RFC 1941

RFC 1941: Frequently Asked Questions for Schools 🎀

Okay bestie, this one is RFC 1941, titled "Frequently Asked Questions for Schools," and it's an FYI doc (FYI number 22 ✨). It came out in May 1996 and is marked as Informational 📚. Two authors wrote it: J. Sellers from Sterling Software/NASA IITA, and J. Robichaux from InterNIC 💜. It also obsoletes RFC 1578 (which was the earlier version of this same FYI 22), so this is the new and improved edition 💅. The FYI number stays at 22 even if the RFC number changes in later updates, which is so iconic 🦋.

Status of This Memo

Here's the tea: this memo is just info for the Internet community 🌸. It doesn't specify an Internet standard of any kind, so don't go treating it like one 🙈. And distribution is unlimited, so share it with everyone 💖.

Abstract

This FYI doc was made by the Internet School Networking (ISN) group, which lives in the User Services Area of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) 🧚. Its whole job is to be an intro to the Internet for faculty, administration, and other school people at primary and secondary schools ✨. The main audience is educators who just got connected to the Internet, educators who are getting online some way other than a direct connection, or educators who are just starting to think about Internet access for their schools 🎀.

The IETF is an international org, so this paper will be useful for educators in lots of countries 🌈. But the focus is on internetworking in the United States, so keep that in mind 🇺🇸.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction...................................................  2
   2. Acknowledgments................................................  3
   3. Questions About the Internet in an Educational Setting.........  3
   4. Questions About Getting the Internet into the School...........  7
   5. Questions About Using Internet Services........................ 17
   6. Questions About Classroom Resources, Projects, & Collaboration. 21
   7. Questions About Security and Ethics............................ 25
   8. Suggested Reading.............................................. 29
   9. Resources and Contacts......................................... 31
   10. References.................................................... 50
   11. Security Considerations....................................... 51
   12. Authors' Addresses............................................ 51
   Appendix A: Glossary of Terms Used in this Document............... 52
   Appendix B: Ways to Get Requests for Comments (RFCs).............. 60
   Appendix C: Examples of Educational Projects Using the Internet... 61

1. Introduction

Okay so schools are using tech for their education goals more and more 💻, which means access to the worldwide network of computer networks (aka the Internet) is growing fast 🚀. Help for schools in the form of printed materials, electronic resources, and people is growing too 📚. The ISN group of the IETF is still committed to showing off why Internet connections are great for schools and fixing the problems schools run into when they try to get connected 💅. The FYI (For Your Information) series is a subset of the IETF-produced RFCs (Requests for Comments), and it's one of the ways they hit these goals 🦋. (Check Appendix A, "Glossary of Terms Used in This Document," if you want the deets on "FYI" and "RFC.") 🤓

The ISN group and the IETF are international, but the authors of this doc only have experience bringing the Internet to schools in the United States 🇺🇸. We know that culture and the national economy effect how people see school networking 🌍. (Like, in the United States, educational reform is a big reason schools get connected. Other countries might not have that same push to change the teacher's role from a sole provider of information into more of a guide toward knowledge 🍓.) So yes, this doc might have a U.S. flavor, but we don't think that'll stop it from being useful to people in other countries, and we're so here for that 🌏💖!

Some of the questions educators have about the Internet are more general, and for those we recommend reading FYI 4, "Answers to Commonly Asked 'New Internet User' Questions." 📖 (To find this and other IETF docs for the general Internet user, see Appendix B, "Ways to Get RFCs.") 🎀

Also, the Internet is always changing 🌀. We tried to only include the most stable network services and contacts, but you might still find that something on the list is unavailable or has changed 🙈. The bright side of all that change is that you'll discover a lot on your own, and some of what you find will be new since this doc was written ✨.

This is an update of an earlier doc (FYI 22/RFC 1578, "Answers to Commonly Asked 'Primary and Secondary School Internet User' Questions"), and it makes that doc obsolete 💜. If future updates happen, the RFC number will change again, but the FYI number (22) will stay the same 🦋.

2. Acknowledgments

Huge shoutout to Ronald Elliott, Klaus Fueller, Raymond Harder, Ellen Hoffman, William Manning, April Marine, Michael Newell, and Anthony Rutkowski 🫶. They all helped with the first version of this doc! 🌸 Then for this version, we want to thank Sepideh Boroumand, Sandy Dueck, Jeff Gong, Bill Grenoble, Pat Kaspar, Ed Klein, Yermo Lamers, Gary Malkin, April Marine, Michael Newell, and Jan Wee for their invaluable suggestions and contributions 👑. Thanks also to Nathan Hickson for checking every single entry in the formidable Section 9 💅 (that section is a lot, bestie 😭).

3. Questions About the Internet in an Educational Setting

3.1. What is the Internet?

The Internet is a large and rapidly growing worldwide network made up of smaller computer networks 🌐. They're all linked by a common protocol, which lets computers of different types swap information ✨. These networks are owned by countless commercial, research, government, and education orgs, plus individuals 🏫. The Internet lets the almost 5 million computers [1] and countless users on the system collaborate easily and quickly, either in pairs or in groups 💖. Users can discover and access people and information, distribute info, and experiment with new technologies and services 🧪. The Internet has become a major global infrastructure for education, research, professional learning, public service, and business 👑.

There's a confusing variety of Internet access types 😵‍💫. They're told apart either by the services you can use (telnet, Gopher, FTP or File Transfer Protocol, World Wide Web) or by the technology underneath the access (the protocol, or the rules computers have to follow to talk to each other) 🔧. The Internet is most clearly defined by its technology, but other technologies now offer access to a lot of the same Internet services, most notably electronic mail and the World Wide Web 📧. Honestly, the most important question for a user today is probably not "Am I on the Internet?" but "Do I have access to the Internet services I want?" 💅 See Section 5, "Questions About Using Internet Services," for more on telnet, Gopher, FTP, the World Wide Web, and electronic mail 🦋.

There's no official governing body of the Internet 🙃, but the Internet Society is the international org for Internet cooperation and coordination 🌸. See Section 9, "Resources and Contacts," for Internet Society contact info 📇.

For a more complete intro to the Internet, check out FYI 20, "What is the Internet?", which is cited in Section 8, "Suggested Reading" 📚. For info on how to get FYI docs produced by the Internet Engineering Task Force, see Appendix B, "Ways to Get RFCs" 🎀.

3.2. What are the benefits of using the Internet in the classroom?

The Internet is an exciting classroom resource 🤩. It expands the classroom in a big way by delivering information, data, images, and even computer software from places that would otherwise be impossible to reach, and it does all this almost instantly ⚡. This access to up-to-the-minute info can make a student's education way more relevant 💡. Some of these materials are original sources that are too expensive, or hard in other ways, for schools to own 📜. Some info is news that hasn't been filtered by mass media, so students have to critically assess its content and value 🧐.

But the Internet isn't just a place to gather stuff 🛍️. It's also a place to communicate and make contact with people all over the world 🌏. The Internet brings experts in every content area into the classroom, plus new and old friends and colleagues in education 💜. It also lets students and teachers leave the classroom by sharing ideas with people far away 🦋. The isolation that comes with teaching is well-known among educators 😔. But having Internet access to colleagues in other parts of the world, as well as to people who work outside of classrooms, means educators aren't as isolated 🫶.

Your site can become a valuable source of info too ✨. Think about the expertise in your school that could be shared with others around the world 🌍. For guidance on finding schools with a presence on the Internet, see Section 9, "Resources and Contacts" 🎀.

Using the Internet shifts focus away from a teacher-as-expert model and toward one of shared responsibility for learning, which makes it a vital part of school reform 🔄. Lots of reform efforts try to move away from teacher isolation and toward teacher collaboration 🤝, away from learning in a school-only context and toward learning in a life context 🌱, away from an emphasis on knowing and toward an emphasis on learning 🧠, and away from a focus on content and toward a focus on concepts [2] 💡. The Internet can play an integral part in helping to achieve these shifts, since it's well-suited for use as a project resource 🧚. Info on the Internet, like the rest of the world outside the classroom, isn't divided into separate disciplines such as geometry, writing, geography, or painting 🎨.

As a hands-on classroom tool, the Internet encourages the kind of independence and autonomy that many educators agree is important to the learning process 🦋. Internet use can also be a motivator for students 🔥. And because class, race, ability, and disability are removed as factors in communication while using the Internet, it's a natural tool for meeting the needs of all students 🌈💖.

There are a bunch of resources you can use to convince others of the benefits of the Internet in the classroom 💅. The NASA IITA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration Information Infrastructure Technology and Applications) K-12 Internet Initiative made an 11-minute video about the benefits schools get from using the Internet 🎬. It's called "Global Quest: The Internet in the Classroom" 🌟. Another video that works for a mixed audience of stakeholders is "Experience the Power: Network Technology for Education," produced by the National Center for Education Statistics in the U.S. Department of Education 📺. Several articles in various periodicals make a strong case for using the Internet in the classroom 📰. A particularly good one, by Al Rogers of the Global SchoolNet Foundation, is called "Global Literacy in a Gutenberg Culture" 🔥. Student essays are also super compelling testimony 🥹. For info on the Rogers article, see Section 8, "Suggested Reading." Some student essays are on NASA's Quest server, which is listed in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts," and you can find info on the videos there too 🛰️✨.

3.3. Will using the Internet replace teachers? 💅

Okay so, textbooks, magazines, videos, guest speakers, and field trips already help support a curriculum, right? The Internet is just another tool in that toolbox for teaching and learning 🧰. That does not mean it must be the only way a class learns 🙅. Teachers are still the ones making smart, informed calls about the best way to use the Internet, same as they do with every other material in the room 👩‍🏫. It can also help individualize learning, so each student's classroom experience feels more relevant to them 🫶.

3.4. Will this technology replace books? 📚

Okay, there is room in any school for all kinds of materials and resources 🌈. Books and other print materials will absolutely keep being important 💜. Internet resources have the advantage of tying together information from all over the globe, which makes them super useful research tools 🌎. As mentioned before, they can also give you up-to-the-minute info, so they're especially relevant ⏰. And you may be able to engage an expert in a dialog that clarifies or updates what you find in published materials 🧠.

Now, one thing to keep in mind: a lot of the material on the Internet doesn't have the authority that comes from an established publishing house or a reputable author 🤨. So it may be seen as less reliable than books. For example, an encyclopedia or almanac in a school library might reasonably be accepted as valid without question, but a source found on the Internet may need a more critical look 🔍. However, lack of authority is not always a negative! Reading an account of the fall of the Berlin Wall by a student in the local region the day it happened can be valuable even if that student is not a reputable author 🧱. Moreover, while it's true that with Internet materials it becomes increasingly important to evaluate where they came from, one of the hallmarks of a good education is the ability to assess information critically, whether the source be print, television, or some other media 🎀.

3.5. How can use of the Internet be integrated into the existing curriculum? 🧩

This is a key question, bestie 🔑. For the Internet to be used successfully in schools, it must be employed as a tool to teach content and reach educational goals that have already been established. It cannot be seen as an end in itself 🙅‍♀️.

Individual teachers will first need to get familiar enough with the Internet to know how to do at least two things: find information on topics they consider important, and locate people with like educational goals 🔎. Sections 5 and 6, "Questions About Using Internet Services" and "Questions About Classroom Resources, Projects, and Collaboration" will give you some ideas about how to begin 💡.

Once they're comfy finding content online, most teachers can decide how to use Internet resources to help their students meet goals. For example, science teachers often teach about hurricanes and other weather phenomena as part of normal instruction. With Internet access, they can use information and satellite data about the most recent storm to make their points, instead of outdated examples from textbooks 🌪️.

When teachers get familiar with finding other people on the Internet (some of whom are already grouped into network "communities" of interest), they can learn from educators who have been using it longer 🦋. They can join existing projects, contribute to the evolution of proposed projects, and propose their own projects. They can also ask for and give help with classroom problems, from the content they teach, to addressing students as individuals, to mastering effective discipline 🫂.

Internet access supports project-based learning, and it's giving main character energy 👑. A teacher in an individual classroom can use the data and information on the Internet as a resource for classroom projects. There are also a bunch of projects that happen over the Internet across more than one classroom at a time 🌸. Any educator with an idea can start a project. A popular example of an educator-initiated project is one that requires data to be collected from diverse sites around the world, or at least around the country. For example, students in various locations have tracked butterfly and bird migrations, compared bodies of water, and measured the north-south circumference of the Earth 🌍🦅. Various organizations also run projects that schools can join. Among the many groups that have invited schools to take part in projects focused on a specific topic are the Global SchoolNet Foundation, The European Schools Project, the International Educational and Research Network (I*EARN), and groups associated with federal agencies such as the Department of Energy, the United States Geological Survey, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 🚀.

The Internet can also be used for peer review of student materials. It can be a medium for publishing student newspapers, art exhibits, and science fairs, and for a global email pen-pal program to discuss classroom topics 💌.

Here's the big takeaway, and I cannot stress it enough: the key factor these Internet uses have in common is that they support classroom curriculum, not define it 🔥.

Learning about the Internet and how to use it is an important goal for any school's Internet program. But in the classroom, the message needs to be emphasized over the medium 📣.

There are several sources of material for discussing curriculum infusion, including mailing lists, World Wide Web sites, and archives of sample lesson plans 🧾. Most of the mail lists, Internet computers, and organizations in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts," address infusion of technology into the curriculum. See also Appendix C, "Examples of Educational Projects Using the Internet" 🎓.

