
that will be a culinary *art*.
9. In what year was Christopher Columbus born? How old was
he
when he died? (hint: He discovered America: the land of the
*free*.) (extra clue if needed: Info in the *library*)
10. How many calories in 1 French artichoke? (hint: any
mention
of *food* makes me hungry)
11. What is the phone number for President George Bush? (hint:
he works for the *government*.)
12. What is the name of a test used to diagnose HIV (the viral
organism that causes the malfunction of the immune
system
in *AIDS*)?
13. How long is the Atlantic Ocean coastline? (hint: find a
book
in the *library*) VERY DIFFICULT!!!
14. What is today's news message on energy prices? (hint:
Energy
is taught in eighth grade *science*)
15. Name the dangerous flea spray for your pet? (hint: Your
*animal clinic* can give you some answers.)
16. What is the cost of addmission to the Museum of *Natural
History*? (hint: Lots of neat *science* stuff here)
17. What year did Eric the Red colonize Greenland? (hint:
You need some *information* from Academy One)
18. Tell me the first *headline* of yesterday's news?
19. What is the first question seen in space by *NASA*?
20. What is the telephone number for the central office of
Alcoholics Anonymous in your area? (hint: This is a
*community* service)
21. Would you be considered a solid waste criminal if you
threw some away? (hint: You would not be a friend to
the *science* environment)
22. What is the remedy if your pet eats antifreeze ? (hint:
Question your *veterinarian*)
23. You get to go with dad on his *business trip* to Anaheim
CA. There's a place to visit with a famous ship. Name
the ship.
24. Will X-raying a recorded *music* video tape affect it?
25. Who made the news as the first american woman to fly in
*space*?
====> NUMBER 20 USED AT THE JUNIOR HIGH LEVEL MAY RAISE
ANOTHER QUESTION. ONE SUBHEADING LISTED IN THE
QUESTION AREA COULD POSSIBLY BE CHALLENGED IN MY RURAL
COMMUNITY.
INTERNET ACCESS FOR EDUCATORS: OPTIONS, SOLUTIONS,
AND COSTS
by Bob Avant and Keith Rutledge
OVERVIEW: What is contained in this paper.
I. The Internet is briefly described and explained.
II. The utility of the Internet for education is described.
III. Internet access is explained.
IV. A direct high speed connection is proposed to meet access needs.
V. A background to methods of connecting to the Internet is given.
VI. A step by step process is provided to facilitate a direct connection.
VII. System design is discussed and an example is described and
illustrated.
VIII.Other connection options are mentioned.
IX. A cost comparison between Direct Connect and Dial Up is made.
X. A summary statement is made for perspective.
I. A LAYMAN'S INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERNET:
The Internet is a world wide network of computers. The entity is not just
one central network, but rather a huge loose collection of computer
networks that can communicate with each other. The Internet originated
with ARPANET a United States government network experiment set up in
1969. The original ARPANET was set up for government and military
research. In the late 1970's to the early 1980's several loose networks
such as UUCP, USENET, CSNET, and BITNET were established.
Originally these networks were not connected to ARPANET, (by now
called the Internet) but gateways were soon established for connections.
The next big change in the Internet came in 1986, with the establishment
of NSFNET, which connected researchers with five super computing
centers. Since that time, the Internet has continued to grow from about
213 computers registered on the Internet in 1981 to over 1.5 million today.
The present Internet contains over 5,000 networks spanning the entire
globe. This extensive worldwide network can be of great utility to
educators, and contains many useful resources and services which will be
expounded upon in the following section.
II. WHAT THE INTERNET MEANS TO EDUCATION, THE
EDUCATIONAL VALUE:
Access to the Internet can potentially be a great resource for educators.
Several states (presently four) have state wide networks which are
connected to the Internet. Even if one's own state does not yet have such
a network, much can be gained by access to the Internet through a local
university. There are many useful assets available to the educator. The
first asset that naturally comes to mind is the use of electronic mail or e-
mail. One of the authors of this article has begun using this feature with
the secondary classes that he teaches. His students have exchanged
messages with multiple foreign countries. Basically e- mail allows one to
electronically communicate with other computers that have an Internet
electronic address. Whenever an individual or institution obtains an
Internet account, an Internet address is assigned to that account. Lesson
plans, collaborative projects, interest surveys, and other teaching ideas
can be exchanged between the two sites. One of the true advantages of
e-mail is that the service usually involves a local phone call and there are
no long distance charges, no matter where the message is sent.
The Internet has another resource for the educator which are called telnet
sites. Telnet sites are computers which are online mechanisms for
researching various topics. For example, an educator could link up to
online encyclopedias or data bases for class projects. Many library
catalogs (including the Library of Congress) are linked to the Internet as
telnet sites. Students can also telnet to various sites to get current
weather information, earthquake reports, or even current daily information
from NASA on ongoing space shuttle missions.
