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IETF RFC 1578
FYI on Questions and Answers - Answers to Commonly Asked 'Primary and Secondary School Internet User' Questions
Last modified on Friday, February 18th, 1994
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Network Working Group J. Sellers
Request for Comments: 1578 NASA NREN/Sterling Software
FYI: 22 February 1994
Category: Informational
FYI on Questions and Answers
Answers to Commonly Asked "Primary and Secondary School Internet User"
Questions
 Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo
does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of
this memo is unlimited.
Abstract
The goal of this FYI RFC, produced by the Internet School Networking
(ISN) group in the User Services Area of the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF), is to document the questions most commonly asked
about the Internet by those in the primary and secondary school
community, and to provide pointers to sources which answer those
questions. It is directed at educators, school media specialists,
and school administrators who are recently connected to the Internet,
who are accessing the Internet via dial-up or another means which is
not a direct connection, or who are considering an Internet
connection as a resource for their schools.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction................................................... 2
2. Acknowledgments................................................ 2
3. Questions About the Internet in an Educational Setting......... 3
4. Questions About School Support for an Internet Connection...... 5
5. Questions About Implementation and Technical Options.......... 10
6. Questions About Security and Ethics............................12
7. Questions About Educational Collaboration, Projects, and
Resources..................................................... 15
8. Suggested Reading............................................. 18
9. Resources and Contacts........................................ 21
10. References.................................................... 35
11. Security Considerations....................................... 35
12. Author's Address.............................................. 35
Appendix A: Examples of Projects Using the Internet.......... 36
Appendix B: How To Get Documents Electronically.............. 43
Appendix C: Glossary of Terms Used in This Document.......... 47
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
1. Introduction
The elementary and secondary school community of teachers, media
specialists, administrators, and students is a growing population on
the Internet. In general, this group of users approaches the
Internet with less experience in data network technology and fewer
technical and user support resources than other Internet user groups.
Many of their questions are related to the special needs of the
community, while others are shared by any new user. This document
attempts first to define the most frequently asked questions related
to the use of the Internet in pre-university education and then to
provide not only answers but also pointers to further information.
For new user questions of a more general nature, the reader should
get FYI 4, "FYI on Questions and Answers: Answers to Commonly Asked
'New Internet User' Questions" [1]. For information on how to get
this document, see Appendix B.
It is important to remember that the Internet is a volatile and
changing virtual environment. I have tried to include only the most
stable of network services when listing resources and groups for you
to contact, which is a good solution to the problem of changing
offerings on the Internet, but by no means a fool-proof one. This
constant change also means that there is a lot out there that you
will discover as you begin to explore on your own.
Future updates of this document will be produced as Internet School
Networking working group members are made aware of new questions and
of insufficient or inaccurate information in the document. The RFC
number of this document will change with each update, but the FYI
number (22) will remain the same.
2. Acknowledgments
The author wishes to thank for their help and contributions to this
document the members of the Consortium for School Networking,
Kidsphere, and Ednet electronic mailing lists, Ronald Elliott,
Science and Technology Center; Klaus Fueller, Institute for Teacher
Training of the German federal state of Hesia (HILF), and educator;
Ellen Hoffman, Merit Network, Inc.; William Manning, Rice University;
and Anthony Rutkowski, CNRI. Special thanks go to Raymond Harder,
Microcomputer Consultant, and Michael Newell, NASA Advanced Network
Applications, who not only made contributions but also kept a steady
stream of feedback flowing. Extra special thanks go to the
remarkable Ms. April Marine of the NASA Network Applications and
Information Center for her contributions to the document, her expert
advice, and her unparalleled support.
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
3. Questions About the Internet in an Educational Setting
3.1 What is the Internet?
The Internet is a collection of more than 10,000 interconnected
computer networks around the world that make it possible to share
information almost instantly. The networks are owned by countless
commercial, research, governmental, and educational organizations
and individuals. The Internet allows the more than 1.5 million
computers and 10 millions users of the system to collaborate
easily and quickly through messaging, discussion groups, and
conferencing. Users are able to discover and access people and
information, distribute information, and experiment with new
technologies and services. The Internet has become a major global
infrastructure for education, research, professional learning,
public service, and business and is currently growing at the rate
of about ten percent per month.
The Internet Society serves as the international organization for
Internet cooperation and coordination. See Section 9, "Resources
and Contacts".
For a more complete basic introduction to the Internet, see FYI
20, "What is the Internet?" [2]. Instructions on retrieving FYI
documents can be found in Appendix B.
3.2 What are the benefits of using the Internet in the classroom?
The Internet expands classroom resources dramatically by making
many resources from all over the world available to students,
teachers, and media specialists, including original source
materials. It brings information, data, images, and even computer
software into the classroom from places otherwise impossible to
reach, and it does this almost instantly. Access to these
resources can yield individual and group projects, collaboration,
curriculum materials, and idea sharing not found in schools
without Internet access.
Internet access also makes contact with people all over the world
possible, bringing into the classroom experts in every content
area, new and old friends, and colleagues in education. With
access to the Internet, your site can become a valuable source of
information as well. Consider the expertise in your school which
could be shared with others around the world.
The isolation inherent in the teaching profession is well-known
among educators. By having access to colleagues in other parts of
the world, as well as to those who work outside of classrooms,
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
educators able to reach the Internet are not as isolated.
A hands-on classroom tool, the use of networks can be a motivator
for students in and of itself, and their use encourages the kind
of independence and autonomy that many educators agree is
important for students to achieve in their learning process.
Because class, race, ability, and disability are removed as
factors in communication while using the Internet, it is a natural
tool for addressing the needs of all students; exactly how this
is done will vary from district to district as schools empower
individual teachers and students.
School reform, which is much on the minds of many educators today,
can be supported by the use of the Internet as one of many
educational tools. See the answer to Question 4.1 for more
specifics.
3.3 How can educators incorporate this resource into their busy
schedules?
Most educators learn about the Internet during the time they use
to learn about any new teaching tool or resource. Realistically,
of course, this means they "steal" time at lunch, on week-ends,
and before and after school to explore resources and pursue
relationships via the Internet. Those who do so feel that it is
well worth the rich rewards. It's important that computers used
to access the Internet are readily available and not so far away
physically as to make using the resource impossible for educators
and others.
Many features of the Internet, such as the availability of online
library catalogs and information articles, will actually end up
saving considerable time once an instructor learns to use them,
and there are new tools being developed all the time to make
Internet resources more easily accessible.
As the value of the Internet as an educational resource becomes
more evident, school systems will need to look toward building the
time to use it into educators' schedules.
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
3.4 I'm already using the National Geographic Kids Network (or PBS
Learning Link or FrEdMail or ______). Does this have anything
to do with the Internet? Is the Internet different from what
I'm already using?
Since the Internet is a network of many different networks, you
may be using one of the networks which is connected to the
Internet. Some commercial programs for schools use networks and
provide value-added service, such as curriculum software,
technical support, project organization and coordination, etc.
Some provide value-added service, but don't allow for all basic
Internet services. Networks like FrEdMail (Free Educational
Electronic Mail), FidoNet, and K12Net are bulletin board and
conferencing systems linked via the Internet which provide
inexpensive access to some Internet services. If you can use
interactive computer access (Telnet) and electronic file transfer
(FTP), as well as electronic mail, you are probably "on" the
Internet. If you have questions about the specific service you're
currently using, ask its support personnel if you have Internet
access, or call the InterNIC. See Section 9, "Resources and
Contacts" for how to reach the InterNIC, FrEdMail, FidoNet, and
K12Net.
4. Questions About School Support for an Internet Connection
4.1 Where does my school get the money for connecting to the
Internet?
Although school budgets are impossibly tight in most cases, the
cost of an Internet connection can be squeezed from the budget
when its value becomes apparent. Costs for a low end connection
can be quite reasonable. (See the next question.)