4. Questions About Getting the Internet into the School ✨

4.1. How much does it cost to connect to the Internet, and what kind of equipment does my school need to support the Internet connection? 💸

okay so the cost of an internet connection is wildly different depending on where your site is and what kind of connection actually fits your needs 💅 to figure out what it'll cost your school, you'll need to answer a bunch of questions. to learn what they are and get answers, start asking at local colleges, universities, technology companies, government agencies, community networks (often called "FreeNets"), local electronic bulletin board systems (BBS), internet access providers, or technology consultants. see also Question 4.6 🫶

to give you a vibe of possible costs and equipment needs, think about four groups of internet users 🎀 we'll call them basic individual users, advanced individual users, school networks, and school district networks.

how you approach getting service depends on which category feels most like you ✨ this discussion is based on experiences in the United States. (for more on the internet services you'll be reading about in this section, see Section 5, "Questions About Using Internet Services.")

basic users are individuals who want to access common internet services like the World Wide Web, Gopher, and email 🌸 there are two types of basic users: those who plan to be online for a few hours per week, and those who plan to be online for many hours per day.

basic individual users who need access to common internet services like Web pages, FTP sites, and email for only a few hours per week may be best served by one of the nationwide online services like America Online, CompuServe, or Prodigy 💜 these have the advantage of giving the user a simple setup and easy, graphics-based access screens that hide the complex commands some internet services require. they also offer value-added services not available via the general Internet, like access to news magazines and encyclopedias. the hardware is generally a standard Windows-based PC or Macintosh and a 14.4 kilobits per second (Kbs) or higher modem. at the time of this writing, prices typically run around $10 per month for the first 5 hours of connect time, and $2-4 per hour after that 🍓

basic individual users who access common internet services for many hours per day should consider a "shell" account from a local Internet Service Provider (ISP) 🧚 shell accounts generally give you access to a Unix computer that's connected to the Internet, so if you go this route, be ready to learn a few Unix commands 🤓 shell account users get all the standard internet services but at a cheaper rate, generally in the $30 per month range for 6 hours per day of access plus $1-2 per hour for extra hours. most shell account vendors don't provide nationwide access, and shell accounts don't have graphical user interfaces, so you can't use Web browsers like Netscape and Mosaic. you may be able to use Lynx, a text-based browser, but some ISPs don't install it on their computer servers 😭

many FreeNets also offer shell account access gratis, but they may not be able to offer much support 🫶

in the United States, there are a bunch of statewide educational networks, most of them with access to the Internet 🌈 to find out if there's a state education network near you that gives basic user accounts to educators and/or students, contact the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) or check out the document "Getting US Educators Online" by Linda Conrad, listed in Section 8, "Suggested Reading."

advanced individual users are those who want graphical user interfaces to internet services and who may want to use their computers to offer services to other Internet users 👑 for example, they might want to create Web pages for others to access or put files online for others to retrieve. if you're an advanced user, you might look into a Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) or Point to Point Protocol (PPP) account from an Internet Service Provider. the interface is similar to what the nationwide online services offer basic users, but the performance is better and the cost is lower for someone who uses the service for more than just a few hours per week ⭐

setting up a SLIP or PPP account requires configuring and installing Internet and SLIP/PPP software 🛠️ some ISPs only provide the software, some will install it for you, and some preconfigure it and send it on disk, with instructions to the user, via postal mail. again, the hardware is generally a standard Windows-based PC or Macintosh and a 14.4 Kbs or higher modem. costs are generally comparable to basic shell accounts, but for 24-hour connections expect to pay $100 or more per month 💅

if your school plans to have more than a few individual internet users, you'll need to consider a network with a high-speed dedicated line connected to the Internet 🔥 this school network is probably a small- or medium-sized network in a single building or a very few geographically close buildings. it may include only one or several LANs.

most high speed connectivity comes through a dedicated leased line, which is a permanent connection between two points 🦋 this gives you a high quality permanent Internet connection at all times. most leased lines are provided by a telephone company, a cable television company, or a private network provider and cost $200 per month or more. typically, the connection from your LAN or LANs is a digital leased line with a Channel Service Unit/Data Service Unit (CSU/DSU), which costs between $600 and $1000. less often, the connection is an analog leased line with a modem, which costs between $200 and $800. you'll also need a router, which costs roughly $1500 💀 this is a substantially more difficult setup to manage. once you've figured out how you think you'll use Internet access, contact several ISPs in your area and compare prices and services 🙈

school district networks are even more complex 🌀 if you have several locations that need connectivity, contact several ISPs and get bids for the service.

the ISP world is changing super fast, especially at the low end 🚀 at the time of the first edition of this document, local ISPs were rare, small, and fairly expensive. at the time of this writing, ISPs are everywhere, offering a wide variety of services at reasonable prices 🌸 plus, several groups are working on low-cost solutions for school networking. subscribe to the mail lists in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts," to keep up with new developments 👀

"Getting US Educators Online" and "Connecting to the Internet: An O'Reilly Buyer's Guide" by Susan Estrada are both listed in Section 8, "Suggested Reading." other books about the Internet and how to connect to it are out there, and new ones keep coming out 📚 check libraries, bookstores, and booksellers' catalogs. two lists of Internet providers available via the World Wide Web can be found in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts," along with the Consortium for School Networking. the global regional Network Information Centers (NICs), like the Reseaux IP Europeens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) in Europe, can also give you a list of service providers. the Asia Pacific Network Information Center (APNIC) in the Pacific Rim will have a similar list in the near future. both of these NICs are listed in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts." 🌏

4.2. What are the other costs associated with having Internet access? 🧾

bestie, when you're budgeting for your school's Internet connection, there are a bunch of factors that might not seem obvious at first 🙃 technical support and training will add ongoing costs, even if those costs only show up as someone's time. equipment needs to be maintained and upgraded as time goes on, and even after all the teachers get basic Internet training, they'll most likely have questions as they explore and learn more on their own. a general rule for budget planning is this: for every dollar you spend on hardware and software, plan to spend three dollars to support the technology and the people using it 💖

your school will need some technical expertise on-site 🧠 (see also Question 4.4.) your network access provider may offer training and support for technical issues, and other groups also offer formal classes and seminars. if your school has designated technical personnel, they'll be great candidates for those classes and seminars. if your school doesn't have designated technical personnel, a teacher or other staff member with a strong interest may take on the job of becoming the local expert, but a better solution is to have someone dedicated to this at least part time 🫶 students can help local experts maintain equipment and do other tasks, which lets them learn new skills at the same time 🦄

training is equally important to bringing the Internet into schools 📖 most teachers learn about the Internet during the time they use to learn about any new teaching tool, which often means they "steal" time at lunch, on weekends, and before and after school to explore resources and build relationships via the Internet 😅 when a school is committed to providing the Internet as an educational resource, the administration will make in-service time available. it will also make sure someone at the school knows enough to field questions and help people as they take the risk of trying new ways of teaching with Internet resources. again, some students make excellent tutors 🎓

you can find some technical support and a variety of training materials by using the Internet itself 🌐 you can send questions to people in the know and join discussion lists and news groups that discuss and answer questions about support and training. the Edtech mail list is one such list. some World Wide Web sites offer technical support information. videos also help bridge the information gap 🎬 see Section 9, "Resources and Contacts," for a preliminary listing of these resources. your local community may have resources too, like colleges and universities, businesses, computer clubs and user groups, technology consultants, and government agencies 🌷

4.3. How can my school afford access to the Internet? 💸

okay so school budgets are literally always impossibly tight 😭 but here's the tea: the cost of an Internet connection can get squeezed out of the budget once people realize how valuable it is ✨ A low-end connection can be pretty reasonable (see the next question 💅). Honestly, the real struggle for folks pushing for a connection is less about the money and more about convincing administrators to spend on something they're not familiar with 🙈

To bump the Internet connection up your school's priority list, consider at least two possibilities. First, your school might be in the middle of reform, like lots of schools are right now 🌈 As mentioned earlier, use of the Internet supports reform efforts, so framing Internet access as part of systemic reform might help convince people 🫶 Second, an actual Internet demonstration can be way more convincing than words 🔥 Yes, it sounds like a chicken-and-egg thing (I need Internet access to get Internet access 💀), but some organizations will provide guest accounts on an Internet-connected computer for people in schools who are trying to sell others on the value of a connection 🧚 Another way to start using Internet services is to sign up for one of the popular online services such as America Online, CompuServe, or Prodigy ✨ Once you're subscribed, you can use these services from home or from school. This method is recommended only as a way to introduce yourself and others in your school community to the value of the Internet 💖 It is not a good long-term solution for providing Internet access to a lot of users at one site, like a school 😬

Contact local colleges, universities, technology companies, service providers, community networks, and government agencies for both guest accounts and funding ideas 💜 For alternatives to your school's budget or supplements to it, look for funding in federal, state, and district budgets as well as private grants 🍓 Work with equipment vendors to provide the hardware you need at low or no cost to your school, and consider forming a School/Community Technology Committee, or a joint School District/School/Community Technology Committee 👑 Also investigate a back-door connection to a local college or university. Service providers often allow schools to connect to higher education sites at a lower cost 🦋

A bunch of sites on the Internet have more info about grants and the organizations that offer them. Two that you might find useful are Grants Web, for grant information of all kinds, and the Foundation Center, for info on private and nonprofit organizations 🎀 For info on where to find these sites on the Internet, see Section 9, "Resources and Contacts."

4.4. What organizational structure needs to be in place in order for my school to have Internet access? 🏫

Structures vary a lot between schools and districts, depending on each school's particular requirements 💅 In many schools, the librarians/media specialists guide development of the network and the policies on using it, and they sit at the top of the structure within the school 📚 In other schools, an interested teacher becomes the driving force behind getting the Internet in and may be the best person to see the project through 🌸 The school administration, if it isn't the guiding force, needs to be behind the plan to bring the Internet into the school 👑 And everyone else who might have a stake in it should be brought in as early as possible, whether or not they know anything about the Internet 🫶 That includes area businesses, community leaders, teachers with Internet access at home, the librarian or media specialist, parents, and anyone at the school who finds the idea appealing ✨ Basically, any organizational structure works as long as it's clear and simple and includes the people who might have a stake in bringing the Internet into the school 💖

One way to make sure a structure develops and the right people get involved is to invite a wide variety of people to create a technology plan for the school 🧚 The by-product of technology planning can be an organizational structure, but planning is also useful in itself for helping your school define and meet goals for Internet and other technology use 🌈 The National Center for Technology Planning hosts a collection of technology plans and planning aids for people who need help, new ideas, or solutions as they tackle technology planning in their schools or districts 🍓 Info on the National Center for Technology Planning can be found in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts."

No matter the structure, there should be someone at the school who can lead the work with vendors and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). This person should be knowledgeable about, or willing to learn about, the technical aspects of connecting to the Internet, including knowledge of any networks the school already has in place 🧠 The lead person should have an alternate so the school isn't completely dependent on one person 🙌 If your school hires an independent consultant, someone at the school should be aware of everything the consultant does and should get at least some training in the areas the consultant works on 👀

Another role that must be filled is in-house network administrator. Having an already busy teacher take this on as an extra duty is a bad idea; a greater time commitment is needed 💀

4.5. What questions do I need to ask people who are selling network services? 🛍️

There are a number of questions you should ask 💁 Anything you hear that you don't understand must be questioned, no exceptions 🙅 If a vendor knows the product and the process well, he or she should be able to explain it in terms you can understand.

You should also ask any kind of vendor how available they are and at what point they either stop helping you or start charging by the hour ⏰ Get references from other customers, preferably including at least one school with requirements similar to yours 🎀

Questions for LAN vendors:

• If the school has not yet purchased a Local Area Network (LAN), ask the LAN vendor how the product will interact with TCP/IP. (TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the technology which forms the basis of the Internet.) If necessary, arrange a meeting with the LAN vendor, the ISP, and any consultants that may be involved.
• Make a list of the school's requirements, including security, the number of computers on the LAN which will have Internet access, and the Internet services you want students and teachers to be able to use. (See Section 5, "Questions About Using Internet Services," for an introduction to the services.) Ask the vendors if they can provide services that will meet your requirements.

Questions for Internet Service Providers:

• In general, ask the ISP what services are included with your purchase of Internet connectivity.
• Will they terminate the circuit in a router and leave you to your own resources to take care of the "LAN side" of the connection?
• Will they provide a primary domain name server for you?
• Will they register your domain name with the InterNIC?
• Are they providing you with all the IP addresses you need?
• Will they help you with security issues?
• Do they provide a newsfeed or a newsreading service? (Do you know the difference?)
• If they agree to do some work on the LAN side, what is the extent of that work? (Configure individual computers? Handle subnetting and routing issues?)
• Will they answer questions from your network administrator?
• Will a dedicated computer be needed as an Internet server for such things as domain name service, the World Wide Web, Gopher, and FTP?
• Do they provide any training sessions for your staff, and are these sessions included in the connectivity price?
• Do they offer any other classes or seminars, and are these included in the connectivity price?
• Does the ISP do their own training or do they contract to someone else, and if the latter, who is it? Check references on any contractors.