Listserv's and Newsgroups are two very useful informational tools for the
educator. A Listserv is the electronic equivalent of a magazine
subscription and discussion group, it is usually part of the BITNET network
but is easily accessible from the Internet. There are over 2,000 Listserv's
available for subscription, with topics ranging from bee keeping to deaf
education. Newsgroups are usually part of the USENET network. They
are the electronic equal of a daily newspaper, but usually are devoted to
one specific topic. Both of the previously mentioned resources have the
potential to be of great classroom utility as students and teachers can
select a specific resource applicable to a specific topic being researched.
Another very useful Internet resource available to educators are FTP sites.
FTP stands for file transfer protocol. FTP sites are electronic depositories
of free programs, shareware, articles, and graphics that can easily be
downloaded and transferred to the local classroom computer. For
example, one of the writers of this article has had his students download
programs demonstrating fractal geometry, articles on music, and images
from NASA voyager missions. These students then used these
downloads for reports and research in their other classes.
III. HOW DOES A SCHOOL GAIN INTERNET ACCESS:
Computers are linked together over a distance usually through the use of
modems and telephone lines. Modems are pieces of equipment that
convert a computer's digital signal into an analog signal which can be then
transmitted over an ordinary telephone line. Another modem will in turn
reconvert the analog signal back into a digital signal which the receiving
computer can then use. Most educational Internet connections are
through local universities and colleges. All that is needed is a computer,
telecommunications software, a modem, a phone line, and an Internet
node or gateway at the local institute of higher learning that can be dialed.
A few states have statewide networks which allow educators to interact
with the Internet. One such network (with which the authors are
participating, and thus the example used in this article) is TENET,
sponsored by the Texas Education Agency. As of Spring 1993, 21,000
educators across the state are registered to use this resource. Most
schools and educators use local telephone lines which allow them to
connect to TENET nodes (a local university), which in turn give them
Internet access. Most of the hookups are via individual telephone lines and
individual modems. Individual teachers dial the modem pool number at
the local institute of higher learning and gain access if a local line is free.
Four sites in the state presently have direct hookups which is a second
way of Internet access. A direct line is a more economical alternative for
Internet access, and is thus the topic of this paper.
IV. WHAT ARE THE NEEDS AND WHY A DIRECT HOOKUP:
A direct hookup to the Internet is a good use of educational funding for
both an individual school or a school district. A single high speed line
connects a local area network (LAN) at a school to the Internet gateway at
the local college or university. Such a connection would not be economical
for individual use. This solution would best be utilized when a school
desires for multiple computers to have access simultaneously to the
Internet. For example, if a high school wants to have several computer
labs simultaneously logged on to the Internet, the most cost effective
linkage would be through one direct line, versus one modem and phone
line per computer. In the case with TENET, a direct line would ease the
strain on local dial in modem pools. Presently, with so many educators
using the service, teachers have to wait for a free line to connect to the
Internet. At times the wait can be quite significant.
V. CONSIDERATIONS IN CONNECTIONS
"Informatics, Information Age, Telecommunications, Infoglut, Networking,
Global Classroom, Bytes, Bits, and Baud." These are but a few common
words in a world which in some eyes may seem like an entire sub-culture;
the world called the Internet. The Internet is an electronic network of
networks of networks and extends to most parts of the globe.
Communication on this system is handled nearly instantaneously and by
some estimates, there are around six million people who access the
resources found on the Internet daily. Cost is dependent upon the method
of connection to the system and to what degree the keeper of the access
point wishes to charge to recoup their costs or even make a profit.
Fortunately, there are many access points with more on the way.
Hopefully, this growing system will bring down the costs of the hardware
and other costs associated with connecting to the network. The issue for
this portion of the paper is connectivity. How can a school district or
individual campus gain access to the Internet? What are the steps to take
in order to obtain a Direct Connect? What are some possibilities to
designing a system to connect? And finally, how much does it cost?
For the purposes of the paper, it is assumed that you already have
established the worth and value of a connection to the Internet. Actually,
that is half the battle, for if you have convinced the "powers that be" that
this possibility is worth whatever it takes, then you will get whatever you
want. You have to do a sales job first. Probably the most difficult thing to
do is to describe to the uninitiated what it means to be on the Internet. It is
very difficult to quantify the information available. It is suggested to look at
finding practical infusion ideas and examples to present to those that
control the budget. For now, we'll leave this important step as it is not the
focus of the paper.
Quality access is the key. Quality is interpreted to mean speed of data
transmission and system reliability. Access may be described as ease of
use and availability. These are the issues that this paper relates to the
most.
Connection Alternatives
A. Dial Up Option
Probably the most common method to connect to the Internet is
through a dial up modem pool. That is, your computer's modem calls a
host system's collection of modems. Once a link has occurred, your
computer has access to what the remote system allows you access to-
-including their connection to the Internet. There are several pros and
cons to this method.
Pros:
1. For an individual, this is perhaps the simplest, least complicated,
and least expensive way to connect. You can purchase a modem
for anywhere between $65 to $300 or more, plug an existing
telephone line to it and with communications software, gain access
to the outside world. One point to remember is that if you are tying
up the phone line, then no one else can use it. If the phone line
happens to have an extension, then that extension must not be
picked up during the modem usage time. If it does get picked up,
then your modem connection will most likely be severely disrupted.