The challenge facing those advocating an Internet connection
sometimes has less to do with the actual cost than it has with the
difficulty of convincing administrators to spend money on an
unfamiliar resource.
In order to move the Internet connection closer to the top of your
school's priority list, consider at least two possibilities.
First, your school may be in the process of reform, as are many
schools. Because use of the Internet shifts focus away from a
teacher-as-expert model and toward one of shared responsibility
for learning, it can be a vital part of school reform. Much of
school reform attempts 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, away from
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
a focus on content and toward a focus on concepts [3]. The
Internet can play an integral part in helping to achieve these
shifts.
Second, to demonstrate the value of a connection, actual Internet
access is more useful than words. While this may sound like a
chicken-and-egg situation (I have to have Internet access to get
Internet access), some organizations will provide guest accounts
on an Internet-connected computer for people in schools who are
trying to convince others of the value of an Internet connection.
Contact local colleges, universities, technology companies,
service providers, community networks, and government agencies for
both guest accounts and funding ideas. For alternatives to your
own school's budget or for supplements to it, look for funding in
federal, state, and district budgets as well as from private
grants. Work with equipment vendors to provide the hardware
needed 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.
The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) has
information on grants and funding. Ask for the AskERIC InfoGuide
called "Grants and Funding Sources". Two network services, one
maintained by the United States Department of Education's Office
of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) and one maintained
by the US National Science Foundation, also have information about
grants and funding. Grants can be a way for you to acquire the
initial money to demonstrate the value of telecommunications in
the classroom, and since these monies are often awarded on a
short-term basis, should probably be looked at as temporary means
of funding your activities. For information on these
organizations and their services, see Section 9, "Resources and
Contacts". (Note: The funding services mentioned are primarily US
based.)
4.2 How much does it cost to connect to the Internet, and what
kind of equipment (hardware, software, etc.) does my school need
in order to support an Internet connection?
The cost of an Internet connection varies tremendously with the
location of your site and the kind of connection that is
appropriate to your needs. In order to determine the cost to your
school, you will need to answer a number of questions. For help in
learning what the questions are and getting answers to them, begin
asking at local colleges, universities, technology companies,
government agencies, community networks (often called "freenets"),
local electronic bulletin board systems (BBS), network access
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
providers, or technology consultants.
To give you an idea of possible equipment needs, here are three
sample scenarios, based on possible solutions found in the United
States. Keep in mind that these are very general examples and
that there are many solutions at each level. See also the answer
to Question 5.5.
Low-end: You could subscribe to some kind of Internet dial-up
service. This may be provided by a vendor at a cost, by a local
university gratis, or as a part of a public access service like
a community network. You will need a computer which allows
terminal emulation, terminal emulation software, and a modem
which is compatible with your dial-up service. The approximate
cost, not including the PC or the cost of the phone call, is US
$100 to US $800 plus a monthly fee of approximately US $30.
Mid-range: You could subscribe to a dial-up service that
provides Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) or Point to Point
Protocol (PPP), allowing your computer to effectively become a
host on the Internet. You will need a computer with SLIP or PPP
software, telecommunications applications software (to allow you
to use telnet and FTP - File Transfer Protocol), and a modem
which is compatible with your dial-up service. The approximate
cost, not including the PC or the cost of the phone call, is US
$100 to US $800 plus a monthly fee of approximately US $60.
High-end: Your school or department could subscribe to a service
that provides a full Internet connection to the school or
department's local area network. This allows all the computers
on the local area network access to the Internet. You will need
a router and a connection to a network access provider's router.
Typically the connection is a leased line with a CSU/DSU
(Channel Service Unit/Data Service Unit). A leased line is a
permanent high speed telephone connection between two points;
this allows you to have a high quality permanent Internet
connection at all times. A local area network, which may
consist only of the router and a PC, Macintosh, or other
computer system, is also needed, and your computer(s) will need
some special software: a TCP/IP (Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol) stack, as well as TCP/IP based
communications software such as Telnet and FTP. The approximate
cost, not including the computers, is US $2,000 to US $3,000
plus a monthly fee of at least US $200.
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
4.3 What is required in terms of personnel to support an Internet
connection? (Will it require extra staff, training, more time
of teachers and librarians?)
Any plan for implementing technology in schools must consider
staff development. Training is often the most neglected aspect of
a technology plan, and a lack of training can lead to failure of
the plan. In the case of the Internet, all users will need some
kind of training, whether they are teachers, librarians, students,
administrators, or people fulfilling other roles in the school.
The train-the-trainer model, in which a group of people are
trained in a subject or tool and each individual in turn trains
other groups, is a good model for Internet training. A small
group of motivated teachers can be provided with training and can
then educate their colleagues. One advantage is that the initial
group is able to target the specific needs of the other teachers
in the school.
Depending on the hardware involved, there may be a need for
technical support. Finding this kind of support, which schools
will certainly need because it is not usually in place, may be
tricky. Some districts are beginning to provide it at the
district level. Some schools are able to use volunteers from
business, industry, or government agencies. Much of this type of
support can be done over the network itself, which makes it
possible for someone located off-site to maintain the equipment
with only occasional trips to the school. Additionally, vendors
often provide some support, perhaps a help desk for basic
questions.
4.4 How do I convince the people who do the purchasing in our school
system to spend money on this?
Most people become convinced with exposure. One excited
individual in the school who is able to show proof of concept by
starting a pilot program can be the catalyst for a school or an
entire district. If you can get an Internet account (as suggested
above) and use it for instruction in your classroom, you can make
presentations at faculty, school/community, and school board
meetings.
The National Center for Education Statistics in the Office of
Educational Research and Improvement at the United States
Department of Education has released a 17-minute video targeted at
school administrators entitled "Experience the Power: Network
Technology for Education". It uses interview clips of students,
teachers, and policy makers in the United States to educate about
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
what the Internet is and to encourage support for the use of
telecommunications in primary and secondary schools. The NASA
NREN (US National Aeronautics and Space Administration National
Research and Education Network) K-12 Initiative has produced an
11-minute video describing the benefits to schools in using the
Internet. The video is entitled, "Global Quest: The Internet in
the Classroom", and it tells the story through interview clips
with students and teachers who have experienced the power of
computer networking. For further information on the two videos,
see "National Center for Education Statistics", and "NASA Central
Operation of Resources for Educators" under "Organizations" in
Section 9, "Resources and Contacts".
4.5 Where do I go for technical support and training?
Much technical support and training can be found 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. One such list is Tipsheet,
the Computer Help and Tip Exchange, the purpose of which is to
provide a supportive setting where people can ask questions or
discuss products. Other lists are the education-related lists
mentioned in Question 7.2. All of these are listed in Section 9,
"Resources and Contacts".
Network News, or Usenet News, is a world-wide bulletin board
system with discussion groups on various topics, including
computer science, general science, social and cultural themes,
recreational interests, etc. By sending questions to an
appropriate news group you can receive answers from people
experienced with your particular problem. Specific news groups to
look for are those beginning with "comp", for "computer", and
followed by the type of operating system, hardware, or software
you have a question about. For example, comp.os.unix or
comp.os.msdos.apps. To understand the culture and etiquette of
Usenet News, read the group news.announce.newusers.
Your local community may also have resources that you can tap.
These are again colleges and universities, businesses, computer
clubs and user groups, technology consultants, and government
agencies.
Your network access provider may offer training and support for
technical issues, and other groups also offer formal classes and
seminars. For those schools who have designated technical people,
they are good candidates for classes and seminars.
There are some documents for further reading and exploration that
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
you may want to peruse. See Section 8, "Suggested Reading".
There are books on almost every specific subject in the computing
world that may answer your questions. For new books, check your
local library, bookstore, or booksellers' catalogs.