Questions for Internet Service Providers furnishing dial-in service:

There are some specific questions you should ask of an ISP who is providing dial-in connections. (See Question 4.7 for a further discussion on dialing in from home.) 📞

• What is the charge per minute for connectivity?
• Is SLIP or PPP connectivity available?
• Will the ISP be providing software which allows you to use Internet services such as email and the World Wide Web, or will they help you obtain it?
• Will they help you install it?
• Ask for references of other clients using dial-in service, and when you check them, one of the questions to ask other customers is whether they encounter lots of busy signals. (You can also check this yourself by trying the access provider's dial-in number at various times during the day. Just dial it by phone and see how many busy signals you get.) 🙈

4.6. How many of our computers should have Internet access, and where in the school should they be located? 💻✨

okay bestie, you should make Internet access possible for as many of your school's computers as possible 🫶. ideally you've got computers all over the school (classrooms, the library, labs) and they're all connected together with printers and other peripherals in one or more LANs. in that case you get one dedicated Internet connection of 56 Kbs (Kilobits per second) or higher to serve the whole school 🔥.

if your budget AND existing computer equipment are both limited 💀, you can use a dial-up service and a modem to access the Internet, but in most cases that will only be viable for one computer at a time. as Internet use catches on at your school, it'll eventually be more effective to create the LAN with Internet access mentioned above than to keep adding modems in classrooms 🧚.

if you have to choose between Internet access in one lab in the school or Internet access for the same number of computers throughout the school, then to get teachers to actually use it, you have to make it available where they can most easily take advantage of it. this usually means making access available throughout the school 🌸. a computer lab is an easier maintenance set-up for the person keeping the equipment running, and it lets each individual (or pair) in an entire class use a computer at the same time. still, a computer located in the classroom is more convenient for both the teacher and the class. Internet resources can be more easily integrated into a classroom lesson, and the emphasis stays on using the Internet as an instructional tool 📚. since only one or two computers can usually fit in each classroom, teachers will learn to allocate computer time creatively 🎀. and if you can only provide a few computers throughout the school, make sure at least one of them is in the library, where all students get the chance to be exposed to the Internet as a resource 👑.

networking all computers campus-wide can be expensive 💸. you may want to look into initially giving one lab, the library, and a few classrooms dial-up access, assuming phone lines are available. even a connection to only one classroom as a demonstration may help you garner more support for creating a campus-wide local area network that's routed to the Internet through a dedicated line 🦋.

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4.7. Can people get on the Internet from home?

this depends on your network access provider 🏠. it's certainly a possibility and is definitely desirable for the educators at your school. to make it possible for teachers and other staff to dial in to the school network (and then out to the Internet) from home, you will need, at the least, multiple phone lines and modems. talk to your service provider about other technical requirements 📞.

many teachers like to be able to learn at home as well as on school grounds, and having the ability to explore when they have the time is invaluable 🌈. one school district we know of made low-interest loans available to teachers so they could buy home computers. when the technology was later made available in their classrooms, they already had some experience and were comfortable beginning to use it in day-to-day instruction 🍓.

the question of whether or not to make the option to dial in from home available to students is more difficult 😬. on one hand, a school may not be able to escape the idea that it's responsible for how students use the Internet access it provides, even though the school has no control over the home environment. on the other hand, particularly in high school, much schoolwork is done at home. since most classrooms don't have enough computers for all students to access the Internet at once, it's even more likely that work won't be completed during class time. having Internet access from home becomes more important 🫶.

discussion of whether or not you want to make this option available to students (even if it's technically possible) should involve as many school partners as possible, including faculty, administration, parents, and other community members 🌟. it might take place in a public forum such as a school/community meeting ✨.

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5. Questions About Using Internet Services ✨

the way to find people, information, software, and anything else on the Internet is generally to use either printed or electronic guides and Internet services 🔍. in this section we'll concentrate on the services. (See Section 6, "Questions about Classroom Resources, Projects, and Collaboration," for information on guides.) we answer more questions about the World Wide Web than about other online services for three reasons. first, the World Wide Web is the Internet tool coming into most prominence at the time of this writing 🌟. second, many (if not all) of the other services are included seamlessly in the Web. that is, they're there, but you may or may not realize you're using them 🫣. third, making your way around the Internet using the World Wide Web is easy. for people not interested in computers, access to the Internet has become less frustrating 💖.

this is not to say that finding what you want is always simple 😅. the Internet is like a vast library without a comprehensive card catalog. new ways to do indexing and searching are being devised and employed, and you'll need some time to learn how to use them 📖.

5.1. What is the World Wide Web?

the World Wide Web (WWW) is a project initiated by the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN) located in Geneva, Switzerland, and it's currently driven by the World Wide Web Consortium 🌍. when exploring the World Wide Web, users navigate through documents by selecting highlighted text that leads to another document or location. the highlighted text can be called a "pointer," a "link," or an "anchor" 🔗. this navigation results in a three-dimensional exploration of documents instead of a flat text document 🌀. the World Wide Web incorporates different media into its documents, including text, sound, graphics, and moving images 🎬.

the World Wide Web presents either a graphical or a text interface to numerous Internet resources. not only can users access documents specifically designed for the Web, they can also view documents on Gopher servers, use FTP to download files, and launch a telnet session 🧃. some World Wide Web clients also allow for the use of email and Usenet news. this is an easy-to-use, nonthreatening way to approach the Internet, and it doesn't require in-depth technical knowledge 💅. (See Question 5.5 for a discussion of these other services.)

5.2. How do I connect to the World Wide Web?

first, you'll need at least a SLIP or PPP connection. (See Question 4.1 for more information; SLIP or PPP is the "advanced individual user" solution described there.) accessing the Web is like using any other service on the Internet. you run a client on your computer which accesses a server, in this case a Web server, running on another computer 🖥️. in Web terms, the client is called a browser. the browser retrieves and reads documents from Web servers. information providers establish Web servers for use by network users, and when you become proficient at using the Internet, you may want to become exactly that kind of information provider 🧑‍💻.

most Web browsers share common features. one feature is the hotlist, or bookmark. this allows you to mark your favorite sites. your browser will store these sites and their addresses and allow you to revisit them later by simply selecting the name of a site from a menu 🔖. another feature common to most browsers allows you to save the current file to your local disk. some browsers keep a tally of the sites you've visited recently and allow you to revisit them without typing in the location again 🕰️. every browser is different, so it pays to explore your own client software and learn its features through practice. most people, even those with little computer experience, find it's easy to learn to use a browser just by exploring on their own 🧭.

each document contained on Web servers across the Internet has a unique address. this is called a URL, a uniform resource locator. browsers negotiate URLs just like mail software negotiates email addresses. users can type in the URL for the browser to access. URLs are also embedded in a Web document's text, providing a seamless link to another location or document 🌐.

5.3. How is the World Wide Web linked?

the Web functions as a distributed hypermedia system 🕸️. the purpose of this system is to allow the exchange of information across the Internet in the form of hypertext documents called Web pages or home pages. hypertext is text with pointers or links to further information in various formats (text, graphic, video), allowing you to branch off to another document for more information on a given topic, and then return to the same location in the original document with ease. pointers in a Web document are analogous to HyperCard stacks or Microsoft help files, in which you click on an option (a pointer or a link) and the program moves you to another document, or location 💫.

documents published on the Web are constructed in hypertext markup language, or HTML 🧱. this is a simple language that allows you to format text, insert images and sound, and create links in a document. tutorials on creating Web services are available at the NCSA Mosaic Home Page, the automatic starting place for Web exploration when using the Mosaic client. there are also Web page creation resources listed in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts."

5.4. Where do I get a World Wide Web browser?

the two most common graphical Web browsers at the time of this writing are Netscape and Mosaic 🏆. Netscape is a commercial product but is currently free for educational use. Mosaic is free. both of these packages are available for Macintosh, PC, and Unix platforms through the Internet. see Section 9, "Resources and Contacts," for details 💾.

for those users with lower-speed connections that cannot accommodate full graphical browsers, there is a text-based browser available for Unix systems called Lynx 🐢. a public-access Lynx client is accessible through telnet at the server of the World Wide Web Consortium, which is listed in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts."

many commercial online services, such as CompuServe, Prodigy, and America Online, include a Web browser as part of their offerings. more and more often, Web browsers are being included as part of the standard connection software provided by the Internet Service Provider 🎉.

5.5. What are the other services on the Internet? 🌐

okay bestie, the Internet has a whole squad of other services that help you get around, and I'm gonna walk you through the most common ones 💖 if you want the deeper tea, check out "EFF's (Extended) Guide to the Internet" by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and "The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog" by Ed Krol. both are in Section 8, "Suggested Reading," and each tool also has its own Glossary entry 📚

Email. Email is probably the most basic tool on the Internet 💌 It's short for electronic mail, and you can use it in a couple of ways. you can message back and forth with just one person, or you can join a group of people who talk about stuff they're into. those groups are called mail lists 🫶 you join and leave a list by emailing one address, and you post to everyone on the list by emailing a slightly different address. sometimes a human handles the list signup and sometimes a software program does it 🤖 for more info, check the entries for email and mailing lists in the Glossary. and if you're looking for mail lists about primary and secondary education, peep Section 9, "Resources and Contacts" ✨

Network News. this one's also called Usenet News or Net News 📰 reading news is kinda like being on an email list, except the messages don't land in your mailbox. instead, you use news reader software to read them on a computer where they pile up 🧚 for more details, see the Usenet News entry in the Glossary.

FTP. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and it does exactly what it sounds like: it lets you move files from one computer to another 📁 it's the name for both the protocol and the program, so don't get confused 🙈 a special kind called Anonymous FTP lets you get into the many public archives on the Internet 🗂️ FTP isn't used on its own as much as it used to be, because people usually grab files with Web browsers and Gopher clients, which have FTP built in 💅 for more info, see the entries for Anonymous FTP and FTP in the Glossary.

Telnet. Telnet lets you log into a computer somewhere else on the Internet and use the services that live there 🖥️ for example, if you don't have a Gopher client or a Web browser, there are some public access sites you can telnet to so you can use a Gopher client or a text-based Web browser instead 🙌

Gopher. Gopher is a tool for browsing info on the Internet using menus 🍓 if you know what you're after and have a general idea where to find it, Gopher makes the search way easier. and once you spot something you like, whether it's a document, a data set, or a picture, Gopher will fetch it for you 🎀 for more, see the Gopher entry in the Glossary.

Searching and Indexing Tools. okay this is where it gets iconic 🔍 Archie is a tool for searching FTP sites. Veronica (Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Network Index to Computerized Archives, which works the same way Archie does) is a tool for searching Gopherspace. WAIS (Wide Area Information Service; pronounced "wayz") is a tool for searching indexed databases, whether they're full of numbers, text, or graphics files 🧠 and Yahoo, Lycos, and WebCrawler are some of the many searching and indexing tools on and for the World Wide Web 🌈 for more info, check the entries for Archie, Gopher, WAIS, WWW, and Veronica in the Glossary.

Videoconferencing. at the time of this writing, schools are starting to join conferences, meetings, and group activities over video 🎥 the two services used for this are Multicast Backbone (MBONE) and CU-SeeMe, and both let you do desktop videoconferencing, which means videoconferencing from your computer 💜

MBONE is one option for videoconferencing, and at the time of this writing it works with Unix, Windows NT, Windows 95, and Mac Operating System 7.5.2 🦋 it requires that your Internet service provider be part of the MBONE, which depends on a specialized routing strategy. so ask your provider if they're set up to support MBONE traffic 🫠 if they are, you'll need to work pretty closely with them to get your network configured properly. more info on MBONE is at the MBONE Information Web. (See Section 9, "Resources and Contacts.")

CU-SeeMe, developed by Cornell University, also does conferencing over an IP network 🎓 you can join a CU-SeeMe videoconference as a sender, a recipient, or both. with reflectors, multiple sites can join the same conference 🌸 for any of this, you'll need a PC or a Macintosh with an Internet connection and CU-SeeMe software. and if you want to send video and audio, you'll also need a video camera and a video board in your computer 📹 full hardware requirements are on the CU-SeeMe Web site, and there's also a mailing list for CU-SeeMe info. if you want guidance and chatter about using CU-SeeMe as a teaching tool, the Global SchoolNet Foundation hosts a mail list called cu-seeme-schools, which announces chances to take part in CU-SeeMe events 🏫 for info on the Web site and mailing lists, see Section 9, "Resources and Contacts."

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6. Questions About Classroom Resources, Projects, and Collaboration ✨🎀

6.1. How can I find specific projects using the Internet that are already developed?

once you've gotten comfy with some of the Internet services from Section 5, "Questions About Using Internet Services," especially the search tools, you'll be able to answer this one way more confidently on your own 💅 until then, there are a bunch of resources aimed right at primary and secondary school communities, so here are some ideas to get you started 🍎

Computer Information Servers:

• Global SchoolNet. the Global SchoolNet Foundation's World Wide Web site is packed with valuable info and materials 📚 it can help you set up projects by showing what has worked best for other people, and it also has a landmark registry of projects your school can join 🌟
• EdWeb. Andy Carvin's EdWeb is an excellent source of K-12 info 🦋
• CoSN. the Consortium for School Networking runs an Internet server 🖥️
• NASA. NASA's Spacelink and Quest are made for primary and secondary school educators 🚀 both house lesson plans, Internet-based curriculum units, and interactive projects and activities. lots of NASA projects also run their own computer information servers 🌌
• Empire Internet Schoolhouse. the New York State Education and Research Network (NYSERNet) hosts the Empire Internet Schoolhouse, which is an extension of its Bridging the Gap program 🗽
• K-12 Schools on the Internet. Gleason Sackman of North Dakota's SENDIT network for K-12 educators keeps an active list of K-12 schools on the Internet 🌾
• National School Network Testbed. the Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN) project called the National School Network Testbed links to tons of schools and projects 🔗
• Internet School Networking. the Web pages for the group that brings you this paper have a collection of documents and case studies on projects 📝

Mail lists:

• many people on electronic mailing lists like Ednet, Kidsphere, and the Consortium for School Networking Discussion List post their projects and look for partners and collaborators 🤝

News groups:

• the K12 hierarchy of Usenet News has several groups where educators post these invitations too 📣 for subscriptions to these and other electronic lists, and for names of news groups, see Section 9, "Resources and Contacts."