Some people have a special phone line installed which is then
considered to be "dedicated" to the modem use. Having a
dedicated line can increase access.
2. Having a connection like this means that there is minimal
maintenance of the connection. There is just not much on your side
that can go wrong. On the other side, the host that you are
connecting to must maintain all of their hardware, software, and
other facilities. Typically, depending on the size and complexity of
the system, there is a staff hired specifically to manage this task.
You can let them worry about all the technical stuff.
Cons:
1. The speed of the data transfer is dependent upon your
modem and the modem pool that you are connecting to. The
slowest participating modem speed determines the data
transmission speed.
2. The quality of the phone lines is a factor. "Noisy" lines can
confuse modems and create unwanted characters on the screen.
3. Typically, you are in competition with others for a fixed number of
connection points. In other words, the modem pool size usually is
fixed at a small number while the possible number of users is larger
and growing. This is a major negative factor for access.
4. You use one modem and one phone line for every connection
established. This can become expensive when many people wish
to be connected in a location such as a school. The expense is that
there are monthly phone bills for each line.
B. Direct Connection
This is currently the best alternative if your concern is of quality
access. What is a Direct Connect? The Internet can be compared
to a road system. There are various types of roads that you can
drive on. Some are electronic superhighways (which speak in a
format called TCP/IP) and some are back roads (which speak in
digital and analog formats). The Internet has a "backbone" of
superhighway data routes. Surprisingly, there are not that many of
them. This backbone can transmit data at the fastest rates
available. There are many lesser highway systems that connect to
these data routes. At the ends of these are large networks such as
TENET, FIRN, institutions of higher education, and others. In
reality, these networks are the only ones that are directly connected
to the Internet (backbone). >From these networks come lesser
roads of data communications. Some of these are merely pass
through points directly to the Internet and others are closed
systems which then can connect to the Internet. Typically, dial up
modem pools belong to these closed networks. The important point
is that the further away from the backbone that you get, the less
speed and reliability there exists. The goal then is to establish your
access point as close the the backbone level as possible while
keeping your connection costs balanced with the value of the
connection.
To actually establish a true Direct Connect is generally not feasible
because the access points are limited and distant. (Distance is a
factor in determining cost of the use of the lines). There are two
options: 1) establish access to a system that can connect to the
Internet, and 2) establish access to a system that is directly
connected in such a way as to have the same benefits of their
access level. The first option has already been discussed as the
Dial Up Option. The second option is what will be referred to from
this point on as a Direct Connect (even though it is really a
secondary direct connection in that you are getting "directly" to
the Internet through a host).
There are several pros and cons to establishing a Direct Connect.
Pros:
1. Guaranteed and immediate access to the Internet (unless the
host has a rare mechanical failure in which case no one has
access).
2. Extremely fast data transfer rates.
3. Many users may have simultaneous yet independent sessions
on the same connection line.
Cons:
1. The initial cost of the hardware may be a factor. The dollar
amount could range from about $7000 to much higher depending
on your needs and existing network situation.
2. There is a monthly phone bill for the special line that must be
installed. The charges for this line (called a 56kb line) may be
around $200 per month.
3. As owners of the hardware, you must develop knowledge and
skills in installation, troubleshooting, and maintenance. It takes
time to do these things.
The process of gaining and maintaining a Direct Connect is not one
for the novice or uninformed. This paper should only serve as an
introduction to the process and should be followed up with much
investigation and knowledge building before going ahead with
implementation.
VI. THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING A DIRECT CONNECT TO THE
INTERNET:
First of all, you will need assistance in this process. You will need the help
of someone or some people that can guide you as you begin and as you
need technical assistance. The host organization that you are connecting
to should be your best choice for this invaluable assistance. Get to know
them and establish a great (not just good) relationship. You will be calling
upon them often.
Step one:
Determine the access point and the owner of the connection link to the
Internet. As mentioned earlier, you will not be actually connecting directly
to the Internet, rather you will be gaining access through a host network
who can provide a connection. Remember that your goal should be to be
as close to the backbone level as possible. Otherwise, the more links in
the chain, the more possibility of hardware failures affecting your access.
A good place to start in locating a connection point is your local university
or college. Most of these institutions are connected to the Internet and
they will probably become your access point anyway. Also, check with
your state Education Agency. They may have some information for you as
to options.
Step two:
Get permission from your soon to be host to connect to the Internet
through them. This request should be done in writing and include the
details of your system such as the hardware that will be utilized (if known),
the type of phone line to be used, and specifically what site that your
system would tie into the host system (remember, distance is an issue).
Step three:
You should next apply for an Internet Protocol (IP) address for your site.
This will give you a Class C network number and a block of 254 unique
addresses for your network. The application comes by mail from the DDN
Network Information Center, 14200 Park Meadow Dr.-Suite 200, Chantilly,
VA, 22021, or by electronic mail at HOSTMASTER@NIC.DDN.MIL . You
can contact them with questions at (800) 365-3642. Once submitted, you
will receive confirmation within 8 working days by e-mail (if you submitted
your application in that way) or in about a month through US Mail.
Step four:
Determine specifically your network design and hardware needs.