5. Questions About Implementation and Technical Options
5.1 How do I learn about options for getting my school connected?
In the United States, there are a number of state-wide educational
networks, most of them with access to the Internet. To find out
if there is a state education network in your area which gives
accounts to educators and/or students, contact the Consortium for
School Networking. The InterNIC has a list of regional and
national network providers. Both the Consortium for School
Networking and the InterNIC are listed in Section 9, "Resources
and Contacts".
The global regional NICs such as the RIPE NCC in Europe can also
provide a list of service providers. The APNIC in the Pacific Rim
will have a similar list in the near future.
You can sometimes locate a person enthusiastic about the idea of
using networks in schools and willing to help you who works as an
independent consultant, in a local college or university, in a
technology company, for a network access provider, at a community
network, or in a government agency.
There are a number of books about the Internet and how to get
connected to it. A few are listed in Section 8, "Suggested
Reading", and more are being published every month. Check
libraries, bookstores, and booksellers' catalogs.
5.2 How many of our computers should we put on the Internet?
You will probably want to make Internet *access* possible for as
many of your school's computers as possible. If you are using a
dial-up service, you may want a number of shared accounts
throughout the school. If your school has a Local Area Network
(LAN) with several computers on it, one dedicated Internet
connection should be able to serve the whole school.
If you are going to connect a lot of computers to the network, you
will need to make sure your line speed is adequate. Most dial-up
systems available today support speeds up to 14.4 Kbs (kilobits
per second), which is adequate for no more than a couple of
network users, depending upon the network utilities (FTP, etc.)
they are using. If you are planning to connect a large number of
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
users, you should probably consider a dedicated line of 56 Kbs or
higher.
5.3 Should we set up a telecommunications lab or put networked
computers in each classroom?
A computer lab is an easier maintenance set-up for the person in
charge of keeping the equipment running and allows each individual
(or pair) in an entire class to be using a computer at the same
time; a computer located in the classroom is more convenient for
both the teacher and the class. If you choose the lab option, you
will probably want to get a commitment from specific teachers or
media specialists to use the lab in the course of their teaching.
You might also consider the other labs located throughout your
school. For example, if you have a science or language lab, it
may be the best place for your school to begin to use the
Internet. And finally, remember that the library is a natural
place for people to access network resources!
Networking all computers campus-wide can be expensive. You will
need to consider the options--dial-up access, a dedicated line, or
some other possibility--and weigh them against your school's needs
and priorities. You may want to investigate having one lab, the
library, and a few classrooms with modem access, assuming phone
lines are available. As use of the Internet catches on, it will
be more effective to create a campus-wide local area network that
is routed to the Internet through a dedicated line than to keep
adding modems in classrooms. Or you may want to consider the
other options discussed in question 5.5 below.
5.4 Can people get on the Internet from home?
This depends on your network access provider. It is certainly a
possibility and is probably desirable for the educators at your
school if they happen to have the necessary equipment at home.
You will need to discuss whether you want to make this option
available to students even if it is possible technically. This is
best discussed with the community your school serves in a public
forum such as a school/community meeting. At issue is the shared
responsibility of educators and parents to monitor student
Internet use. (See also Question 6.2.)
5.5 What are some of the options for using Internet services without
paying for a full, dedicated-line Internet connection?
It is possible to create a local, store-and-forward network using
various implementations of the Unix to Unix Copy (UUCP) software
suite, available as public domain (free) or shareware (small fee
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
which is often optional) software, which can run on many different
platforms including Amiga, IBM, and Macintosh. The connections
are via dial-up phone lines using local phone numbers. Usenet
News and email are "stored" on a computer until the time appointed
for that computer to contact the next one along the path to the
final destination, at which time it is "forwarded" along its way.
Most computers are set up to process outgoing requests at least
every 30 minutes. With this type of system you will have access
to as many Usenet News groups as your site agrees to carry, as
well as email, which includes access to mailing lists and
listservs such as those listed in Section 9, "Resources and
Contacts". Many file servers also offer file transfer and other
services via email.
There are a couple of important advantages to such a system.
First, it is much more affordable since such networks provide more
efficient use of telephone lines, making a connection only while
data is actually being transferred. Second, it allows for
filtering, which gives a school some control over what kind of
information is available to its students.
The disadvantage to this type of Internet access is that you may
be limited regarding the range of Internet applications you can
use.
FrEdMail, FidoNet, and K12Net are store-and-forward systems.
FidoNet, for example, is a network of amateurs and hobbyists which
operates on personal computers and is publicly accessible by
anyone with a microcomputer and a modem. Contact information for
all three organizations can be found in Section 9, "Resources and
Contacts".
6. Questions About Security and Ethics
6.1 Who should have access in the school, the teachers or the
students?
Clearly the answer is that all educators, including administrators
and media specialists or librarians, AND students should have
access to the Internet. There's no reason why support staff
should not also have access. In elementary schools, access for
students may be more supervised than in the upper grades.
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6.2 I've heard that there are files on the Internet that parents
would not like their children to get. How can students be
kept from accessing this objectionable material?
If your school has a direct Internet connection, and often even if
it doesn't, it is not possible to use a technical solution to
prevent students from accessing objectionable material. Everyone
on the network, including students, is able to download files from
public electronic repositories, some of which contain materials
that just about anyone would consider objectionable for school-age
children. The store-and-forward scenario described in Question
5.5 is one solution to filtering the information to which students
have access, but if students are allowed to use email then it is
possible for someone to send them objectionable material.
For this reason, it is important that schools develop clear
policies to guide students' use of the Internet and establish
rules, and consequences for breaking them, that govern behavior on
the Internet. Additionally, schools should consider integrating
issues around technology and ethics into the curriculum [4].
Another possibility is to control the times and opportunities that
students have to access the Internet, and only allow access under
supervision. This is a less desirable option than teaching the
ethics of Internet access as a matter of course, but may be used
in combination with other methods to ensure the integrity of the
school, its students, and its educators.
In any case, schools need to exercise reasonable oversight while
realizing that it is almost impossible to absolutely guarantee
that students will not be able to access objectionable material.
6.3 How do we keep our own and other people's computers safe from
student "hackers"?
In the language of computer folks, a "hacker" is someone who is
excellent at understanding and manipulating computer systems. A
"cracker" is someone who maliciously and/or illegally enters or
attempts to enter someone else's computer system.
Computer security is unquestionably important, both in maintaining
the security of the school's computers and in ensuring the proper
behavior of the school's students (and others who use the
network). In this area, not only school policy, but also state
and national laws may apply. Two sources of information which you
can read to help you sort through security issues are:
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
"Site Security Handbook" (FYI 8)
"Ethical Uses of Information Technologies in Education"
(Sivin & Bialo)
The full references for these documents can be found in Section 8,
"Suggested Reading". The pamphlet "Ethical Uses of Information
Technologies in Education" is more applicable to the laws of the
United States than to those of other countries, but several of the
ideas are shared in various cultures.
6.4 How do we keep viruses from attacking all our computers if we
get connected to the Internet?
If you use the Internet to exchange data (such as text or
pictures), virus infection is generally not a problem. The real
concern is when you download software programs and run them on
your own computer. Any program you download over the network and
run could have a virus. For that matter, any program, whether on
tape or a disk, even commercial software still in its original
packaging, might possibly have a virus. For this reason, all
computers should have virus protection software running on them.
Virus checking software is available free over the Internet via
Anonymous FTP from the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT),
which is run by the US National Institute for Standards and
Technology (NIST). The Anonymous FTP host computer is
ftp.cert.org. (For information on using Anonymous FTP, see
Appendix B.) Your hardware or software vendor, your network
access provider, your technical support resources, or your
colleagues on network mailing lists should be able to provide more
specific information applicable to your site.
To help reduce the risk of downloading a virus with your program,
try to use trusted sources. Ask someone you know or send the
question to a mailing list or news group to find the most reliable
sites for software access.