Conferences:

• there are also a few conferences worth checking out 🎤 the National Education Computing Conference (NECC) and Tel-Ed are both held annually, and both are sponsored by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). the Internet Society (INET) conference is the annual conference for the Internet Society 🌍 see Section 9, "Resources and Contacts" for contact info for these organizations.

specific computer information servers, mail lists, news groups, and conference sponsors are all listed in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts." 💜 a bunch of Web sites also share favorite "bookmarks," or lists of sites for educators 🔖 bookmarks aren't included in Section 9, but you'll find them quickly if you start at any of the Web server entry points listed here 🧚

6.2. What are some examples of how the Internet is being used in classrooms now?

projects that use the Internet sometimes ask sites from all over the world to contribute data from their local area, and then compile that data so everyone can use it 🌏 weather patterns, pollutants in water or air, and Monarch butterfly migration are some of the data that have been collected over the Internet 🦋 in Appendix C, "Examples of Educational Projects Using the Internet," you'll find several examples pulled from various online servers and electronic mailing lists about education 💖 each one is from a different content area and shows a different way of using the Internet. some projects only need email, some need access to the most advanced Internet services, and some offer different levels of participation 🌈

there are a number of specific projects you might find interesting ✨

• KIDS. KIDS is a project managed by the nonprofit KIDLINK Society. it includes discussion lists and services, some of which are only for people who are ten through fifteen years old 🧸
• Academy One. Academy One is part of the National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN) and usually has a number of projects running at a time 🎈
• I*EARN. the International Education and Research Network (I*EARN), a project of the nonprofit Copen Family Fund, makes telecommunications happen in schools around the world 🌍
• Chatback Trust. Chatback Trust was started to provide email for schools in the United Kingdom and around the world with students who have mental or physical difficulty communicating. Chatback Trust and Chatback International run a network server that you might want to look into 💌
• ESP. the European Schools Project (ESP) involves approximately 200 schools in 20 countries, and its goal is to build a support system for secondary school educators 🏫
• Electronic Field Trips. the online interactive projects on NASA's Quest server and the JASON Project are designed specially to give classrooms contact with real science and scientists 🔬

for contact info on these groups and computer information servers, check Section 9, "Resources and Contacts." 🫶

6.3. Are there any guides to using the Internet in schools that list all these resources in one place?

Okay so, printed guides to using the Internet in education are popping up right alongside the new Internet books, and you can expect even more soon 📚✨. The tricky part is that the Internet changes constantly, so paper guides go stale fast 😭. Most of them (this document included 🙈) only list the most stable resource sites. Even if something you try isn't around anymore, these guides are super helpful if you're new to the Internet 💖. For a sampling of what was available when this was written, check out the books "Education on the Internet," "Teaching with the Internet: Putting Teachers Before Technology," and "Brave New Schools," all listed in Section 8, "Suggested Reading." You can also browse bookstores, libraries, and booksellers' catalogs for more 🎀.

Newsletters are another answer to the paper-guide problem 🦋. Two we recommend are made specifically for primary and secondary school educators who are into networking 🤓. They cover new Internet services that matter to teachers, projects for collaboration, conferences, new books and publications, essays, and practical tutorials on network tools and services. NetTeach News comes out ten times a year and is available in hardcopy and by email. Classroom Connect comes out nine times a year. You can find info on subscribing, plus related online services for both, in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts." 💌

Then there are the Internet computers that act as guides for educators 🧚. A few of the big ones are BBN's Copernicus server, the Global SchoolNet server, NASA's Quest server, the University of Illinois College of Education's Learning Resource Server, and Web66. They're all listed in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts" 🌈.

6.4. How can I add my own contributions to the Internet?

Sharing your knowledge and expertise on the electronic mail lists and news groups we mentioned is already a big deal ✨. But as you gain experience, you might have the knowledge and the itch to make a Web page for your own site 💅. Lots of K-12 schools already have Web pages, either on Web servers they set up at the school or on a computer at another site, to show off student projects and info about the school 🏫💜. Gleason Sackman's Hot List of K-12 Internet School Sites and Web66 are a comprehensive listing of these schools, with links to their home pages 🔥. Browsing them might give you ideas for how your school can use the World Wide Web to contribute to the K-12 Internet community 🫶. There are also plenty of sites that teach you how to publish on the Web and how to maintain Web sites, including Web66, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), and the Geometry Forum 🌸. For their Internet locations, see Section 9, "Resources and Contacts."

7. Questions About Security and Ethics

7.1. I've heard that there is a lot of objectionable material on the Internet. How do I deal with that problem?

Okay this one is a big deal, bestie 😬. Sensational media stories tend to skip over the educational uses of the Internet in favor of the controversial stuff, so this will almost definitely come up when you talk about getting an Internet connection at your school 🙄. Concerned educators should learn about the issue and come up with a strategy for handling problems before they happen 📝. One important thing to realize early on is that students don't usually bump into objectionable material by accident while doing most educational stuff 🙅‍♀️. We're not saying nobody ever runs into it by chance, but most people only find it because they're going looking for it 👀.

At the time of this writing, the most important and effective thing schools can do is develop clear policies to guide students' use of the Internet. They also need to set rules, and consequences for breaking them, that govern behavior online 📜. These policies are called Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs), and they work best when they line up with the rules for other behavior at school 💯. Schools should also weave issues around technology and ethics into the curriculum [3] 🧠. Schools need to keep up reasonable oversight, but it's almost impossible to guarantee 100% that students can't access objectionable material, so it's smart to be upfront about that with parents and students before a student gets access 🗣️. To limit a school's liability, some systems get signed releases from students and parents saying they've read the AUP and that the student agrees to follow it ✍️.

Several commercial software products try to tackle the access problem too 💻. They block access to controversial sites, look for specific text in email messages, or do both. Some can be configured at home or school, and some block a preconfigured collection of sites that the company maintains and updates 🛡️.

Proxy servers have had some success 🙌. The school hooks all its computers up to a single computer with full Internet access, and that computer becomes the gateway to the Internet for every school computer 🚪. The server can be configured to mask away sites with objectionable material, including Web pages, Gopher and FTP sites, and network news and WAIS servers 🙈. You can take it one step further by also installing a caching server on the gateway machine ⚡. A caching server holds Web pages locally after they've been retrieved from other sites. Once a page is loaded into the server, it can be fetched from the cache from then on, which is handy if a set of Web pages gets accessed a lot from a site that's usually busy 🏃‍♀️.

Proxy and caching servers are pretty easy for a system administrator to set up, but entering all the objectionable sites and keeping the cache up to date can take forever ⏳. Also, this method doesn't stop teachers and students from sending and receiving objectionable material as email attachments 📎.

The store-and-forward method is another way to filter what students are exposed to 📬. Usenet News and email (both described in Section 5, "Questions About Using Internet Services") are "stored" on a computer until it's time for that computer to contact the next one along the path to the final destination. At that point, they get "forwarded" on their way 🚚. Most computers are set up to process outgoing requests at least every 30 minutes. This method takes quite a bit of management from humans 🥱.

You can also control when and how students get to use the Internet, and only allow access under supervision 👩‍🏫. Many teachers find that keeping students busy with meaningful, supervised learning activities is an effective deterrent to unauthorized Internet exploration 🎯.

At the time of this writing, none of the technical solutions above has been totally successful at stopping students from reaching controversial material. But this area is a major focus of intense development efforts right now 🛠️. In the meantime, these solutions can be combined with clear policies and consequences for breaking them to protect the integrity of the school, its students, and its educators 🫡. No matter which option or combo you pick, teaching the ethics of Internet access as a matter of course is absolutely essential 💜.

There are resources on the Internet for going deeper on students and objectionable material 📖. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children made a sensible, practical brochure called "Child Safety on the Information Highway," written by Los Angeles Times columnist Lawrence J. Magid. It's available online and in hardcopy 🌟. Another good doc, "Internet Parental Control Frequently Asked Questions," covers the tools available at the time of this writing for helping kids on the Internet, from guidance by parents to government restrictions to rating and filtering systems. It's produced by the Voters Telecommunications Watch and is available on the Internet 🦋. There's also at least one mailing list you might want to join, called Children Accessing Controversial Information (CACI) 💌. For info on all of these, see Section 8, "Suggested Reading," and Section 9, "Resources and Contacts." 🎀

7.2. How do we keep our own and other people's computers safe from student "hackers"?

Quick vocab check, because computer folks use these words in specific ways 🤓. A "hacker" is someone who's really excellent at understanding and manipulating computer systems 🧑‍💻. A "cracker" is someone who maliciously and/or illegally enters, or tries to enter, someone else's computer system 🚨.

Computer security is unquestionably important 🔐. It matters for keeping the school's own computers secure, and for making sure students (and anyone else using the network) behave properly ✨. In this area, not just school policy but also state and national laws may apply ⚖️. One source you can read to sort through security issues is the Site Security Handbook (FYI 8). It suggests to site computer administrators, Network Information Centers, Network Operation Centers, and others how to set up security policies, and it points you to further information 📘. A good commercial book is "Computer Security Basics" by Russell and Gangemi 💜. The full references for these two sources are in Section 8, "Suggested Reading."

Your school's AUP (see Question 7.4) should spell out the consequences for this kind of activity 🚫. It may also be smart to require a signed release from each student, stating that they understand these consequences and the possible legal implications of intentionally exploiting computer networks ✍️.

In the unlikely event that someone from outside your school breaks in to a computer on your network, you should report it to the CERT Coordination Center 🚨. Contact info for the center is in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts." 🫶

7.3. How do we keep viruses from attacking all of our computers if we get connected to the Internet? 🦠

okay so even if you're only using the Internet to swap data like text or pictures, viruses can still be a problem 😭 because a ton of programs now let data files include commands that get run when the data loads. so when you download software and run it on your own computer, be careful bestie 🫶 anything you grab over the Internet or an electronic bulletin board system could have a virus. ngl, any program and even some documents on tape or disk, including commercial software still in its original packaging, might have one too 💀 so there are two precautions you should take:

1. install virus protection software on all your computers.
2. use only trusted sources from which to download software and files.

and if you're unsure whether to download something, ask someone first 🌸

virus checking software is available free over the Internet via Anonymous FTP from the CERT Coordination Center ✨ your hardware or software vendor, your network access provider, your technical support resources, or your colleagues on network mailing lists should be able to give you more specific info for your site 💖 contact info for the CERT Coordination Center is in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts."

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7.4. What are the rules for using the Internet? 📜

once your Internet connection is set up, your access provider should introduce you to their Acceptable Use Policy 💅 this policy explains which uses of your connection are acceptable and which aren't. for example, it's always unacceptable to use the network for illegal purposes, and in some cases it may be unacceptable to use it for commercial purposes too 🙈 if no policy gets mentioned, ask for it. all users are expected to know what's acceptable and unacceptable on their network.

it's also essential to set up a school-wide policy on top of the provider's AUP 🎀 a school's AUP is usually more restrictive and specific than the service provider's one. you can find a repository of sample school AUPs on the Armadillo Web server, listed in section 9, "Resources and Contacts." like I mentioned earlier, some school systems have found it worth it to make Internet access depend on a student's signed agreement to follow the school's AUP 📝

beyond your provider's AUP and the one you make for your school, there aren't any overreaching rules for Internet use 🦋 there are community standards and conventions though, and those should be observed. you can check out some generally agreed-upon guidelines on Arlene Rinaldi's etiquette page and in FYI 28 (RFC 1855), "Netiquette Guidelines." see Section 9, "Resources and Contacts," for where the etiquette page lives, and Appendix B, "Ways to Get RFCs" for how to get FYI 28 🧚

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8. Suggested Reading 📚

okay bestie, these are the good ones 💜 the items marked with an asterisk (*) are free online. for info on retrieving RFCs and FYIs, check out Appendix B, "Ways to Get RFCs."