Because you are connecting your system to a host, you need to make
sure that your equipment is compatible with their system. They may even
tell you what equipment you must use. Talk to them. When everything is
settled upon, order the hardware for your system.
Step five:
Determine and order the communications software that your system PC's
will use. The software must be TCP/IP capable. In addition, there may be
other protocols and features that are needed or desired. Ask your host for
a recommendation. Keep in mind that there are shareware/freeware
versions that you can obtain via ftp. There are also very powerful
commercial products available. Some of these software solutions will be
described later in this paper.
Step six:
Install your phone line. Contact your local phone company to do this.
Remember that as soon as it is installed, you will be charged for its
existence. Therefore, try to time things so that this is the last ingredient to
your system to obtain.
Step seven:
After everything is in place, you will have to have the hardware and
software configured for use. Hopefully, your host personnel can help you
with this installation. There may or may not be a fee associated. If there
is, pay it. It's worth it. Designate a person on your staff to look over their
shoulder and learn all that they can. This way, you can begin to develop
some in house expertise.
VII. SYSTEM DESIGN
Every Direct Connect network system is unique. There are many
variables in a network design such as building size, length of cabling for
the network, and the type of computers are involved-Mac, MS-DOS, other,
or mixed. Another consideration is what type of networking will be
involved. There are three main types, Ethernet, Token Ring, and FDDI
(fiber optics). These are the networking types that your Direct Connect
hardware can usually work with. It is best (because it is cheaper) to stick
with one format. There are also some platform specific networking types
that if present, must play a role in your plan (such as LocalTalk, etc). Other
variables include remote buildings that need to be included on the
network, numbers of users, anticipated networking traffic, and on and on.
With all of the variables, there are a few constants.
1) You will need to have a router and a DSU/CSU which is
connected to a 56kb (or better) phone line.
2) You have to have a network of computers so that they can take
advantage of the Direct Connect. Once again, the suggestion is lots of
consultation with your host friends. Also, check with the major computer
and telecommunication hardware vendors that you deal with and tap their
expertise. But beware, you probably will find as many suggested designs
as people that you talk to. So take in all the information that you can and
come to your decisions based on that input and the knowledge that is
unique to your situation.
A System Design Case Study:
The Education Service Center, Region XIII, Austin, Texas
This site is one of twenty such sites in Texas and works to improve
resources and leadership to its clients of nearly 65 school districts. In
order to improve training capabilities, in-house access, client access, and
to model a solution, it was determined to obtain a direct connection to the
Internet. The discussions and planning began in October of 1992 and the
system was operational in April of 1993. The building was already
networked with wiring that would accept ethernet RJ45 plugs. Most of the
users are on Macintoshes while the others are MS-DOS based. The
existing network system protocol was Apple LocalTalk. We followed the
steps outlined previously fairly closely although some steps happened
concurrently. It was determined that a Cisco Router (model 4000) was the
best choice given all our unique considerations. This router could be
configured to connect to any of the three major types of networking types.
We chose ethernet thinnet. In order not to lose the benefits of the existing
network, we found a device that would connect a LocalTalk network to an
ethernet network. There were several brands available but we chose the
Compatible Systems RISC 3000 model. This box could connect two
LocalTalk networks to two ethernet networks. We also discovered that we
had to have two special cables in order to connect all the machines.
Additional expense was incurred as we chose to create an ethernet
connected Lab. That expense included the cost of the ethernet cards (one
per machine) and the cabling . In order to take advantage of this new
direct connection, special software is needed. Each machine must be
TCP/IP capable and must have a communications software package
installed that meets the needs of the network that you are connecting with.
In our case, we needed a package that included TCP/IP, telnet, ftp (x, y,
and z file transfers) and Kermit protocol. There are several solutions
being looked into at the time of this writing.
Macintosh Software Solution #1: This first combination of titles is attractive
because they are free. There are two titles: first, a connection package
called NCSA Telnet. This enables a connection to any available site via
telnet. This package supports telnet and TCP/IP. (By the way, you must
purchase a copy of TCP/IP controlling software for each machine used
with NCSA Telnet. This cost works out to be around $15-20 per machine.)
Although you can ftp with NCSA, it lacks an easy ftp interface. The
solution to this shortcoming is a very effective and versatile ftp package
called Fetch. With Fetch, you make a two way connection between your
computer and the remote site. The interface is very user friendly yet
powerful. You have the option of setting the transfer mode to text, binary,
or automatic. The automatic setting takes the guesswork out of
determining which filetype to set for those mysterious file suffixes. In
addition, there is a post-processing feature that can be set to automatically
decompress any compressed transferred file and launch the file with its
appropriate application. Once again, this program is attractive not only for
its power and simplicity, but because it is freeware. The other
shortcoming of using the NCSA software is that it does not support online
printing due to the type of protocol that our host remote network is built
upon.
Macintosh Software Solution #2: There are several (even numerous)
commercial packages which meet most or all of the criteria mentioned
earlier. One package being evaluated currently is called VersaTerm. This
package contains all the features of the Software Solution #1 plus it is
easy to print from within the application. An educational institutional price
will be at a substantial discount from the retail price. Check with the
company for current pricing.