6.5 What are the rules for using the Internet?
When your Internet connection is established, your access provider
should acquaint you with their Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). This
policy explains the acceptable and non-acceptable uses for your
connection. For example, it is in all cases unacceptable to use
the network for illegal purposes. It may, in some cases, be
unacceptable to use the network for commercial purposes. If such
a policy is not mentioned, ask for it. All users are expected to
know what the acceptable and unacceptable uses of their network
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
are. Remember that it is essential to establish a school-wide
policy in addition to the provider's AUP.
7. Questions About Educational Collaboration, Projects, and Resources
7.1 How can I find specific projects using the Internet that are
already developed?
There are a several resources on the Internet that are directed
specifically at the primary and secondary school communities, and
the number is growing. The InterNIC gopher server has a section
on K-12 (Kindergarten through 12th grade) Education, the
Consortium for School Networking maintains a gopher server, and
NASA's Spacelink is directed at primary and secondary school
educators. NYSERNet's Empire Internet Schoolhouse is an extension
of its Bridging the Gap program. For access to these and others,
see Section 9, "Resources and Contacts".
Many people on electronic mailing lists such as Ednet, Kidsphere,
and the Consortium for School Networking Discussion List
(cosndisc) post their projects and ask for partners and
collaborators. The K12 hierarchy of Usenet News has several
groups where educators post these invitations as well. For
subscription to these and other electronic lists and for names of
news groups, see Section 9, "Resources and Contacts". For news
groups and mailing lists of special interest to educators, see the
"Ednet Guide to Usenet Newsgroups" and "An Educator's Guide to E-
Mail Lists", both of which are listed in Section 8, "Suggested
Reading".
As you explore the Internet, there are some tools that will help
you find projects that are already developed. A good overview of
many of these resource discovery tools is the "Guide to Network
Resource Tools" written by the European Academic Research Networks
(EARN) Association. It explains the basics of tools such as
Gopher, Veronica, WAIS, Archie, and the World Wide Web, as well as
others, and provides pointers for finding out more about these
useful tools. It is listed in Section 8, "Suggested Reading".
7.2 Where do I go to find colleagues who support networking and
schools willing to participate in projects?
The electronic mailing lists and Usenet News groups in Section 9,
"Resources and Contacts" are rich with people who want to
collaborate on projects involving use of the Internet.
There are also a number of conferences you may want to look in to.
The National Education Computing Conference (NECC) is held
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
annually, as is Tel-Ed, a conference sponsored by the
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). ISTE
maintains an online server which has a calendar of conferences all
over the world in telecommunications for education. The INET
conference is the annual conference for the Internet Society. See
Section 9, "Resources and Contacts", for contact information for
these organizations and for information on access to ISTE's online
server.
7.3 What are some examples of how the Internet is being used in
classrooms now?
Projects which use the Internet sometimes request sites from all
over the world to contribute data from the local area then compile
that data for use by all. Weather patterns, pollutants in water
or air, and Monarch butterfly migration are some of the data that
has been collected over the Internet. In Appendix A you will find
several examples from the Kidsphere electronic mailing list, each
from a different content area and representing different ways of
using the Internet.
There are a number of specific projects you may find interesting.
KIDS-94 (and subsequent years), managed by the non-profit KIDLINK
Society, is one. It currently includes ten discussion lists and
services, some of them only for people who are ten through fifteen
years old. Another place to look is Academy One of the National
Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN), which usually has between 5
and 10 projects running at a time. The International Education
and Research Network (I*EARN), a project of the non-profit Copen
Family Fund, facilitates telecommunications in schools around the
world. Chatback Trust, initiated to provide email for schools in
the United Kingdom and around the world with students who have
mental or physical difficulty with communicating, and Chatback
International, directed at any school on the Internet, maintain a
network server that you may want to investigate. The European
Schools Project involves approximately 200 schools in 20 countries
and has as its goal building a support system for secondary school
educators. For contact information on these groups and server
access, refer to Section 9, "Resources and Contacts".
7.4 Is there a manual that lists sites on the Internet particularly
useful for class exploration?
There are a number of resource guides, and so far only a couple
are directed specifically at an education audience. "An
Incomplete Guide to the Internet and Other Telecommunications
Opportunities Especially for Teachers and Students K-12" is
compiled by the NCSA Education Group and is available online. The
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
"Internet Resource Directory for Educators, Version 2" is also
available online. It was prepared by a team of 46 teachers in
Nebraska and Texas who were enrolled in telecomputing courses at
two universities in 1992 and 1993. Ednet's "Educator's Guide to
Email Lists" is available electronically, as is the "Ednet Guide
to Usenet News Groups". ERIC offers several documents relating to
telecommunications and education, including the ERIC Digest
"Internet Basics", the ERIC Review "K-12 Networking",
"Instructional Development for Distance Education", and
"Strategies for Teaching at a Distance". Complete bibliographic
information for these documents is listed in Section 8, "Suggested
Reading". For help in retrieving the documents electronically,
see Appendix B.
There are also printed guides to the Internet appearing along with
the new books on the Internet. The problem with paper resource
guides is that the Internet is a changing environment, so they
become outdated quickly. Check libraries, bookstores, and
booksellers' catalogs for these guides.
One answer to the problem of printed Internet guides is the
newsletter. NetTEACH NEWS is a newsletter specifically for
primary and secondary school educators interested in networking.
It contains information on new services on the Internet that are
of interest to educators, projects for collaboration, conferences,
new books and publications, and includes "The Instruction Corner",
which gives practical tutorials on using network tools and
services. NetTEACH NEWS is published ten times a year, and is
available both hardcopy and via email. Subscription information
can be found in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts".
7.5 How can I add my own contributions to the Internet?
The network server operated by the Consortium for School
Networking exists expressly for the sharing of ideas by the
elementary and secondary school community. Educators are
encouraged to submit projects, lesson plans, and ideas. A gopher
server maintained by PSGnet and RAINet also accepts educator
submissions for addition to the many sections of its menu tree
devoted to elementary and secondary school interests. See Section
9, "Resources and Contacts" for information on reaching CoSN or
submitting materials, and for access to the server maintained by
PSGnet and RAINet. It is important to remember that anything you
create should be updated for others as you make changes yourself
in the course of your learning by experience.
The electronic mail lists and news groups mentioned are also
places to share your knowledge and yourself as a resource, and as
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
you gain experience you may find you have the knowledge to put up
an electronic server at your own site. A group of schools in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States shares one such
server, and there you could recently find and download to your own
computer photographs and notes from an exhibit on the architecture
of one of the elementary schools.
8. Suggested Reading
Those items marked with an asterisk (*) are available free online.
For information on retrieving documents electronically, see
Appendix B.
Dearn, D. The Internet Guide for New Users.
Washington, DC: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1994.
*"Ednet Guide to Usenet Newsgroups"
online:
nic.umass.edu
pub/ednet/edusenet.gde
*"Educator's Guide to E-Mail Lists"
online:
nic.umass.edu
pub/ednet/educatrs.lst
Fraase, M. The Mac Internet Tour Guide. Chapel Hill, NC:
Ventana Press, 1993.
*FYI 4 "FYI on Questions and Answers: Answers to Commonly asked "New
Internet User" Questions", Malkin, G.S. and A. Marine.
(fyi4.txt or RFC 1325.txt)
*FYI 5 "Choosing a Name for Your Computer", Libes, D.
(fyi5.txt or RFC 1178.txt)
*FYI 8 "Site Security Handbook", Holbrook, J.P. and J.K.
Reynolds. (fyi8.txt or RFC 1244.txt)
*FYI 16 "Connecting to the Internet: What Connecting Institutions
Should Anticipate", ACM SIGUCCS Networking Task Force.
(fyi16.txt or RFC 1359.txt)
*FYI 18 "Internet Users' Glossary", LaQuey Parker, T. and G. Malkin.