• (*) Connecting to the Future: A Guide For Building a Network Infrastructure for Education. NASA IITA, Department of Education NCES. 1995. Gopher: quest.arc.nasa.gov/How to Get Connected to and How to Use the Internet (Also available from NASA CORE with accompanying video. See NASA Central Operation of Resources for Educators in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts.")
• (*) Conrad, L. B. "Getting US Educators Online" http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/online/table.html (State-by-state compilation of Internet service offerings especially for teachers.)
• Cummins, J. and D. Sayers. Brave New Schools: Challenging Cultural Illiteracy Through Global Learning Networks. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995.
• Ellsworth, J. H. Education on the Internet: A Hands-on Book of Ideas, Resources, Projects, and Advice. Indianapolis, Indiana: Sams Publishing, 1994.
• (*) Electronic Frontier Foundation. EFF's (Extended) Guide to the Internet. http://www.eff.org/pub/Net_info/EFF_Net_Guide/netguide.eff and from the EFF online archives at ftp.eff.org, gopher.eff.org, AOL keyword EFF, CIS EFFSIG forum.
• Estrada, S. Connecting to the Internet: An O'Reilly Buyer's Guide. Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly and Associates, Inc., 1993.
• (*) FYI 4 "FYI on Questions and Answers: Answers to Commonly asked `New Internet User' Questions," Marine, A., J. Reynolds, and G. Malkin. (fyi4.txt or rfc1594.txt)
• (*) FYI 5 "Choosing a Name for Your Computer," Libes, D. (fyi5.txt or rfc1178.txt)
• (*) FYI 8 "Site Security Handbook," Holbrook, J.P. and J.K. Reynolds. (fyi8.txt or rfc1244.txt)
• (*) FYI 18 "Internet Users' Glossary," Malkin, G. and T. LaQuey Parker. (fyi18.txt or rfc1392.txt)
• (*) FYI 20 "What is the Internet?" Krol, E. and E. Hoffman. (fyi20.txt or rfc1462.txt)
• (*) FYI 26 "K-12 Internetworking Guidelines," J. Gargano, D. Wasley. November 1994. (fyi26.txt or rfc1709.txt)
• (*) FYI 28 "Netiquette Guidelines," Hambridge, S. (fyi28.txt or rfc1855.txt)
• Giagnocavo, G., et. al. Educator's Internet Companion (with diskette and video). Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Wentworth Worldwide Media, 1995.
• Harris, J. Way of the Ferret: Finding and Using Educational Resources on the Internet. Eugene, Oregon: International Society for Technology in Education, 1995.
• Krol, E. The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog, Second Edition. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., 1994. (Also available in textbook version)
• (*) National Center for Missing and Exploited Children http://www.missingkids.org/information_superhighway.html (Online brochure "Child Safety on the Information Highway") Also available from National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 550, Arlington, VA 22201-3052, 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678)
• Protheroe, N. and E. Wilson. The Internet Handbook for School Users. Arlington, Virginia: Educational Research Service, 1994.
• (*) RFC 1480 "The US Domain," Cooper, A. and J. Postel. June 1993. (rfc1480.txt) [This document will also be useful to people not in the United States. See the sites listed under the FYI documents for the location nearest you from which to download the file.]
• (*) Rinaldi, A. "The Net: User Guidelines and Netiquette," http://rs6000.adm.fau.edu/rinaldi/netiquette.html
• (*) Rogers, A. "Global Literacy in a Gutenberg Culture," http://gsn.org/gsn/article.gutenberg.html
• Russell, D., and G. T. Gangemi, Sr. Computer Security Basics. Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly and Associates, 1991.
• (*) Safdar, S. J. "Internet Parental Control Frequently Asked Questions," Voters Telecommunications Watch, 1995. http://www.vtw.org/pubs/ipcfaq, or email vtw@vtw.org and in the subject line type "send ipcfaq" without the quotes
• Steen, D.R., M.R. Roddy, D. Sheffield, and M.B. Stout. Teaching with the Internet: Putting Teachers Before Technology. Bellevue, Washington: Resolution Business Press, Inc., 1995.

---

9. Resources and Contacts 🌈

CONFERENCES 🎤

   -----------
   CONFERENCES
   -----------

   A list of other conferences, primarily in the United States, can be
   found at http://www.classroom.net/classroom/conf.htm

   NECC and Tel-Ed
      International Society for Technology in Education
      1787 Agate Street
      Eugene, Oregon  97403-1923
      USA
      Phone:  503-346-4414 or 1-800-336-5191
      Fax:    503-346-5890
      Email:  iste@oregon.uoregon.edu
              (CompuServe:  70014,2117)
              (AppleLink:  ISTE)

   See also "Internet Computers" in this section.

   INET
      Internet Society
      12020 Sunrise Valley Dr.
      Suite 210
      Reston, Virginia  22091
      USA
      Phone:  703-648-9888
      Fax:    703-620-0913
      Email:  isoc@isoc.org

ELECTRONIC MAIL LISTS 💌

   ---------------------
   ELECTRONIC MAIL LISTS
   ---------------------

   Lists of electronic mail lists which you can search by category can
   be found via the World Wide Web at http://tile.net/listserv, at
   http://k12.cnidr.org:90/lists.html, and at
   http://catalog.com/vivian/interest-group-search.html.

   Classroom Connect mailing list
      To subscribe, send a message to...
      crc-request@wentworth.com
      Leave the Subject field blank and in the first line of the body
      of the message enter...
      subscribe

   CACI (Children Accessing Controversial Information)
      To subscribe, send a message to...
      caci-request@cygnus.com

      Leave the Subject field blank, and in the first line of the body
      of the message enter...
      subscribe

      To post, send a message to...
      caci@cygnus.com

   Cosndisc (Consortium for School Networking Discussion List)
      To subscribe, send a message to...
      listproc@list.cren.net

      Leave the Subject field blank, and in the first line of the body
      of the message enter...
      subscribe cosndisc YourFirstName YourLastName

      To post, send a message to...
      cosndisc@list.cren.net

   Cu-seeme-l (General CU-SeeMe discussion list)
      To subscribe, send a message to...
      listproc@cornell.edu

      Leave the Subject field blank, and in the first line of the body
      of the message enter...
      subscribe cu-seeme-l YourFirstName YourLastName

      To post, send a message to...
      cu-seeme-l@cornell.edu

   Cu-seeme-schools (Discussion about using CU-SeeMe as an instructional
        tool)
      To subscribe, send a message to...
      majordomo@gsn.org

      Leave the Subject field blank, and in the first line of the body
      of the message enter...
      subscribe cu-seeme-schools

      To post, send a message to...
      cu-seeme-schools@gsn.org

   Ednet
      To subscribe, send a message to...
      listproc@lists.umass.edu

      Leave the Subject field blank, and in the first line of the body
      of the message enter...
      subscribe ednet YourFirstName YourLastName

      To post, send a message to...
      ednet@lists.umass.edu

   Edtech (Educational Technology list)
      To subscribe, send a message to...
      listserv@msu.edu

      Leave the Subject field blank, and in the first line of the body
      of the message enter...
      subscribe edtech YourFirstName YourLastName

      To post, send a message to...
      edtech@msu.edu

   European Schools Project (ESP)
      To subscribe, send a message to...
      listproc@educ.uva.nl

   Leave the Subject field blank, and in the first line of the body
      of the message enter...
      subscribe bbs YourFirstName YourLastName

      To post, send a message to...
      bbs@educ.uva.nl

   Internet School Networking (List for the working group which produced
        this document)
      To subscribe, send a message to...
      listmanager@nasa.gov

      Leave the Subject field blank, and in the first line of the body
      of the message enter...
      subscribe isn-wg (NOTE: Do not add your name)

      To post, send a message to...
      isn-wg@nasa.gov

   Kidsphere
      To subscribe, send a message to...
      kidsphere-request@vms.cis.pitt.edu
      Type any message asking to subscribe.

      To post, send a message to...
      kidsphere@vms.cis.pitt.edu

   KIDLINK (Also KIDS-96, KIDS-97, etc.)
      KIDLINK operates 24 public mailing lists in English, Spanish,
      Portuguese, Japanese, Hebrew, and Scandinavian languages, and
      a private "chat" network for members.

      To learn about KIDLINK projects, subscribe to the news service by
      sending a message to...
      listserv@vm1.nodak.edu

Okay so, picking up right where the KIDLINK sign-up left off 💖 Leave the Subject field blank, and make the very first line of the body:

subscribe KIDLINK YourFirstName YourLastName

Want a general info file about KIDLINK instead? Send it to that same listserv address, leave Subject blank again, and make the first line:

get kidlink general

---

K12admin 🎀 (for K-12 educators who are into educational administration)

To subscribe, send a message to listserv@listserv.syr.edu. Leave Subject blank and put this on the first line of the body:

subscribe k12admin YourFirstName YourLastName

To post, send to k12admin@listserv.syr.edu.

LM_NET 📚 (school library media specialists from all over the world, iconic)

To subscribe, send a message to listserv@listserv.syr.edu. Leave Subject blank and make the first line of the body:

subscribe LM_NET YourFirstName YourLastName

To post, send to LM_NET@listserv.syr.edu.

NOVAE Group: Teachers Networking for the Future 🦋 (this one is a distribution list, not a discussion list, so it's all about projects and happenings that educators will want to know about)

To subscribe, send a message to listserv@idbsu.idbsu.edu. Leave Subject blank and put this on the first line of the body:

subscribe novae YourFirstName YourLastName

UK-schools 🇬🇧 (for teachers and anyone else curious about using the Internet in UK schools, plus general chat about international classroom connections)

To subscribe, send a message to mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk. Leave Subject blank and make the first line of the body:

join uk-schools YourFirstName YourLastName

To post, send to uk-schools@mailbase.ac.uk.

WWWedu 🌈 (the World Wide Web in Education list, pronounced "we do," literally so cute)

To subscribe, send a message to listproc@educom.unc.edu. Leave Subject blank and put this on the first line of the body:

subscribe wwwedu YourFirstName YourLastName

To post, send to wwwedu@educom.unc.edu.

---

INTERNET COMPUTERS 💻

• Academy One (National Public Telecomputing Network) ✨
  • via WWW: http://www.nptn.org/cyber.serv/AOneP/index.html
• Armadillo's WWW Server 🦎
  • via WWW: http://riceinfo.rice.edu:80/armadillo/
• BBN National School Network Testbed 🧪
  • via Gopher: copernicus.bbn.com
  • via WWW: http://copernicus.bbn.com:70/testbed/
• Censorship/Freedom of Speech/Child Safety on the Internet Web page 🙈
  • via WWW: http://www.voicenet.com/~cranmer/censorship.html
• Classroom Connect on the Net 🍓
  • via WWW: http://www.classroom.net/
  • via FTP: ftp.classroom.net/wentworth/Classroom-Connect/aup-faq.txt (this is an FAQ about Acceptable Use Policies, so you can read up on the rules)
• Chatback Trust and Chatback International network server 💬
  • via WWW: http://www.tcns.co.uk/chatback/welcome.html
• CERT Coordination Center 🛡️
  • via WWW: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/SEI/programs/cert/CERT.info.html
  • http://www.sei.cmu.edu/technology/trustworthy.html
  • via email: cert@cert.org
  • via FTP: info.cert.org, then cd pub/
• Consortium for School Networking 🏫
  • via Gopher: cosn.org
  • via WWW: http://cosn.org/
• CU-SeeMe 📹
  • via WWW: http://cu-seeme.cornell.edu/
• Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) 📖
  • via WWW: http://ericir.syr.edu/
  • via Gopher: ericir.syr.edu
  • via telnet: telnet bbs.oit.unc.edu, then login: launch (follow the on-screen registration directions, pick number 4, "Topical Document Search (WAIS)", and move to eric-digests. For help in WAIS, type a question mark.)
  • via email: askeric@ericir.syr.edu (put the topic you want in your message, and a real human answers, which is so sweet 🥹)
• Empire Internet Schoolhouse 🏛️
  • via Gopher: nysernet.org (port 3000)
• Electronic Frontier Foundation ("A non-profit civil liberties organization working in the public interest to protect privacy, free expression, and access to online resources and information.") ⚖️
  • via WWW: http://www.eff.org/
  • via email: ask@eff.org
  • via snailmail, telephone, and fax:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation
1550 Bryant Street
San Francisco CA 94103 USA
+1 415 668 7171 (voice)
+1 415 668 7007 (fax)

• EdWeb 🕸️
  • via WWW: http://edweb.cnidr.org:90/
• European Schools Project 🇪🇺
  • via WWW: http://www.educ.uva.nl/ESP/
• Foundation Center 💰
  • via WWW: http://fdncenter.org/
• Geometry Forum 📐
  • via WWW: http://forum.swarthmore.edu/
  • http://forum.swarthmore.edu/~steve/steve/wwwhtml.html ("Learning to Use the Web and Create Web Pages") 🎨
• Global SchoolNet Foundation 🌍
  • via WWW: http://gsn.org/
  • http://gsn.org/gsn/article.connect.levels.html ("Internet Connectivity Levels")
  • http://gsn.org/gsn/article.design.project.html ("How to Design a Successful Project")
  • http://gsn.org/gsn/article.gutenberg.html ("Global Literacy in a Gutenberg Culture")
• Grants Web 💸
  • via WWW: http://infoserv.rttonet.psu.edu/gweb.htm
• Hot List of K-12 Internet School Sites (Gleason Sackman, SENDIT) 🔥
  • via WWW: http://www.sendit.nodak.edu/k12/
• International Education and Research Network (I*EARN) 🌏
  • via WWW: http:// www.iearn.org/iearn/
  • via Gopher: gopher.iearn.org (port 7008)
  • via email: iearn@iearn.org
• Internet School Networking (ISN) working group home page (the publishers of this document!) 🎉
  • via WWW: http://spider.lloyd.com/isn/index.html
• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) 🤖
  • via WWW: http://isteonline.uoregon.edu/
  • via Gopher: isteonline.uoregon.edu
• KIDLINK 🧒
  • via WWW: http://www.kidlink.org/
  • via Gopher: gopher.kidlink.org
• Learning Resource Server, University of Illinois College of Education 🎓
  • via WWW: http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/
  • http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/Activity-Structures/ (Judi Harris' Network-Based Educational Activity Collection)
  • via Gopher: gopher.ed.uiuc.edu
• MBONE (Multicast Backbone) 📡
  • via WWW: http://www.mbone.com/techinfo/
• NASA Jason Project 🚀
  • via WWW: http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/JASON/JASON_HOME.html
• NASA Online Educational Resources 🌌
  • via WWW: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/OER/
• NASA Quest 🛸
  • via WWW: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/
  • http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/essay/essay-index.html ("Networks, Where Have You Been All My Life" student essay contest winners)
  • via Gopher: quest.arc.nasa.gov (port 70)
  • via FTP: ftp quest.arc.nasa.gov
• NASA Spacelink 🌠
  • via WWW: http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov/
  • via Gopher: spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov
  • via telnet: telnet spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov, then login: guest
  • via FTP: ftp spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov

To find info on the NASA Teacher Resource Center Network, choose "Educational Services," then "Teacher Resource Center Network." For TV schedules, follow the menu for "Educational Service" to the menu option, "Technology." 📺

• National Center for Missing and Exploited Children 💛
  • via WWW: http://www.missingkids.org/
  • http://www.missingkids.org/information_superhighway.html (online brochure "Child Safety on the Information Highway")
• National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) 🖥️
  • via WWW: http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/Mosaic/NCSAMosaicHome.html (Mosaic Home Page)
  • http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimer.html (A Beginner's Guide to HTML)
  • via FTP: ftp ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu (to download the Mosaic WWW browser)
• National Center for Technology Planning 🗺️
  • via Gopher: gopher.msstate.edu

Choose "Resources Maintained at MS State University," then select "National Center for Technology Planning."