The end result is that we have an effective solution for demonstrating and
experiencing the benefits of a Direct Connect to the Internet. Training and
utilization is underway.
(The following diagram was created using Courier, 10 point)
............... .................Control Room....................
. . . +++++++++++++++++++ .
. COMPUTER . -------------------|---------::::+ CISCO 4000 + .
. LAB . / . | + ROUTER + .
. . / . | + + .
. ETHERNET----/ . ,,,,|,,,,,,,, + + .
. . . , RISC 3000 , +++++++++][++++++++ .
............... . ,,,,,,,,,,,,, ][ .
. @ ][ .
. @ ____][____ .
. @ | | .
. -------------- | DSU/CSU **** .
. | LocalTalk | |__________| * .
. | Network | * .
. -------------- * .
. * .
. * .
..............................................*..
*
*
*
UT Connection
:::::::::::::::::::KEY TO DIAGRAM::::::::::::::::::
:: ::
:: ---- and | thinnet ethernet cable ::
:: :::: Transceiver cable (AUI->thinnet)::
:: ][ v.35 Transition Cable ::
:: @ AppleTalk cable ::
:: **** 56kb phone line ::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
VIII. Other Connection Options
This section will be very short because the purpose is only to make
mention of some areas to look into for your possible consideration.
Option A -- You have a central office and several campuses. Do you need
to install all of the above equipment at each site in order to establish a
direct connect? Maybe, but maybe not. You have several things to
consider. One, are the buildings close enough to run a cable between
them to connect the networks? If so, then that would be the best
alternative. Be sure to understand the limitations of distance in networking.
Two, there are hardware solutions to consider which can link remote
networks. Three, you could set up a dial up modem pool at the site of the
router for your designated set of users. In this case, you would need a
Terminal Server and enough modems and incoming lines to address your
needs.
Option B -- Packet Radio uses a licensed Ham Radio station/operator to
make a wireless connection to the Internet. Speeds are generally slow,
around 2400 baud to 9600 baud, but there are no ongoing fees and no
phone lines involved.
Option C -- Your local cable company may have some ideas on
connectivity through what is called the INET.
Option D -- There are grant monies available for telecommunications
projects. Check with your State Educational Agency. Also, contact your
local phone company. Sometimes they will support innovative projects.
IX. THE BOTTOM LINE: A BALLPARK FIGURE COST COMPARISON
This section will attempt to compare the costs of a direct connect for an
entire campus with the cost of connecting just five classrooms on five
computers with five separate phone lines in a dial up scenario.
DIRECT CONNECT DIAL UP
******************************** ********************************
HARDWARE HARDWARE
Router $6000 5 Modems @150 $750
DSU/CSU 750 5 Phone lines 200 (monthly)
1 56kb line 200 (monthly)
Networking expense est.=$ 2500
SOFTWARE
Communication software (free+) Communication software (free+)
BENEFITS and VALUE
*Every* computer on the network The five modems and lines
can have instant, sustained, and compete for a connection
separate access to the Internet. to the limited number of
Enhanced access to the Internet available incoming ports
through tools such as Fetch (file at the host system. Access
retrieval package), gopher therefore, is not guaranteed
(information searching tool), and may be limited by daily
and more. Greatly enhanced login time limits. Only the
downloading and file transfer resources of the host system
speeds. Quality access is are available. File transfers
maintained. are as much as 25 times slower.
Quality access is not maintained.
------------------------
TWO YEAR COST COMPARISON
Five Users
(Direct Connect) @ $14,000 (Dial Up) @ $5,550
Thirty Users
(Direct Connect) @ $14,000 (Dial Up) @ $33,300
-------------------------
FIVE YEAR COST COMPARISON
Five Users
(Direct Connect) @ $21,250 (Dial Up) @ $12,750
Thirty Users
(Direct Connect) @ $21,250 (Dial Up) @ $76,500
------------------------
X. SUMMARY:
It is hoped that this paper has been a starting point for you as you begin
your quest for greater quality access to information for your students and
staff. The Information Age is a fact of society that will be waiting for our
graduates whether they are prepared or not. Connecting to the Internet is
a beginning. Good Luck.
* * * * * * * APPENDIX 1
Contact information for products mentioned
CISCO SYSTEMS
P.O. Box 3075
1525 O'Brien Dr.
Menlo Park, CA 94026
COMPATIBLE SYSTEMS, CORP.
4730 Walnut, Suite 102
P.O. Box 17220
Boulder, CO 80308
(303) 444-9532
NCSA SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
152 Computing Applications Bldg.
605 E. Springfield Ave.
Champaign, IL 61820
mactelnet@ncsa.uiuc.edu
(Fetch)
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
6028 Kiewit Computation Center
Hanover, NH 03755-3523
Fetch@dartmouth.edu
(VersaTerm)
SYNERGY SOFTWARE (PCS,Inc.)