(fyi18.txt or RFC 1392.txt)
*FYI 19 "Introducing the Internet--A Short Bibliography of
Introductory Internetworking Reading for the Network Novice",
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
Hoffman, E. and L. Jackson. (fyi19.txt or RFC 1463.txt)
*FYI 20, "What is the Internet?" Krol, E. and E. Hoffman.
(fyi20.txt or RFC 1462.txt)
The FYI series is online in the following locations. Choose
the site nearest you from which to download the files:
United States
ds.internic.net (198.49.45.10)
fyi/fyi##.txt
Pacific Rim
munnari.oz.au (128.250.1.21)
fyi/fyi##.txt
Europe
nic.nordu.net (192.36.148.17)
fyi/fyi##.txt
*"Guide to Network Resource Tools", EARN Association. May 1993.
64 pp.
online:
naic.nasa.gov
files/general_info/earn-resource-tool-guide.ps and
earn-resource-tool-guide.txt
ftp.earn.net
pub/doc/resource-tool-guide.ps and
resource-tool-guide.txt
ns.ripe.net
earn/earn-resource-tool-guide.ps and
earn-resource-tool-guide.txt
ds.internic.net
pub/internet-doc/EARN.nettools.ps and
EARN.nettools.txt
via email:
send a message to...
...LISTSERV@EARNCC.BITNET
leave the subject blank and in the first line of the body,
enter...
...GET NETTOOLS TXT
for the plain ASCII text format, or
...GET NETTOOLS PS
for the PostScript version
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
*"Incomplete Guide to the Internet and Other Telecommunications
Opportunities Especially for Teachers and Students K-12", NCSA
Education Group. July, 1993.
online:
ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu
Education/Education_Resources/Incomplete_Guide
To order a hardcopy, contact:
Valerie Sheehan
NCSA Education Group
605 E. Springfield Ave.
Champaign, IL 61820
vsheehan@ncsa.uiuc.edu
or:
Lisa Bievenue
NCSA Education Group
605 E. Springfield Ave.
Champaign, IL 61820
bievenue@ncsa.uiuc.edu
*Internet Resource Directory for Educators
online:
tcet.unt.edu
pub/telecomputing-info/IRD/IRD-telnet-sites.txt,
IRD-ftp-archives.txt, IRD-listservs.txt, and
IRD-infusion-ideas.txt
Kehoe, Brendan. Zen and the Art of the Internet: A Beginner's Guide.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1992.
Krol, E. The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog. Sebastopol,
CA: O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., 1992.
LaQuey, T. The Internet Companion: A Beginner's Guide to Global
Networking. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company,
1992.
Marine, A., S. Kirkpatrick, V. Neou, and C. Ward. Internet:
Getting Started. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall,
1993.
Sivin, J.P. and Bialo, E.R. "Ethical Uses of Information
Technologies in Education", 1992. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs,
National Institute of Justice.
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
To order, call 800-851-3420 from within the United
States or 301-251-5500 from outside of the United States.
Or write to:
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
Washington, DC 20531
*RFC 1480 "The US Domain", Cooper, A. and J. Postel. June 1993.
(RFC 1480.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.
9. Resources and Contacts
------------
CONFERENCES:
------------
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)
Electronic access to a calendar of conferences all over the world
and other information is available on the ISTE server. See
"Network Servers" in this section.
INET
Internet Society
1895 Preston White Drive
Suite 100
Reston, Virginia 22091
USA
Phone: 703-648-9888
Fax: 703-620-0913
Email: isoc@isoc.org
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
----------------------
ELECTRONIC MAIL LISTS:
----------------------
Cosndisc (Consortium for School Networking Discussion List)
To subscribe, send a message to...
listproc@yukon.cren.org
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@yukon.cren.org
Ednet
To subscribe, send a message to...
listserv@nic.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@nic.umass.edu
Kidsphere
To subscribe, send a message to...
kidsphere-request@vms.cis.pitt.edu
Type any message asking to be added to the list.
To post, send a message to...
kidsphere@vms.cis.pitt.edu
KIDS-95/KIDLINK
To learn about KIDLINK projects, subscribe to the news service by
sending a message to...
listserv@vm1.nodak.edu
Leave the Subject field blank, and in the first line of the body of
the message enter...
subscribe KIDLINK YourFirstName YourLastName
To receive a file of general information on KIDLINK, send email to
the same listserv address, leave the Subject field blank, and in
the first line of the body of the message enter...
get kidlink general
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
K12admin (A list for K-12 educators interested in educational
administration)
To subscribe, send a message to...
listserv@suvm.syr.edu
Leave the Subject field blank, and in the first line of the body of
the message enter...
subscribe k12admin YourFirstName YourLastName
To post, send a message to...
k12admin@suvm.syr.edu
LM_NET (A list for school library media specialists worldwide)
To subscribe, send a message to...
listserv@suvm.syr.edu
Leave the Subject field blank, and in the first line of the body of
the message enter...
subscribe LM_NET YourFirstName YourLastName
To post, send a message to...
LM_NET@suvm.syr.edu
SIGTEL-L (A list for the Special Interest Group for
Telecommunications, a service of the International Society for
Technology in Education)
To subscribe, send a message to...
SIGTEL-L@unmvma.unm.edu
Leave the Subject field blank, and in the first line of the body of
the message enter...
subscribe SIGTEL-L YourFirstName YourLastName
To post, send a message to...
SIGTEL-L@unmvma.unm.edu
Tipsheet (Computer Help and Tip Exchange)
To subscribe, send a message to...
listserv@wsuvm1.csc.wsu.edu
Leave the Subject field blank, and in the first line of the body of
the message enter...
subscribe tipsheet YourFirstName YourLastName
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
----------------
NETWORK SERVERS:
----------------
Chatback Trust and Chatback International network server
via telnet...
telnet rdz.stjohns.edu
login: student
(Follow login instructions on screen.)
via gopher...
sjuvm.stjohns.edu (port 70)
Choose "Rehabilitation Resource Center" from first menu.
Choose "SJU Unibase Bulletin Board and Conference System" from
menu which then comes up.
Consortium for School Networking gopher server
via gopher...
cosn.org (port 70)
via telnet...
telnet cosn.org
login: gopher
(no password)
Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Digests Archives are
available
via telnet...
telnet bbs.oit.unc.edu
login: launch
(Follow directions on screen for registration. At the main menu,
choose number 4, "Topical Document Search (WAIS)", and move to
eric-digests. For help in WAIS, type a question mark.)
via FTP...
ftp ericir.syr.edu
login: anonymous
password: your_email_address
cd pub
via email...
mail askeric@ericir.syr.edu
(In your message ask for the topic you're interested in. A human
will answer you.)
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
via gopher...
ericir.syr.edu (port 70)
Empire Internet Schoolhouse
via gopher...
nysernet.org (port 70)
via telnet...
telnet nysernet.org
login: empire
(no password)
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) gopher server
via gopher...
gopher.uoregon.edu (port 70)
via telnet...
telnet gopher.uoregon.edu
login: gopher
(no password)
Once connected via either of these two methods, use the menu item
"Search Titles in This Gopher Server" and enter ISTE when asked
what to search for.
InterNIC gopher server
via gopher...
is.internic.net (port 70)
via telnet...
telnet is.internic.net
login: gopher
(no password)
KIDS Gopher, a KIDLINK service
via gopher...
kids.duq.edu (port 70)
via telnet...
telnet kids.duq.edu
login: gopher
(no password)
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
NASA Spacelink
via telnet...
telnet spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov
login: newuser
password: newuser
(Follow registration instructions on screen.)