• National Science Foundation's (United States) Science and Technology Information System (STIS) 🔬
  • via WWW: http://stis.nsf.gov/
  • via Gopher: stis.nsf.gov
  • via telnet: telnet stis.nsf.gov, then login: public. Follow the on-screen instructions.
• Netscape Communications 🌐
  • via WWW: http://www.netscape.com/
  • via FTP: ftp ftp.netscape.com

The Netscape WWW browser can be downloaded from Netscape's FTP sites at ftp.netscape.com, ftp2.netscape.com, ftp3.netscape.com...through ftp7.netscape.com.

• Office of Educational Research and Improvement (U.S. Department of nEducation) 🏫
  • via WWW: http://oeri.ed.gov/
  • via Gopher: gopher.ed.gov
• Providers of Commercial Internet Access (for a list of Internet Service Providers) 🔌
  • via WWW: http://www.celestin.com/pocia/
• THE LIST (for a list of Internet Service Providers) 📋
  • via WWW: http://thelist.com
• Voters Telecommunications Watch 🗳️
  • via WWW: http://www.vtw.org/
  • http://www.vtw.org/pubs/ipcfaq [Internet Parental Control Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) by Shabbir J. Safdar]
• World Wide Web Consortium 🕷️
  • via WWW: http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/
  • via telnet: telnet telnet.w3.org (public access Lynx client. Use "lynx" without the quotes if a login is requested.)
• Web66 🌈
  • via WWW: http://web66.coled.umn.edu/
  • http://web66.coled.umn.edu/schools.html (International WWW Schools Registry)
  • http://web66.coled.umn.edu/Cookbook/contents.html (Classroom Internet Server Cookbook)

---

NEWS GROUPS 📰

alt.algebra.help
alt.comp.shareware.for-kids
alt.education.distance
alt.kids-talk
bit.listserv.edtech
comp.security.announce
k12.chat.elementary
k12.chat.junior
k12.chat.senior
k12.chat.teacher
k12.ed.art
k12.ed.business
k12.ed.comp.literacy
k12.ed.health-pe
k12.ed.life-skills
k12.ed.math
k12.ed.music
k12.ed.science
k12.ed.soc-studies
k12.ed.special
k12.ed.tag
k12.ed.tech
k12.edu.life-skills (especially for school counselors)
k12.euro.teachers (in Europe)
k12.lang.art
k12.lang.deutsch-eng
k12.lang.esp-eng
k12.lang.francais
k12.lang.russian
k12.library
k12.news
k12.sys.projects
misc.education
misc.education.language.english
misc.education.multimedia
misc.kids
misc.kids.computer
news.announce.newusers
uk.education.misc
uk.education.teachers

---

NEWSLETTERS and JOURNALS 🗞️

Classroom Connect 🍓

This one is published monthly during the school year, and a subscription currently costs U.S. $39.00.

Wentworth Worldwide Media
1866 Colonial Village Lane
P.O. Box 10488
Lancaster, PA 17605-0488
USA
Phone:  1-717-393-1000
        1-800-638-1639
Fax:    1-717-390-4378
Email:  connect@wentworth.com

• via WWW: http://www.wentworth.com/classroom/crcpub.htm (Classroom Connect homen page)
• http://www.wentworth.com/classroom/orderform.htm (order form for Classroom Connect Newsletter, books, software, and videos about the Internet for educators) 🛒

Electronic Learning 💜

Comes out eight times a year, and a current subscription to this magazine for technology and school change is $23.95 💸 Here's where to order it 💅:

Scholastic, Inc.
2931 East McCarty Street
P.O. Box 3710
Jefferson City, MO  65102-3710

Learning and Leading with Technology (Formerly "The Computing Teacher") 🧚

It comes out monthly, and the current U.S. $61.00 ISTE membership fee includes $36.00 for this journal 📚 ✨

ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education)
1787 Agate Street
Eugene, OR  97403
Phone:  1-503-346-4414

MultiMedia Schools 🎬

Five issues a year, and a subscription is currently U.S. $38.00 💜

Online, Inc.
462 Danbury Road
Wilton, CT  06897-2126
USA
Phone:  1-800-222-3766

NetTeach News 🍓

Ten issues a year, and the prices are totally laid out below 💅:

Annual hardcopy subscription cost:
U.S. $38.00  for individual subscriptions in the U.S.
U.S. $45.00  for individual subscriptions in Canada and Mexico
U.S. $60.00  for individual subscriptions outside North America
Annual ASCII electronic copy cost:
U.S. $22.00  for individual subscriptions worldwide

Site licenses are available for the electronic version 🌸 And if you're an educational institution ordering ten or more printed copies, you get discounts 🙈

For subscription questions and submissions, contact:

Kathleen M. Rutkowski, Editor
Chaos Publications
13102 Weather Vane Way
Herndon, VA  22071
USA
Phone:  1-703-471-0593
Fax:    1-703-471-0596
Email:  netteach@chaos.com

via WWW:

http://www.chaos.com/netteach

---

ORGANIZATIONS 🌸

Asia Pacific Network Information Center 🌏

c/o The United Nations University
53-70 Jingumae 5-Chome
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150
Japan
Phone:  +81-3-5467-7014
Fax:    +81-3-5467-7015
Email:  hostmaster@apnic.net
WWW:    http://www.apnic.net

AskERIC Project 🦋

ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources
Syracuse University
4-194 Center for Science & Technology
Syracuse, New York 13244-4100
Phone:  315-443-3640
Fax:    315-443-5448
Email:  AskERIC@ericir.syr.edu

See also "Internet Computers" above. ✨

CERT Coordination Center (Formerly CERT, Computer Emergency Response Team) 🔥 This is the security crew, so be nice to them 🫶

Software Engineering Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15313-3890
USA
Phone:  412-268-7090
Fax:    412-268-6989
Email:  cert@cert.org

See also "Internet Computers" above. ✨

Chatback International 🧚

Dr. R. Zenhausern, Executive Director
Psychology Department
St. Johns University
SB 15, Marillac
Jamaica, NY  11439
USA
Phone:  718-990-6447
Fax:    718-990-6705
Email:  drz@sjuvm.stjohns.edu

The Chatback Trust 💖

Tom Holloway, UK Director
6 St. Mary's Crescent
Royal Leamington Spa
Warwickshire, 1JL
Phone:  +44-926-888333
Fax:    +44-926-420204
Email:  t.holloway@warwick.ac.uk

See also "Internet Computers" above. ✨

Consortium for School Networking 🏫

P.O. Box 65193
Washington, DC  20035-5193
USA
Phone:  202-466-6296
Fax:    202-872-4318
Email:  info@cosn.org

See also "Internet Computers" above. ✨

European Schools Project ("...a support system for secondary schools to explore applications of educational telematics.") 🇳🇱 Honestly the tagline alone is iconic 👑

University of Amsterdam
Centre for Tele-Learning
Wibautstraat 4
1091 GM Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Contact: Dr. Pauline Meijer or Dr. Henk Sligte
Phone:   +31-20-5251248
Fax:     +31-20-5251211
Email:   risc@esp.educ.uva.nl
WWW:     http://www.educ.uva.nl/ESP

FidoNet 🌈

1151 SW Vermont Street
Portland, OR 97219
USA
Contact: Janet Murray
Phone:   1-503-280-5280
Email:   jmurray@psg.com
WWW: http://bbs.owls.com/~jerrys/fidonet.html (A Fidonet Primer)

Global SchoolNet Foundation (formerly FrEdMail) 🌟

P.O. Box 243,
Bonita, CA 91908
USA
Phone: (619) 475-4852
Fax: (619) 472-0735
Email:  info@gsn.org

See also "Internet Computers" above. ✨

International Education and Research Network (I*EARN) 🌍

c/o Copen Family Fund
345 Kear Street
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
USA
Contact: Dr. Edwin H. Gragert
Phone:   914-962-5864
Fax:     914-962-6472
Email: iearn@iearn.org

See also "Internet Computers" above. ✨

Internet Society 🌐

12020 Sunrise Valley Dr.
Suite 210
Reston, Virginia  22091
USA
Phone:  703-648-9888
Fax:    703-620-0913
Email:  isoc@isoc.org
WWW:    http://www.isoc.org/home.html

KIDLINK Society 🧸

4815 Saltrod
Norway
Phone:   +47-370-31204
Fax:     +47-370-27111
Email:   kidlink-info@kidlink.org

See also "Internet Computers" and "Electronic Mail Lists" above. ✨

K12Net 🎀

1151 SW Vermont Street
Portland, OR 97219
USA
Phone:   503-280-5280
Contact: Janet Murray
Email:   jmurray@psg.com
Gopher:  gopher.psg.com
WWW:     http://arlo.wilsonhs.pps.k12.or.us/k12.html

Reseaux IP Europeens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) 🦢

Kruislaan 409
NL-1098 SJ  Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 20 592 5065
Fax:   +31 20 592 5090
Email: ncc@ripe.net
WWW: http://www.ripe.net/ripe/default.html

---

VIDEOS 🎥

Master Communications Group 📼

7322 Ohms Lane
Minneapolis, MN  55439
Phone:  1-800-862-6164
Fax:    1-612-835-9573

Titles:

• Experience the Power: Network Technology for Education (produced by the National Center for Education Statistics)
• Future Schools: Connected to the World (produced by MIT)

NASA Central Operation of Resources for Educators (CORE) 🚀 Space content, let's go 🌌

Lorain County Joint Vocational School
15181 Route 58 South
Oberlin, OH  44074
USA
Phone:   1-216-774-1051, x293/294
Fax:     1-216-774-2144
Email: video-info@quest.arc.nasa.gov

Titles:

• Global Quest: The Internet in the Classroom
• Connecting to the Future: A Guide for Building a Network Infrastructure for Education
• Global Quest II: The Internet in the Curriculum
• Others

The fee for the videos is cost plus shipping and handling. You may also make a copy yourself by taking a blank copy to the nearest NASA Teacher Resource Center. For information on the NASA Teacher Resource Center Network or on NASA Select, contact your nearest NASA facility or consult NASA Spacelink, listed above in "Internet Computers." 🛸

Wentworth Worldwide Media 🎞️

1866 Colonial Village Lane
P.O. Box 10488
Lancaster, PA 17605-0488
USA
Phone:  1-717-393-1000
        1-800-638-1639
Fax:    1-717-390-4378

Titles:

• The Amazing Internet
• Internet Email
• Searching the Internet
• Discovering the World Wide Web
• Others

---

10. References ✨

• [1] "Internet Domain Survey, January 1995," Network Wizards http://www.nw.com/zone/WWW/report.html 📊
• [2] "Restructuring Schools: A Systematic View," Action Line, the newsletter of the Maryland State Teachers Association, a National Education Association Affiliate. R. Kuhn, Editor. No. 93-6. June, 1993. 📰
• [3] Sivin, J. P. and E. R. Bialo, "Ethical Uses of Information Technologies in Education." Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice. 1992. ⚖️

11. Security Considerations 💀

This is the serious bit, bestie, so listen up 🫶 General security considerations are discussed in Section 7 of this document. Go read Section 7 before you do anything else 🔐

12. Authors' Addresses 🖋️

Julie Robichaux

InterNIC
505 Huntmar Park Dr.
Herndon, VA  22070
Phone: 703-742-4839
EMail: julier@internic.net

Jennifer Sellers

Sterling Software/NASA IITA
700 13th Street, NW
Suite 950
Washington, DC  20005
Phone:  202-434-8954
EMail:  sellers@quest.arc.nasa.gov

APPENDIX A: GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN THIS DOCUMENT 📖

The following is a short glossary of terms used in this document. For a more complete glossary of Internet terms, refer to FYI 18, "Internet Users' Glossary." These definitions are largely excerpted from that glossary. (See Section 8, "Suggested Reading," above for complete reference information.) Bookmark that FYI, it's a whole vibe 💜

Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) 📜

The policy which defines the uses of the network that the network's administrators consider appropriate. Enforcement of AUPs varies with the network.

Anonymous FTP 🗂️

Accessing data via the File Transfer Protocol using the special username "anonymous." This was devised as a method to provide a relatively secure way of providing restricted access to public data. Users who wish to acquire data from a public source may use FTP to connect to the source, then use the special username "anonymous" and their email address as the password to log into a public data area.

Archie 🔎

A system to automatically gather, index and serve information on the Internet. The initial implementation of Archie provided an indexed directory of filenames from all anonymous FTP archives on the Internet. Later versions provide other collections of information.

Client 🙋‍♀️

An application which requests information from, or requests a service of, a shared resource (a computer or "server"). See also Server.

Cracker 🚫

A person who uses computer knowledge to attempt to gain access to computer systems and/or maliciously damage those systems or data. Not the vibe, not ever 😤

Dial-in (also dial-up) ☎️

A connection, usually made via modems, between two computers (or servers) over standard voice grade telephone lines.