2457 Perkiomen Ave.
Reading, PA 19606
(215)779-0522
==========================================
ARTICLE AUTHORS:
Bob Avant bavant@tenet.edu
Keith Rutledge rutledge@tenet.edu
==========================================
CD-ROM and the INTERNET
by Nancy Reppert (nreppert@tenet.edu)
"CD-ROM is a new storage medium that can serve as a
quick, economical source of information for students,
researchers, writers, and professionals in many fields"
(Schamber, 1988). Though, no longer "new", CD-ROM
technology is a valuable resource tool for educators and
continual improvements and developments being realized
will provide even more educational materials for use in
the classroom. Educators will want to keep abreast of
the newest CD-ROM developments, which they can do very
easily through the use of computer telecomputing
technology. Description of CD-ROMs, their application
in the classroom, and steps on how educators can find
CD-ROM information utilizing Internet resources will be
covered in this report.
CD-ROM stands for Compact Disk-Read Only Memory. CD-
ROMs are similar to floppy disks in that they are
approximately the same size, they store information in
digital form, and they are used with a personal
computer. However, information contained on a floppy
disk is stored in the form of magnetic charges, while
CD-ROM information is encoded by laser onto optical
disks in the form of microscopic pits. This laser data
encoding process allows CD-ROMs to carry much more
information than a floppy disk (Schamber, 1988). A CD
physically has a single spiral track about three miles
long and spins at about 500 RPM when reading near the
center, down to about 250 RPM when reading near the
circumference (Poggio, 1988).
CD-ROMs durability, high storage capacity and low cost
make them very appealing to the educator. CD-ROM's are
not only resistant to scratches and other handling
damage, but users are not able to write on, change, or
erase information contained on the disc, thus providing
the K-12 teachers some safeguards against potential
misuse by students. Any information expressed in
digital form -- be it text, images, graphics or sound --
can be stored on a CD-ROM (Poggio, 1988). Because of
CD-ROMs immense storage capacity, industry has made CD-
ROM the standard for storing and distributing massive
amounts of information, games and educational programs
(Miller, 1992). The storage capacity of the CD-ROMs
currently on the market range from about 540 to 660
megabytes. According to Schamber (1990) a 660 megabyte
capacity CD-ROM contains the equivalent of 330,000
typewritten pages. With ever increasing technological
advances, increased utilization and improvement of
compression techniques, disc storage capacity will
certainly continue to increase.
CD-ROMs are a very useful resource tool and can be used
for remedial instruction, for classroom learning
enrichment, and as presentation tools to enhance student
and faculty reports and projects. Some of the programs
and subjects presently available on CD-ROM formats
include Birds of North America, Shakespeare on Disc,
Mammals of North America, Webster's Dictionary, Exotic
Japan and Beethoven: The Ninth Symphony (MacUser, 1991).
Utilizing the Beethoven CD-ROM, one can read about the
conductor, explore the structure of the symphony, and
see and hear the symphony. Networked encyclopedias
available on CD-ROM allow students to easily access
examples of how words are used in different contexts
(Becker, p. 8).
In addition to CD-ROM discs which enhance student
learning are CD-ROM databases and bibliographic
information for educators and librarians. The ERIC
(Educational Resources Information Center) database
which many librarians, information centers, educators
and students now access through the Internet is now
available on CD-ROM. The entire ERIC database, with its
25 years of citations and indexes, fits on two compact
disks, with quarterly updates available by subscription
(Schamber, 1990). This allows users to leisurely peruse
and access information directly, free from any on-line
telecomputing costs or line-noise problems.
However, you will want to utilize the Internet to access
ERIC information and other sources of information on CD-
ROMs because it is easy, rewarding and will provide yoku
with a wealth of information. There are many routes to
travel on the Internet to find information, let's start
with ERIC. My account which is on the TENET (Texas
Education Network) system provides me with an AskERIC
Special Information Services menu. The main menu has a
list of services.
I type: 8 (Special Information Services)
then type: 3 (The AskERIC Service)
then type: 2 (AskERIC a Question)
The system then reveals the Pine electronic mail program
with the AskERIC address already provided on the "TO:"
line. All I have to do is type a search question about
CD-ROMs in the message body. "AskERIC staff will
respond with an answer within 48 working hours"
(Tkachuck, 1993). If your system does not provide this
special information service from the menu, you can still
"AskERIC" simply by sending an Internet E-mail message
to askeric@ericir.syr.edu. AskERIC does not review
individual CD-ROM products but can provide the location
of articles and perform searches on CD-ROMs applications
and uses.
There is a way you can find out about CD-ROM products
however. Again, access the Special Information Services
from the main menu -- Type: 8
Type: 2 (WAIS -- Wide Area Information Search and
Retrieval)
Type: 5 (TESS listing)
The system will ask you what keywords you would like
TESS to search.
Type: CD-ROM
By performing a TESS search under the WAIS Services that
the Internet Resources provides my search resulted in 40
CD-ROM program listings, ranging from "The CIA World
Factbook," to "Heather Hits Her First Home Run." When
you access your desired title, you are provided a
plethora of information about the CD-ROM, including a
description of the program, who sells it and how much it
cost, the applicable classroom subjects which could
incorporate the CD-ROM disc, its uses in the classroom,
what grade level, and supplier information.
Another telecomputing tool to find CD-ROM information on
the Internet is using the Online Library Catalog listed
under #3 Internet Resources from the main menu.