To find information on the NASA Teacher Resource Center Network or
for a NASA Select television schedule, enter "g" for GO TO, then
enter either "TRC" or "NASA Select".
via FTP...
ftp spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov
National Science Foundation's (United States) Science and Technology
Information System (STIS)
via telnet...
telnet stis.nsf.gov
login: public
Follow instructions on screen.
via gopher...
stis.nsf.gov (port 70)
Office of Educational Research and Improvement (US Department of
Education) gopher server
via gopher...
gopher.ed.gov (port 70)
The OERI gopher server contains educational research and statistics,
as well as information about the United States Department of Education
and its programs.
PSGnet and RAINet gopher server
via telnet...
telnet gopher.psg.com
login: gopher
(no password)
via gopher...
gopher.psg.com (port 70)
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
------------
NEWS GROUPS:
------------
alt.education.distance
alt.kids-talk
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.sys.projects
misc.education
misc.education.language.english
misc.kids
misc.kids.computer
news.announce.newusers
pubnet.nixpub (where a list of open access Unix sites is often posted,
for those looking for access to Usenet News and email only)
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
-----------
NEWSLETTER:
-----------
NetTEACH NEWS
Published monthly from August to March and bi-monthly April/May and
June/July, NetTEACH NEWS is written for both the novice and the
experienced networking teacher.
Annual hardcopy subscription costs are:
US $22.00 for individuals in the US
US $25.00 for individuals in Canada
US $30.00 for individuals outside the US and Canada
US $30.00 for institutions
Annual ASCII electronic copy costs are:
US $15.00 for individuals
Add $5.00 to hardcopy costs to receive both ASCII and hardcopy.
Site licensing is available for public primary and secondary education
networks. Discounts are available for school district multiple
sub-scriptions.
For a subscription form, questions, or to submit materials, contact:
Kathy Rutkowski, Editor
Chaos Publications
13102 Weather Vane Way
Herndon, VA 22071
USA
Phone: 703-471-0593
EMail: info@netteach.chaos.com
--------------
ORGANIZATIONS:
--------------
AskERIC
ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources
Center for Science and Technology
Syracuse University
Syracuse, New York 13244-4100
USA
Phone: 315-443-9114
Fax: 315-443-5448
EMail: askeric@ericir.syr.edu
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
According to a recent electronic brochure, "The Educational
Resources Information Center (ERIC) is a federally-funded national
information system that provides access to an extensive body of
education-related literature. ERIC provides a variety of services
and products at all education levels."
Another portion of the electronic brochure states, "AskERIC is an
Internet-based question-answering service for teachers, library
media specialists, and administrators. Anyone involved with K-12
education can send an e-mail message to AskERIC. Drawing on the
extensive resources of the ERIC system, AskERIC staff will respond
with an answer within 48 working hours." Educators may have
questions about primary and secondary education, learning, teaching,
information technology, or educational administration which AskERIC
can answer. Parents AskERIC is a new service for parents looking
for information to better facilitate their children's developmental
and educational experiences. Use the email address listed 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
25 Clemens Street
Royal Leamington Spa
Warwickshire, CV31 2DP
Phone: +44-926-888333
Fax: +44-926-420204
EMail: t.holloway@warwick.ac.uk
The Chatback Trust is the organization which was originally
concerned primarily with school children with various types of
language disorder. Chatback International is the expansion of that
project onto the Internet and is concerned with the use of networks
to educate all children.
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
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
According to a recent brochure, "The Consortium for School
Networking is a membership organization of institutions formed to
further the development and use of computer network technology in
K-12 education." To join CoSN, request an application at the above
address. To contribute your ideas, lesson plans, projects, etc.,
for others to access over the Internet, send to email to:
ferdi@digital.cosn.org
European Schools Project
University of Amsterdam
CICT/SCO
Grote Bickerrsstraat 72
1013 KS 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
The European Schools Project is "a support system for secondary
schools to explore applications of educational telematics."
FidoNet
1151 SW Vermont Street
Portland, OR 97219
USA
Contact: Janet Murray
Phone: 503-280-5280
EMail: jmurray@psg.com
FidoNet is a dial-up, store-and-forward messaging system which takes
advantage of late night phone rates to send and receive email and
conferences.
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
FrEdMail Foundation
P.O. Box 243,
Bonita, CA 91908
USA
Contact: Al Rogers
Phone: 619-475-4852
EMail: arogers@bonita.cerf.fred.org
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: ed1@copenfund.igc.apc.org
According to Dr. Gragert, "The purpose of the I*EARN Network is to
create low-cost telecommunications models to demonstrate that
elementary and secondary students can make a meaningful contribution
to the health and welfare of people and the planet. We want to see
students go beyond simply being "pen-pals" to use telecommunications
in joint student projects as part of the educational process."
I*EARN works with international service and youth organizations to
add telecommunications to existing partnerships.
KIDLINK Society
4815 Saltrod
Norway
Phone: +47-370-31204
Fax: +47-370-27111
EMail: opresno@extern.uio.no
Contact: Odd de Presno
KIDLINK is the organization that runs the yearly KIDS projects,
KIDS-94, KIDS-95, etc. For information on getting files related to
KIDS-NN/KIDLINK, see "Electronic Mail Lists" in this section. For
access to the KIDS Gopher, see "Network Servers" in this section.
K12Net
1151 SW Vermont Street
Portland, OR 97219
USA
Phone: 503-280-5280
Contact: Janet Murray
EMail: jmurray@psg.com
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
K12Net is a collection of conferences devoted to curriculum,
language exchanges with native speakers, and classroom-to-classroom
projects designed by teachers in K-12 education. The conferences
are privately distributed among FidoNet-compatible bulletin board
systems on five continents and are also available as Usenet
Newsgroups in the hierarchy "k12." More information about K12Net is
available from gopher.psg.com.
via telnet...
telnet gopher.psg.com
login: gopher
via gopher...
gopher.psg.com (port 70)
NASA Central Operation of Resources for Educators (CORE)
Lorain County Joint Vocational School
15181 Route 58 South
Oberlin, OH 44074
USA
Phone: 216-774-1051, x293/294
Fax: 216-774-2144
For a copy of the video "Global Quest: The Internet in the
Classroom" released by the NASA NREN K-12 Initiative contact the
above address. The fee for the video 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 or by taping from NASA
Select television. For information on the NASA Teacher Resource
Center Network or on NASA Select, contact your nearest NASA facility
or log in to NASA Spacelink. (See NASA Spacelink in "Network
Servers".)
National Center for Education Statistics
555 New Jersey Ave N.W., R.410 C
Washington DC 20208-5651
USA
Phone: 202-219-1364
Contact: Jerry Malitz
EMail: ncesinfo@inet.ed.gov
Fax: 219-1728
For a copy of the video "Experience the Power: Network Technology
for Education" released by NCES contact the above address. If you
contact them via email to order a video be sure that you send your
mailing address.
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
InterNIC Information Services
General Atomics
P.O. Box 85608
San Diego, California 92186-9784
USA
Phone: 800-444-4345
619-455-4600
Fax: 619-455-3990
EMail: info@internic.net
The InterNIC is a (United States) National Science Foundation funded
group tasked with providing information services to the United
States research and education networking community. The Reference
Desk is in operation Monday through Friday, from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00
p.m. Pacific Time.
Internet Society
1895 Preston White Drive
Suite 100
Reston, Virginia 22091
USA
Phone: 703-648-9888
Fax: 703-620-0913
EMail: isoc@isoc.org
The Internet Society is an international membership organization
for individuals and organizations that support its goals of
promoting the use of the Internet:
A. To facilitate and support the technical evolution of the
Internet as a research and education infrastructure, and
to stimulate the involvement of the scientific community,
industry, government and others in the evolution of the
Internet;
B. To educate the scientific community, industry and the public
at large concerning the technology, use and application of
the Internet;
C. To promote educational applications of Internet technology
for the benefit of government, colleges and universities,
industry, and the public at large;
D. To provide a forum for exploration of new Internet
applications, and to stimulate collaboration among
organizations in their operational use of the global
Internet.