Download ⬇️

To copy data from a remote computer to a local computer. The opposite of upload.

DSU/CSU (Data Service Unit/Channel Service Unit) 🔌

The digital equivalent of a modem. A Channel Service Unit connects to a telephone company-provided digital data circuit, and a Data Service Unit provides the electronics required to connect digital equipment to the CSU. Paired together a DSU/CSU allows computer equipment to be connected into the telephone digital service for highly conditioned, high speed data communications.

Electronic Bulletin Board System (BBS) 📌

A computer, and associated software, which typically provides electronic messaging services, archives of files, and any other services or activities of interest to the bulletin board system's operator. Although BBSs have traditionally been the domain of hobbyists, an increasing number of BBSs are connected directly to the Internet, and many BBSs are currently operated by government, educational, and research institutions.

Email (Electronic Mail) 💌

A system whereby a computer user can exchange messages with other computer users (or groups of users) via a communications network.

FidoNet 🌈

A network of computers interconnected using the FIDO dial-up protocols. The FIDO protocol provides a means of "store and forward" file transfer similar to UUCP.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) 📁

A protocol which allows a user on one host to access, and transfer files to and from, another host over a network. Also, FTP is usually the name of the program the user invokes to execute the protocol.

FYI (For Your Information) 💡

A subseries of RFCs that are not technical standards or descriptions of protocols. FYIs convey general information about topics related to TCP/IP or the Internet. See also RFC (Request for Comments).

Gopher 🐹

A distributed information service that makes hierarchical collections of information available across the Internet, bestie 🗂️✨ Gopher uses a simple protocol so a single Gopher client can reach information from any accessible Gopher server, giving you one big "Gopher space" to explore 🧚 Public domain versions of the client and server are available 💖

Hacker

Okay, so a hacker is someone who loves understanding how a system works inside and out, especially computers and computer networks 🤓🔥 The popular media has totally corrupted this word and now it sounds like someone who uses computer knowledge to maliciously cause damage to computers and data 💀 The proper term for that person is "cracker," so let's keep those two straight 🙅‍♀️

Home page

A Web page that acts as the introductory or main page for a subject 🏠🌸 It usually has basic information about the subject plus hypertext links to other pages with more detailed info 🔗 See also WWW and Web page.

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

The IETF is a large, open community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers 🫶 Its purpose is to coordinate the operation, management and evolution of the Internet, and to resolve short-range and mid-range protocol and architectural issues 🛠️ It's a major source of protocol proposals and standards, so it's kind of a big deal 👑

Internet Service Provider (ISP)

See Network Access Provider 💅

InterNIC

A Network Information Center (NIC), funded by the National Science foundation, that provides information about the Internet 📚 The InterNIC offers support in the areas of Information Services (the task most often cited in this document), Registration Services, and Directory and Database Services 🎀

Kbs (Kilo-Bits per Second)

A data transmission rate expressed in 1000 bit per second units 🦋 For example, 56 Kbs is 56*1000 = 56,000 bits per second 🔢

LAN (Local Area Network)

A data network meant to serve an area of only a few square kilometers or less 🏘️ Since these networks are pretty small, they can usually be directly controlled by the users and run at relatively high speeds (up to 100 Mbs [10 million bits per second]) over inexpensive wiring 🚀 Iconic, honestly ✨

Leased line

A leased line is a special phone company permanent connection between two locations 📞💜 Leased lines are generally used where high-speed data (usually 960 characters per second and higher) is constantly exchanged between two computers (on the Internet, usually between routers) 🖥️ A leased line is billed at the same rate per month no matter how much the line is used, and it can be cheaper than using dial modems depending on the usage 💸 Leased lines may also be used where higher data rates are needed beyond what a dial modem can provide 🌈

Listserv (mailing list server)

An automated program that accepts mail messages from users and performs basic operations on mailing lists for those users 🤖💌 On the Internet, listservs are usually accessed as listname@host 🎀 For example, the list server for the hypothetical list newsreports@acme.org would be called listserv@acme.org 🧁 Sending email to newsreports@acme.org sends the message to all the list subscribers, while sending a message (to subscribe or unsubscribe, for example) to listserv@acme.org goes only to the list server program 📬 Not all mailing lists use list servers to handle list administration duties 🙈 More than one automated mailing program exists on the Internet, although the term "listserv" is sometimes confusingly used to refer to any such program 😭

Mailing Lists

A list of email addresses 📧 Generally, a mailing list is used to discuss a certain set of topics, and different mailing lists discuss different topics 💬 A mailing list may be moderated, meaning messages sent to the list actually go to a moderator who decides whether or not to send them on to everyone else 🧐 Many mailing lists are maintained by mail handling software such as listserv, majordomo, or listproc, which are programs that automatically handle operations like adding new people to the list 🤖 (See above.) On the Internet, for mailing lists maintained by a human rather than a program, you can generally subscribe by sending a mail message to listname-REQUEST@host and putting a request to subscribe in the body of the message 💖 To send messages to other subscribers, you then use the address listname@host ✨

Modem (MODulator/DEModulator)

A device that converts the digital signals used by computers into the analog signals needed by voice telephone systems 📟⚡

Network Access Provider (Network Service Provider, Internet Service Provider)

Any organization that provides network connectivity or dial-up access 🌐 Service providers may be corporations, government agencies, universities, or other organizations 🏫

Network News

Another name for "Usenet News" 🗞️

NIC (Network Information Center)

A central place where information about a network within the Internet is kept 🗃️ NICs are usually staffed by people who answer user phone calls and electronic mail, and who provide general network usage information and referrals, among other possible tasks 💁‍♀️ Most network service providers also provide a NIC for their users 🫶

Port

A specific access point on an Internet computer, designated by a number 🚪🔢 Most common Internet services, like the World Wide Web, have specific port numbers associated with them, which makes it easier for applications on the Internet to interact 🦋 Human users of the Internet normally don't need to worry about port numbers, so you can relax 😌

PPP (Point to Point Protocol)

A protocol used to establish TCP/IP connections over serial lines like dial-up telephone lines 📡 Similar to SLIP (see below), PPP is a later standard with features like demand dial-up, compression, and better flow control 🧃

Protocol

A formal description of message formats and the rules two computers must follow to exchange those messages 📜💕 Protocols can describe low-level details of machine-to-machine interfaces (for example, the order in which bits and bytes are sent across a wire) or high-level exchanges between application programs (for example, the way two programs transfer a file across the Internet) 🧩

Protocol Stack

A series of protocols linked together to provide an end-to-end service 🥞 For example, the File Transfer Protocol uses the Transmission Control Protocol, which uses the Internet Protocol, which may use the Point to Point protocol, to transfer a file from one computer to another 📁 The series FTP->TCP->IP->PPP is called a protocol stack, and it's giving layers 🎂✨

RFC (Request for Comments)

The document series, begun in 1969, that describes the Internet suite of protocols and related experiments 📖 Not all RFCs (in fact very few) describe Internet standards, but all Internet standards are written up as RFCs 🫶 The RFCs include the documentary record of the Internet standards process, so they're kind of the whole history book 📚🦋

Router

A computer that forwards traffic between networks 🚦 The forwarding decision is based on network layer information and routing tables, which are often built by routing protocols 🗺️

Server

A shared resource that provides information or services to user applications or clients 🖥️💖 See also Client.

SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol)

A protocol used to establish TCP/IP connections over serial lines like dial-up telephone lines 📞 Small computers, like PCs and Macintoshes, can use SLIP to dial up to servers, which then let the computer act as a full Internet node 🖱️ SLIP is generally used at sites with a few users as a cheaper alternative to a full Internet connection 💰 SLIP is being replaced by PPP at many sites, so it's kind of retiring 👵✨

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)

TCP/IP is named for two of the major communications protocols used within the Internet (TCP and IP) 💜 These protocols (along with several others) provide the basic foundation for communication between hosts on the Internet 🏗️ All of the service protocols, like FTP, Telnet, and Gopher, use TCP/IP to transfer information 🚚

Telnet

Telnet is the Internet standard protocol for remote terminal connection service 🖥️🔌 The name "telnet" is also used to refer to programs that allow interactive access to remote computers, and to the action of using those programs 🙌 For example, the phrase "Telnet to host xyzzy" means to interactively log into host xyzzy from some other host on the Internet 🧙‍♀️

Upload

To copy data from a local computer to a remote computer 📤 It's the opposite of download 💅

Usenet News

An electronic bulletin board system originally created by the Unix community that is accessible via the Internet 📌🌈 Usenet News forms a discussion forum accessible by millions of users in almost every country in the world, which is literally wild 🌍 It consists of thousands of topics arranged in a hierarchical form 🌳 Major topics include "comp" for computer topics, "rec" for recreational topics, "soc" for social topics, "sci" for science topics, and so on 🎨 Within the major topics are subtopics, like rec.music.classical for classical music, or sci.med.physics for discussions about the physics of medical science 🎻🔬

UUCP (Unix-to-Unix CoPy)

This was originally a program run under the Unix operating system that let one Unix system send files to another Unix system over dial-up phone lines 📠 Today, the term is more commonly used to describe the large international network that uses the UUCP protocol to pass news and electronic mail 🌏💌

Veronica (Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Network Index to Computerized Archives)

A utility that searches Gopher servers based on a user's list of keywords 🐭🔍 Bestie, the acronym alone deserves a standing ovation 👏

Virus

A program that replicates itself on computer systems by incorporating itself into other programs that are shared among computer systems 🦠 The term virus is also often used more generally to refer to any unauthorized software intrusion into a computer, no matter the type or behavior of the program 😤 Not okay, obviously 🙅‍♀️

Web

See WWW 🕸️

Web page

A document, usually containing hypertext links, that is available through the World Wide Web 📄💖 Web pages are written in a special language called Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), which allows basic formatting like font sizes, bold, underline, blinking text, and inclusion of graphic images 🎀 Web pages usually contain hypertext links to other Web pages 🔗 See also WWW and Home page.

WAIS (Wide Area Information Server)

A distributed information service that offers simple natural language input, indexed searching for fast retrieval, and a "relevance feedback" mechanism that lets the results of initial searches influence future searches 🧠✨ Public domain implementations are available 🎁

WWW (World Wide Web)

A hypertext-based, distributed information system created by researchers at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN) in Switzerland 🇨🇭🌸 The Web information system may be used to create, edit, or browse hypertext documents 📝 The Web protocol interlinks information so that a user can traverse the Web from any starting point 🧭 The protocol also interacts with many other Internet services, like Gopher, to provide one consistent, transparent user interface to the Internet 💫 Client and server software is widely available in several ways: as free software, as client software often included as part of an Internet connection package, or as a commercial product 🛍️ It's the whole vibe, honestly 🌈👑

APPENDIX B: WAYS TO GET RFCs 💌

okay so FYI docs like the one you're reading are a subset of the Internet Engineering Task Force's RFC documents 🧚

the latest version of the file below lives on the World Wide Web at http://www.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc-editor/rfc-info 🌸

if you want more on IETF publications, check out the RFC Editor's home page on the World Wide Web at http://www.isi.edu:80/rfc-editor/rfc-sources.html 💅

RFC-Info Simplified Help 📬

okay the vibe is: you use RFC-Info by sending email messages to RFC-INFO@ISI.EDU ✨

1. to get a specific RFC, send a message with text like this:

        Retrieve: RFC
         Doc-ID: RFC1500

that gets RFC 1500 🎀 all RFC numbers in the Doc-Id are 4 digits, so RFC 791 would be Doc-ID: RFC0791 (the zero is doing a lot of work here 🙈)

2. to get a specific FYI, send a message with text like this:

        Retrieve: FYI
         Doc-ID: FYI0004

3. to get a list of available RFCs that match a certain criteria:

        LIST: RFC
         Keywords: Gateway

this returns a list of RFCs with the word Gateway in the title or specified as a keyword 🦋

4. to get the Index of all RFCs published:

        HELP: rfc_index

5. to get info about other ways to get RFCs, FYIs, STDs, or IMRs:

        HELP: ways_to_get_rfcs
        HELP: ways_to_get_fyis
        HELP: ways_to_get_stds
        HELP: ways_to_get_imrs

6. to get help about using RFC-Info:

        HELP: help

or

        HELP: topics

---

APPENDIX C: EXAMPLES OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS USING THE INTERNET 🍓

these examples are real projects that floated around online computers and electronic mailing lists about education during the 1995-96 school year 🌈 the messages got edited for space, and since a bunch of the details about how to join will be outdated, don't panic if some of it feels old 🙈 the vibe is giving you a feel for the types and range of projects happening at the time of this writing ✨

a solid place to find more project ideas is "Judi Harris' Network-Based Educational Activity Collection" and the other World Wide Web sites listed above in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts" 🫶

Example One: Interdisciplinary, Grades 2-4 🐾

From> KIDSPHERE Mailing List <kidsphere@vms.cis.pitt.edu>
Subject> interdisciplinary project - grades 2-4

Project description: This interdisciplinary data collection activity
will enable students to answer the question: Does our community size
and location affect the types and numbers of pets we own?

For grades 2,3,4

Timeline:  January 29-March 4

Our classes will collect and share information about our communities
and will then collect and share data about the types and numbers of
pets we own.  Students will be able to use the collected information
to draw conclusions.

To participate, please send me your:
Name and grade level
School address
community size generalization:  rural, urban or suburban

Example Two: Science, Engineering, and Careers, Levels K-12 🚀

this one is literally so iconic 😭 NASA scientists and engineers were opening their notebooks to classrooms, and kids could ask them questions over email 👑

NASA is pleased to announce another exciting opportunity for K-12
classrooms to interact with our scientists, engineers and support
staff.