Type: 3 (Internet Resources)
Type: 3 (Online Library Catalogs)
A list of seven different University libraries extending
from the University of Hawaii to Sam Houston State
University come up on the screen. Select the number
next to your desired library. The libraries each have
their own methods for obtaining information, so the user
needs to respond to the prompts from their particular
library. To reach the UT Library archives, one need
only type UTCAT at the prompt. Conduct a subject search
by typing in "s CD-ROM". From my search I received a
list of 27 CD-ROM related files ranging from juvenile
literature available on CD-ROM to CD-ROM handbooks.
Type the number corresponding to the topic file you wish
to access. Within each file is a listing of all
resources located in that file. To obtain further
information on the file, type the number next to the
listing you want which gives a detailed display
including title, when published, description of the
listing (such as book, videocassette, speech, etc.) and
notes which briefly describe what is included in the
listing.
So far we have performed rather easy searches utilizing
intrastate resources. Let's explore what type of CD-ROM
information we can glean out of state. For instance,
let's go get Poggio's interesting article on CD-ROMs.
To access this document can perform an FTP. FTP stands
for File Transfer Protocol and it allows the Internet
user to visit various server sites around the world,
searching, and transferring information from the foreign
site to one's own computer. Most FTP sites allow
anonymous login rights to Internet users to access their
public archives. Thus, an educator can get gigabytes of
information for free without even requiring a login name
(Krol, p. 60).
The Poggio article is located at the address
ftp.apple.com. To FTP to this site perform the
following steps:
At the system prompt, type: ftp ftp.apple.com.
At the login prompt, type: anonymous
At the password prompt, type in your e-mail address.
Once in the site, type, "dir" at the prompt. This will
provide you with a menu of directories and
subdirectories available at that site. Included in this
list is the subdirectory entitled <cd-rom>. This
subdirectory is available for public use.
At the prompt, type: cd pub
This will provide you with a menu of what is contained
in the <pub> subdirectory. You will find another
subdirectory entitled <cd-rom>.
At the system prompt, type: cd cd-rom
The cd-rom.summary file, which you see listed on your
screen, is Poggio's article. The system tells you the
date of the article and how large the file is.
To see the file, type: get cd-rom.summary |more
The full text will appear on your screen.
To transfer the file to your telecomputing account,
type: get cd-rom.summary. The file will be
automatically transferred to your account, which you can
then download to your computer, to print.
To exit the FTP site, type: Bye
The system will respond with a goodbye message.
Now, what if you didn't know that this CD-ROM article
was at this FTP site? Well, you could perform an Archie
search to find locations of servers around the world who
have information on CD-ROMs. To conduct an Archie
search, follow these steps.
At the system prompt, type: telnet archie.unl.edu
At the login prompt, type: archie
Archie is a very popular means for Internetters to get
information and is heavily used. There may be too many
users accessing Archie when you attempt to log in. If
there is, the system will advise you to try again later.
At the keyword prompt, type: CD-ROM
During my Archie search for CD-ROM information I
received a list of 20 different host sites around the
world which had articles containing information on CD-
ROMs. Archie provides the user with the site's address,
the specific location of the file within the site (i.e.,
under what subdirectories), how large the file is, and
the date and name of the article.
Although my Archie search resulted in a list of servers
located in Japan, the United Kingdom, the U.S., Germany,
Switzerland and Sweden, I needn't be a polyglot to read
the articles from these countries, because the articles
accessed are in English. Many of the same CD-ROM
articles are located at different sites, so it is up to
the user to decide to which site they want to FTP.
However, the closer the proximity of the site to your
location, the better and less demanding on the Internet
system. In fact, when FTPing to a server site in
Hannover, Germany, the system requested that users
located in the U.S. please use a server located nearer
to them.
However, I must admit, it is fun and exceptionally easy
to explore sites around the world and FTPing to the site
is very swift once you type in the foreign server
address. Each server has its own personality -- some
are congenial, others are more business-like. For
example, a server in Switzerland has a little welcome
note and a London-based server provides the user with
the local time. Japan and Sweden servers connect you to
their files with little fanfare. Some sites issue a
warning stating that all actions you perform at their
site are monitored. The Swiss warn the user this way:
"Everything you do is logged so be nice ;-)" What
wonderful netiquette! Just like gophering and other
types of Internetting functions, use may be limited.
When FTPing to London, England one is told what user
number they are out of a maximum usage rate (e.g., 31,
out of a maximum of 40).
Another means of finding information on CD-ROMs is to
"gopher" to a site. "The Internet Gopher allows you to
browse for resources using menus (Krol, p. 190). Gopher
provides many menus and options, so you will want to
explore on your own. Below, is a sample gophering
episode to find CD-ROM information.
At the system prompt, type: gopher
A menu appears offering many options for searching.
Select #8 -- Other Gopher and Information Servers
Select #11 - WAIS Based Information
Select #3 -- Everything (It is wise to keep your
options open.)
When I performed my search 16 pages of various server
topics came up after some time. One can either scroll
down using the arrow key or type in the number
corresponding to your required option.