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
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
The RIPE NCC assists European Internet operators and refers
users to appropriate operators.
Services include:
-delegated registry for network and
Autonomous System numbers
-whois database at whois.ripe.net
-document store at ftp.ripe.net
(also accessible via gopher and wais)
-interactive information service
(via telnet at info.ripe.net)
Asia Pacific Network Information Center
c/o University of Tokyo, Computer Center
2-11-16 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113
Japan
Phone: +81-3-5684-7747
Fax: +81-3-5684-7256
EMail: hostmaster@apnic.net
The APNIC is a cooperative organization of national network
information centers in the Asia Pacific region operating under the
auspices of the Asia Pacific Coordinating Committee for
Intercontinental Research Networks. APNIC is tasked with providing
information and registration services to networking organizations
throughout the Asia and Pacific Rim regions.
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
10. References
[1] Malkin, G., and A. Marine, "FYI on Questions and Answers:
Answers to Commonly Asked 'New Internet User' Questions", FYI 4,
RFC 1325, Xylogics, SRI, May 1992.
[2] Krol, E., and E. Hoffman, "What is the Internet?" FYI 20, RFC
1462, University of Illinois, Merit Network, Inc., May 1993.
[3] "Restructuring Schools: A Systematic View" in Action Line, the
newsletter of the Maryland State Teachers Association, a National
Education Association Affiliate. R. Kuhn, Editor. No. 93-6.
June, 1993.
[4] Sivin, J. P. and E. R. Bialo (1992) "Ethical Uses of Information
Technologies in Education." Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of
Justice.
[5] Hoffman, E. and L. Jackson, "Introducing the Internet--A Short
Bibliography of Introductory Internetworking Reading for the
Network Novice", FYI 19, RFC 1463, Merit Network, Inc., NASA, May
1993.
11. Security Considerations
General security considerations are discussed in Section 6 of this
document.
12. Author's Address
Jennifer Sellers
NASA NREN
700 13th Street, NW
Suite 950
Washington, DC 20005
USA
Phone: 202-434-8954
EMail: sellers@quest.arc.nasa.gov
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APPENDIX A: EXAMPLES OF PROJECTS USING THE INTERNET
The following examples of projects using the Internet appeared on the
Kidsphere electronic mailing list during the 1992-93 school year.
The messages have been edited in the interest of space and because
many of the details about how to participate are dated, but the
information presented can give you a feel for the types and range of
projects that happen today.
=========================================
Example One, "Middle School Math Project"
=========================================
This is the official invitation to participate in "Puzzle Now!".
"Puzzle Now!" is an interdisciplinary project using educational
technology as a tool to integrate the curriculum. "Puzzle Now!"
provides teams of mathematics and language arts teachers and students
with thematic puzzle problems via VA.PEN.
PROJECT : Puzzle Now!
SUBJECT AREA : Mathematics/Language Arts
GRADE LEVEL : 6 - 8
DURATION : This project will consist of eight - one week
cycles.
PROJECT GOALS : -to increase student motivation for math
problem solving;
-to emphasize the importance of addressing
problems in a clear, concise, and logical
manner;
-to provide students with opportunities for
developing skills in written expression;
-to familiarize students with computer and
modem as tools for problem solving projects.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The puzzles presented in this project are no
mere entertainment. These puzzles will help
the student reason logically, develop thinking
skills, and will assist in the understanding of
many practical disciplines, such as geometry.
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IT IS VERY IMPORTANT to remember that getting
the correct answer isn't as important as
figuring out how to find it.
DO THE SOLUTIONS HAVE TO BE SUBMITTED IN A
PARTICULAR FASHION? Yes, the solution format
requires that the group/team/individual first
1) restate the puzzle/problem; 2) explain the
strategy, or strategies used in finding the
answer; 3) state the answer.
Your team/class may turn in only one solution.
That means you must work together to develop one
solution to be examined by the "Puzzlemeister".
==========================================
Example Two, "Poetry Contest, Grades 9-12"
==========================================
National Public Telecomputing Network
--
Academy One Project Announcement
FIRST ANNUAL INTERNET POETRY CONTEST
FOR SECONDARY STUDENTS GRADES 9-12
***FEATURED FORM: THE SONNET***
***First Place Award: $50.00***
***Second Place Award: $25.00***
***Honorable Mentions: $10.00***
The first annual Internet Poetry Contest invites entries from
students in grades 9-12 for original sonnets written within the last
3 years. The purpose of the contest is to encourage young creative
writers to practice the discipline needed to write in a particular
poetic form, in this case, the sonnet form. (The sonnet is defined
and examples are given below.) Sonnets may be submitted in any
recognized sonnet form including Petrarchan, Shakespearean, Miltonic,
or Spenserian.
Students submitting entries must include a form (given below)
certifying that each sonnet entered in the contest is original and
written within the last 3 years. The deadline for mailing entries is
April 30, 1993. Winners will be notified individually and winning
entries will also be announced via Academy I on the Internet.
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Judges for the contest are current or retired English instructors
throughout the United States.
==============================================
Example Three, "Tracking Monarch Butterflies"
==============================================
Our school has begun a study of monarchs using Nova's Animal
Pathfinders. After working through these lessons, which will give us
the necessary background information, we will design the format for
collecting the data on sighting monarchs. We will send information on
the format to any school who wishes to participate in the project.
Our fifth grade students will begin this project and we hope that
students from kindergarten through twelfth grade will get involved.
We hope that schools from south to north along the migratory flyways
will be interested in joining and collecting data about first
sightings and population counts. We still have not found the
lepidopterists who did the initial research but will keep looking.
Hope to hear from you soon.
=======================================
Example Four, "Simulated Space Mission"
=======================================
National Public Telecomputing Network
--
Academy One Program Announcement
SPECIAL EVENT: NESPUT 24-HOUR CENTENNIAL SPACE SHUTTLE
SIMULATED MISSION ON APRIL 27, 1993
SCHOOLS, TEACHERS, STUDENTS, SPACE ENTHUSIASTS:
The April 27 simulated and telecommunicated space shuttle mission is
a mostly real-time 24 hour mission involving numerous activities in
space. Your school could be involved for an entire 24 hour period or
for a much lesser amount of time (say just your school day or even a
few hours). During that 24 hour period, schools will be linked to
share information via telecommunications and a variety of activities
will be going on via telecommunications and in the classroom--most of
them created by the schools and students involved. The space shuttle
Centennial at University School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a real and
permanent simulator, will act as itself and use its mission control
area as Houston. Reports on the progress of our real student
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astronauts will be posted on the listserv and via the menus on NPTN
affiliate systems carrying Academy One. Your school can act as any
one of the following:
A second American shuttle.
A second Russian shuttle.
A weather reporting station for your area.
One of NASA's alternate landing sites.
A science station posing questions and problems for all
astronauts in simulated space.
An information station, posting interesting information of
interest about the space shuttle and the space program.
A graphics station, sending GIF files to other schools
(especially good if you have a scanner for your computer).
Any other type of space related station or activity you can
imagine.
==================================================
Example Five, "Equinox Experiment and Calculation"
==================================================
ATTENTION - MARCH 20, l993 IS THE EQUINOX
A WORLDWIDE SCIENCE AND MATH EXPERIMENT
ERATOSTHENES EXPERIMENT
Eratosthenes, a Greek geographer (about 276 to 194 B.C.), made a
surprisingly accurate estimate of the earth's circumference. In the
great library in Alexandria he read that a deep vertical well near
Syene, in southern Egypt, was entirely lit up by the sun at noon once
a year. Eratosthenes reasoned that at this time sun must be directly
overhead, with its rays shining directly into the well. In
Alexandria, almost due north of Syene, he knew that the sun was not
directly overhead at noon on the same day because a vertical object
cast a shadow. Eratosthenes could now measure the circumference of
the earth (sorry Columbus) by making two assumptions - that the earth
is round and that the sun's rays are essentially parallel. He set up
a vertical post at Alexandria and measured the angle of its shadow
when the well at Syene was completely sunlit. Eratosthenes knew from
geometry that the size of the measured angle equaled the size of the
angle at the earth's center between Syene and Alexandria. Knowing
also that the arc of an angle this size was 1/50 of a circle, and
that the distance between Syene and Alexandria was 5000 stadia, he
multiplied 5000 by 50 to find the earth's circumference. His result,
250,000 stadia (about 46,250 km) is quite close to modern
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
measurements. Investigating the Earth, AGI, l970, Chapter 3, p. 66.