This time, the men and women of the Galileo project will provide a
behind-the-scenes look at what it's like to be part of the flight team
on a pioneering interplanetary expedition through the ONLINE FROM
JUPITER project.

Galileo scientists and mission engineers are opening their notebooks
to classrooms, museums and the public via the Internet to share their
observations and experiences working on the NASA spacecraft mission to
Jupiter.

From now through January 1996, members of the flight team will write
brief field journal entries describing the scientific puzzles,
engineering challenges and excitement of discovery as the Galileo
orbiter and atmospheric entry probe begin their scientific
investigation of Jupiter.  The atmospheric probe is set to descend
into Jupiter's atmosphere on Dec.  7, the same day the Galileo orbiter
begins circling the giant planet for a two-year mission.

"For the first time, we're providing a window on the inner workings
and interactions of a scientific deep space mission," said Dr. Jo
Pitesky, member of the Galileo Mission Planning Office.  "In sharing
the journal entries, we hope to give readers, particularly students,
an idea of the tremendous efforts that go into controlling and
collecting data from a robot spacecraft a half-billion miles away."

After reading background material and the journals, kindergarten
through 12th grade students and their teachers can ask project members
questions -- via E-mail -- starting in late November and running
through January 1996.  They will receive personal responses,
corresponding with experts on subjects ranging from atmospheric
science to spacecraft systems. An archive of all questions and answers
will be available online.

In addition, students will be able to take part in online experiments
that will use actual probe data. Another activity will challenge
students to predict the exact timing of the Galileo probe's first-ever
plunge into the Jovian atmosphere. Additionally, students will be
invited to create Stumpers (riddles and puzzles) to share with one
another. Other curriculum resources will help teachers integrate the
Galileo project into their classrooms. As well, mechanisms will be
provided to help like-minded teachers connect with each another to
pursue collaborative projects of their own.

Other than your own time, there is no cost to get involved. Please
consider joining us on this learning adventure. To participate, you
must sign up for the ONLINE FROM JUPITER maillist. To do this, send an
email message to listmanager@quest.arc.nasa.gov. In the message body,
write only these words: subscribe updates-jup

For more information, make a webstop at our "continuous construction"
site: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/jupiter.html

These projects are part of the "Sharing NASA with the Classroom"
series.  They are made possible by funding from the NASA Information
Infrastructure Technology and Applications (IITA) program. IITA is
part of the High Performance Computing and Communications program
authorized by Federal legislation passed in December 1991.

Example Three: MathMagic; Math at Various Grade Levels 🧮

MathMagic is giving puzzle club energy and I'm obsessed 🔥 the whole thing is problem-solving with your friends across the internet 💜

[Note: The MathMagic World Wide Web home page is located at
http://forum.swarthmore.edu/mathmagic/]

What is MathMagic?

MathMagic is a K-12 telecommunications project developed in El Paso,
Texas. It provides strong motivation for students to use computer
technology while increasing problem-solving strategies and
communications skills. MathMagic posts challenges in each of four
categories (k-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12) to trigger each registered team
to pair up with another team and engage in a problem-solving dialog.
When an agreement has been reached, one solution is posted for every
pair.

MathMagic has received wide ideological acceptance by hundreds of past
FidoNet users because it addresses most of the National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics standards. A modified format has now expanded
into the Internet and is available via regular e-mail or via the World
Wide Web (WWW).

Who can participate?

K-12 teachers and students, but higher education teachers, librarians,
technology coordinators, computer teachers, and even home-schoolers
are joining to act as facilitators.

What is needed?

Any teacher with access to electronic mail via the Internet can
participate. Several net service providers and most of the commercial
boards (America Online, Genie, CompuServe, Delphi, The Well, etc.) now
offer e-mail gateways and other Internet services. MathMagic is best
suited to schools that use computers with modems and have direct
Internet access.

In some areas, a local Bulletin Board System (BBS) or a Net user (such
as a parent with net access) may have to act as a go-between. Please
ask about special arrangements.

okay now the challenges, and these are brain-teaser bestie level 🧠💀

[Example challenge for grades 10-12:]

***************************************

MathMagic Cycle 18: Level 10-12 Regular

***************************************

Using the numbers 1 9 9 2 in a "locked" position, can you develop a 31
day calendar for the month of October?  You can use addition (+),
subtraction (-), multiplication (*), division (/) exponents (^)
factorial (!) square root (sqrt) and, naturally, parenthesis ( ).

Example: Friday the 13th could be: (1+sqrt(9))!-9-2 (Scary, isn't it?)
(Notice that the numbers appear in the "locked" sequence)

****************************************

MathMagic Cycle 18: Level 10-12 Advanced

****************************************

What 6 digit number, with 6 different digits, when multiplied by all
integers up to 6, circulates its digits through all 6 possible
positions, as follows:

                       ABCDEF * 1 - ABCDEF
                       ABCDEF * 3 - BCDEFA
                       ABCDEF * 2 - CDEFAB
                       ABCDEF * 6 - DEFABC
                       ABCDEF * 4 - EFABCD
                       ABCDEF * 5 - FABCDE

*********
Good luck
MrH

[Example challenges for grades K-3:]

*************************************

MathMagic Cycle 16: Level K-3 Regular

*************************************

When two straight lines meet, they form an angle. Some angles are easy
to recognize. For instance, a RIGHT ANGLE is any of the four angles
formed by a piece of paper (like typing or computer paper) that has
sharp corners.

Using a clock and "talking" with your partners, try to figure out how
many times in a day (24 hours) the hour hand and the minute hand form
a right angle. You may want to do a chart and watch the hour hand move
between the numbers, as you move the minute hand...

**************************************

MathMagic Cycle 16: Level K-3 Advanced

**************************************

One of the better known works of architecture of the Roman Empire was
the Coliseum. For a few months, at its maximum splendor (before the
senate began cutting its funding... yes, old problem) there stood an
Imperial Roman Guard in each of its 1000 arches. Imagine the splendor!
(Not too cool if you were the entertainment.)

The first budget conscious cut called for the removal of every other
Imperial Guard. Imagine, one stayed, the next went. The second senate
cut called for the removal of every third guard (from the original
count). So, the order went out that guards of gate 1 and gate 2 (if
there was one) could stay, while guard of gate 3 (and every other
third one) had to go...  Naturally, what the senate was doing was
getting rid of some guards, but also getting the credit for a lot of
"cuts" of gates that had no guard.

The "cuts" continued number after number, until a diligent member of
the opposition party cried foul. He said, "Only some of the cuts are
actually getting rid of guards. A lot of them are not!" Can you build
an argument for this senator?
Also, if you were a Roman Imperial Guard that every week had to choose
a different gate you had to look after (and run the risk of loosing
your job), which gates would be your choice?

that's the whole appendix, bestie, we did it 🌈✨

Okay so MrH, the whole reason this letter slaps is that the teachers have been running K12 projects over the Internet for the past 12 years 😭🫶 that's basically a whole era of classroom magic, bestie 🌈

Good luck MrH ✨

---

Example Four: Various Projects Announced by Global SchoolNet 🎀

Hi! 💖

Our teachers have been doing K12 projects over the Internet for the past 12 years. Iconic. 👑

There is NO CHARGE for schools to participate in the projects 💅 Global SchoolNet organizes, manages, and facilitates collaborative learning projects for schools with any level of connectivity . . . from email only . . . to desktop videoconferencing. So literally anyone can join, no matter how fancy their setup is 🦋

To access these projects, head to http://gsn.org/gsn/gsn.projects.html 🧚

Sample of Projects you will find 🍓

The Global Schoolhouse (Featuring Desktop Video-Conferencing)

Today's "school of the future" uses the most powerful Internet tools, including live video, to link K12 classrooms to their communities and to other children around the world. The future is literally now 🔥

CALREN: Building the California Global Schoolhouse

Education leader (Global SchoolNet) partners with business leader (Aldea Communications) to discover and document how schools, businesses, and the community can network to share resources. Teamwork makes the dream work 💜

CyberStars: Number Ones of Tomorrow

For the first time ever, children around the globe can share their musical talents with the world via the Internet. Ngl this one gives me chills 🎶✨

PAACE: Personal Achievement And Career Awareness

Students learn and practice important career skills, including those dealing with education, attitude, manners, grooming, and fashion. Main character energy for real 💅🌸

Scientist-on-Tap

Scientists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory demonstrate the power of distance learning, by interacting with students around world, from the comfort of their own offices! Scientists in their pajamas?? Iconic 🙈🔬

Projects that Require Email Access Only 📧

Ask a Geologist (AAG)

Have you ever wondered about why California has so many earthquakes and New York does not? Why is there so much oil in Texas but not in Wisconsin? What are the deepest canyons in the United States? (The answer might surprise you!) While the answers to many of these questions might be as close as an encyclopedia, some questions are difficult to answer without checking many sources. Beginning Monday, October 3, 1994, the USGS will offer a new, experimental Internet service - Ask-A-Geologist. General questions on earth sciences may be sent by electronic mail 🪨💖

Family Tree-Mail: Language Translation

In this pilot project, children use Globalink's language translation software to share family histories via email in their native languages of Spanish, French, German, and Italian. Family stories across languages?? Ate, no crumbs 🫶🌍

Field Trips

Join other classes on their live field trips. In turn, you take other classes with you when you visit local places of interest. Our FIELDTRIPS-L mailing list manages this "exchange" of classroom field trips and excursions. Field trips but make it a group chat 🚌🦋

Geogame

This perennially favorite project will excite your students as they immerse themselves in atlases, maps, almanacs, and other references in order to solve a geography puzzle. Your students help create the puzzle by answering 8 questions about your community: latitude, typical weather, land formations, time zone, points of interest, etc. We combine their responses with other classes to create a geography puzzle your students will love to solve. A simple first project for beginning telecommunicators. Perfect starter pack 🗺️🌸

Global Grocery List

Your students visit their local grocery stores and record the prices of items on the grocery list, then share their prices with other participating classes all over the world. The result is a growing table of current, peer-collected data that can be used in math, social studies, science, and health classes (and others). This project is especially good for telecomputing beginners: it has very little structure and no timeline. Low pressure, high vibes 🛒💅

Jane Goodall Institute

Students learn about the interconnectedness of all life on earth as they observe the world around them and become involved in environmental and humanitarian issues. Explore Gombe and Kibira National Parks, ChimpanZoo, and the Roots & Shoots Program. Nature bestie era 🐒🌿

The Jason Project

The Jason Project brings the thrill of exploration and discovery live to students around the world as they participate in an amazing electronic field trip. In 1995 they trekked to Hawaii to study volcanoes. The Global SchoolNet Foundation manages the Jason Project Listservs and features them in our Global SCHLnet Newsgroup Service. Volcanoes?! Slay 🌋🔥

LOGO Foundation

The Logo Foundation, in cooperation with the Global SchoolNet Foundation, is now managing a Logo listserv discussion group available to anybody on the Internet. Open invite, the whole internet is welcome 💜

Newsday

Your students write articles and post them on the Newsday Newswire for the whole world to see! Then they read and choose articles from other schools to download and include in their own newspaper! Finally... you share your newspaper with other classes... and they in turn share theirs with you. Your students' reading and writing skills will improve while they learn about current local, national, and global issues. A whole newsroom in the classroom 📰✨

Where on the Globe is Roger?

Children are invited to learn about history, culture, geography, and the environment, while they electronically travel around the world with Roger Williams - in his quest to promote world peace! Quest energy 🧚🌏

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Example Five: Professional Development 🦋

       THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND ANNOUNCES "DISASTER IN THE CLASSROOM"
       A *LIVE* TELEVISION PROGRAM TO ILLUSTRATE USES OF REAL-TIME
       WEATHER AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMAGERY IN K-12 EDUCATION

Beginning in September 1995, Professor Perry Samson, University of Michigan professor and Director of the Weather Underground, will host an innovative, biweekly series of live, interactive, television shows aimed at teachers, administrators, and parents interested in K-12 education, Internet resources, and the use of real-time weather information in science. Aimed specifically at the professional development of teachers, the programs create a model for teachers to carry back into their classroom, a model that promotes project-based student centered learning environments using new technology and science ideas creatively. Teacher glow-up era 🌟👩‍🏫

The programs, interactive in design, allow participants to ask questions and respond to information through a simultaneous e-mail dialogue. A strength in the design of this series is its ability to allow an interactive discussion of environmental issues (severe weather, snowstorms, droughts, earthquakes, volcanic activity , El Nino, etc.) in a timely manner, matching current news items to science activities. The programs in the virtual classroom series are uplinked to a satellite from the University of Michigan. Teachers, administrators, parents or students can view the class either on their own or in groups. Participants will be encouraged to use their computer and modem to log into our server during the show. This interactive virtual classroom will allow participants to pose or answer questions live (or after the show). Live chat meets live TV, iykyk 📺💬

Navigation on the Internet and pointers to information specific to the science curriculum ideas presented on the show are emphasized and made available to teachers for use in their classrooms. Participants are shown where on the Internet to find imagery and activities relevant to the topics discussed and are lead through a discussion of new methods to utilize these data in their classroom activities. Example activities utilizing current weather, climate and environmental conditions are demonstrated. Learning the map so you can use it later 🗺️🎀

If you are interested in participating in this series from your home or school and would like to receive graduate credit for it, please contact:

        The Weather Underground
URL:    http://groundhog.sprl.umich.edu

[other contact information deleted]

First show is Sept. 18, contact us or look to the URL above for more information soon!!!! Don't sleep on this one, bestie 💖🌈