For this sample, type: 25 (ERIC -archive. src)
The screen will ask you what Index word(s) you wish to
search for.
Type: CD-ROM
This database in not case sensitive so typing "cd-rom"
will result in the same article listings. My search
brought up 26 CD-ROM related titles. Again, either
scroll down or type in the number corresponding to your
desired file. It takes the system just a few seconds to
retrieve a file. Once you have accessed the file, you
have four command options: exiting, mailing, saving or
printing the article. You will see the "mail" "save"
and "print" options located at the bottom of the screen
after you type "q" to quit the article.
To save the article type "s". You will be prompted to
name the file where you want the article saved. When
saving subsequent articles the system will prompt you to
"Enter save file name:" and will include the name of the
file previously created. Be careful, because if you
don't change the name the new article will REPLACE the
stored article in that file. Articles can not be
amended to existing files, as they can using some other
programs. After you have saved articles in your account
you can then download them to your personal computer,
edit and print them. If you access an article and want
to get back to the list of articles menu, after typing
"q" to quit, press, Enter.
One interesting aspect of CD-ROM technology is its
applicability to Internet use. "Many types of
references that previously were available only in books
or through electronic search devices are now available
on diskette. Owning a diskette version of this type of
material gives quick access to the information at any
time... " (Gottlieb, 1989). CD-ROM use is a tremendous
boon for heavy Internet users whose access to Internet
resources may be limited due to cost considerations,
operation malfunctions. In addition, educators can
employ many of the same search methods they use on the
Internet without worries of log-in restrictions problems
due to access restrictions when the maximum number of
users on the system has already been reached.
One can even purchase CD-ROMs which store Internet
newsgroup postings and information. "Now, with
NetNews/CD, the wealth of information available via
USENET is archived and readily available when you need
it, not just when it arrives" Landfield (1992). As CD-
ROM popularity continues to grow, many other newsgroups
will surely save their articles and postings on such a
medium. Subscribers to LISTSERVs will no longer have to
download desired information to their hard drives or a
floppy disk, thus saving time and reducing the
aggravation which sometimes occurs when one can not
transfer files due to the limited storage capacity of
ones computer. As Becker (1991) so nicely puts it, "CD-
ROM promises to end that dependency on whatever you can
squeeze onto a diskette".
As you can see, the applications for CD-ROM usage is
vast and by utilizing Internet resources, one can
readily learn more about their potential uses. Internet
users can even use telecomputing techniques to access
CD-ROM information on how to use telecomputing commands.
For example, the Prime Time Freeware (PTF) has produced
a CD-ROM of UNIX-related source codes (Morin 1992).
Telecomputing using the resources of the Internet for
educational purposes is becoming ever more popular.
"CD-ROM encyclopedias are demonstrating useful and
powerful tools for learning right now. If teachers can
find the time to develop learning activities and
assignments that exploit their power, and if schools can
implement the software in student accessible networks,
we will see an "order of magnitude" change in the value
of instructional computer software for school based
learning." (Becker, 1991, p. 20). On-line access to
CD-ROM may become "one of the more important
technologies to provide distance learners with access to
reference and research materials" (Brey, 1989).
Naturally, in order to utilize all of the wonderful
educational tools CD-ROMs provide you will need the
proper equipment including a CD-ROM Drive. There are
almost as many options in buying a CD-ROM drive as there
are CD-ROMs to play. For example, you can purchase a
multisession capability drive which when coupled with
Kodak's Photo CD technology, allows the user to store as
many as 100 digital photographs on a CD-ROM. You may
want to buy dual-speed disc drives which rotate at twice
the speed of conventional CD-ROM drives. Maybe you want
to make a faculty presentation using CD-ROM technology
or want your entire class to hear a Bach concerto in a
music appreciation class. Then, you'll want to be sure
to purchase a CD-ROM drive with RCA preamp jacks which
let you hook up a pair of external speakers. For
conferencing using CD-ROM technology, drives that allow
you to use more than one disc at a time are available,
such as the CD-ROM jukeboxes which can swap as many as
six discs into and out of a single drive mechanism (Von
Biel).
Just as you used Internet resources to find information
on CD-ROM technology, you can do the same to find out
all about CD-ROM drives! You be the driver! It's fast,
it's fun and it's educational! ;-). Nancy Reppert
nreppert@tenet.edu
References
Becker, H.J. (1991, February). Encyclopedias on CD-ROM:
Two Orders of Magnitude More Than Any Other
Educational Software Has Ever Delivered Before.
Educational Technology, pp. 7-20.
Brey, R. (1990). Telecourse Utilization Survey Project
-- Third-Year Report: Fall 1986-Summer 1989, Austin
Community College, p. 61.
Gottlieb, S. (1989). Using Personal Computers to
Acquire Special Education Information. (ERIC Document
Reproduction Service No. ED314914).
Krol, E. (1992). The Whole Internet, User's Guide &
Catalog. O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
Landfield, K. (1992, February). RE: News available on
CD-ROM [Electronic mail message]. Florida SunFlash,
38 (18).
MacUser (1991, December). 7 (12), pp. 63, 64.
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