The formula Eratosthenes used is:
D A d=distance between Syene and Alexandria
_____ = _____ A=360 degrees assumption of round earth
a=shadow angle of vertical stick
d a D=to be determined (circumference)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Are you interested in participating?
All you need to do is place a vertical stick (shaft) into the ground
at your school and when the sun reaches it's highest vertical assent
for the day (solar noon), measure the angle of the shadow of the
stick.
-\
- \
stick -> - \
- a \ a=shadow angle
- \
- \
ground___________________-______\_____________________________
By doing this experiment on the equinox we all know that the vertical
rays of the sun are directly over the equator, like the well at
Syene. Using a globe or an atlas the distance between your
location and the equator can be determined and the circum- ference
can be calculated.
*****************************************************************
But how about sharing your shadow angle measurement with others
around the real globe.
******************************************************************
Send your measurement of the shadow angle____________degrees
Send your location city ____________________________________
Send your location country _________________________________
Send your latitude _________________________________________
Send your longitude ________________________________________
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
We will compile all the data and send you a copy to use in your
classroom to compare the various locations and angles.
If you're interested send us your data. We will compile and return
it to you.
=====================================
Example Six, "Famous Black Americans"
=====================================
Project Name: Who Am I?: Famous Black Americans
Subject Area: Social Studies, Research Skills
Grade Level: Grades 4-12
Project Description: The goal of this project is to assist students
in increasing their knowledge of American
black history. Each week, on Monday Morning,
a set of three or four clues will be sent to
your account. The same will occur on
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings.
At any time, through the end of the day on
Friday, your students may send their answer
(the name of the famous American identified
by the clues) to the following online
address:
whoami@radford.vak12ed.edu
A class should send only one answer each
week. If two are sent, the sponsors will
assume that the first of the answers is the
one intended to be submitted.
The sponsor will collect all answers, compile
a listing of classes who send the correct
answers, and will forward this list to all
participants via email by early on the
following Monday morning. On that morning,
in addition, the sponsor will send all
classes a new problem.
This project lasts five weeks, with clues
each week being given for a different famous
person in American history.
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
Project Length: Five Weeks
Awards: Every Monday morning, participating classes
will receive an online message from the
sponsor congratulating those who have sent
correct answers during the previous week. At
the end of the five weeks, attractive
certificates will be awarded to all
participating classes (sent by way of the
Postal Service). In addition, classes which
have participated in each of the five weeks
will receive a separate style of certificate
for their school or class.
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APPENDIX B: HOW TO GET DOCUMENTS ELECTRONICALLY
The traditional way to access files available online on the Internet
is via a program based on the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Many
information sites have hosts that allow "anonymous" FTP, meaning you
don't need to already have an account on the host in order to access
the files it makes public. This appendix will describe obtaining
files via anonymous FTP and describe obtaining files via the Internet
Gopher program.
The online files sited in Suggested Reading can all be retrieved via
anonymous FTP. (Most can also be retrieved via Gopher.) In most
cases, when you see a reference to a file available for FTP, the
reference will give you both a computer hostname and a pathname. So,
for example, the ASCII text version of the EARN Resource Tool Guide
is on the host naic.nasa.gov in the /files/general_info directory as
earn-resource-tool-guide.txt.
Many online files are mirrored on more than one host. RFC files, for
example, are so popular that several hosts act as repositories for
them; so, when they are cited, rarely is a hostname given. To find
out all about getting RFCs and FYIs, send a message to rfc-
info@isi.edu and in the body of the message, type 'help:
ways_to_get_rfcs'. RFCs are available both via electronic mail and
via Anonymous FTP, as well as via many Gophers.
Anonymous FTP
Some of this information about transferring files based on text
from the access.guide file referenced in FYI 19 [5] and written by
Ellen Hoffman and Lenore Jackson.
If you are on a computer connected to the Internet and can use
FTP, you can access files online. If your VM/CMS, VAX/VMS, UNIX,
DOS, Macintosh, or other computer system has FTP capability, you
can probably use the sample commands as they are listed. If your
computer doesn't work using the sample commands, you may still
have FTP access. You will need to ask your system administrator
or local network consultant. If you don't have FTP, you may be
able to get files via electronic mail.
If you are using a UNIX machine, you can use FTP directly from a
system prompt. For other computers, there are commercial and
public domain programs that will allow you to use FTP. (For
example, there is a very easy-to-use shareware program called
"Fetch" for the Macintosh.)
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Once you establish that you have FTP access, you will need to send
a series of commands to reach the host computer with the file you
want, connect to the appropriate directory, and have the file
transferred to your computer. A typical FTP session is described
here, but not all software is exactly alike. If you have
problems, check your software's documentation ('man' page) or
contact your local help-desk.
This session uses the EARN Guide to Network Resource Tools in its
naic.nasa.gov home as an example file to be transferred.
Here's what you can do:
(1) Tell your computer what host you are trying to reach:
ftp naic.nasa.gov
(2) Log in to the computer with the username "anonymous". You
will be prompted for a password; most often it is preferred
that you use your complete email address as your password.
(3) Navigate through the directory to find the file you need. Two
useful commands for doing so are the one to change directories
('cd'), which you can use to step through more than one directory
at a time:
cd files/general_info
and the command which shows you the files and subdirectories
within a directory:
dir
(4) Give a command to have the file sent to your computer:
get earn-resource-tools.txt
(5) Quit FTP:
quit
RFC Repositories:
Following is a list of hosts that are primary repositories for
RFCs, and, for each host, the pathname to the directory that
houses these files:
- ds.internic.net rfc
- nis.nsf.net internet/documents/rfc
- nisc.jvnc.net rfc
- venera.isi.edu in-notes
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
- wuarchive.wustl.edu info/rfc
- src.doc.ic.ac.uk rfc
- ftp.concert.net /rfc
RFCs are in the file format you see in the Suggested Readings
section, e.g., rfc####.txt, with #### being the number of the RFC.
To retrieve an RFC, then, you would FTP to a host above, log in as
anonymous, cd to the directory noted, and retrieve the RFC you
want. The file ways_to_get_rfcs, mentioned above, explains which
sites make RFCs available for electronic mail retrieval, and
provides directions for doing so.
Remember that FYI documents, such as this one, are also RFCs, so
the information about RFCs applies to FYIs as well. You can
usually retrieve FYIs either by their RFC number, or by their FYI
number. FYI numbers are in the format fyi##.txt, where ## is the
number of the FYI.
Gopher
A relatively new method of viewing and retrieving information is
the Internet Gopher. A Gopher server presents information to a
users via a series of menus. By choosing menu items, the user is
led to files or to other services available on the Internet.
Gopher can also retrieve files for the user because it has an
interface to the File Transfer Protocol. So you can use Gopher to
obtain files rather than FTP. Once you have located a file you
want, you also have the option of mailing it electronically.
Several Gopher servers are listed in the Network Servers portion
of Section 9 "Resources and Contacts". The InterNIC gopher, for
example, is one that provides access to the RFCs.
Normally, the best way to access a Gopher server is by running a
Gopher client on your own host or network. However, if you do not
have that software, many Gophers are accessible via Telnet (see
the addresses in Section 9). To Telnet to a host, most often you
would give the command "telnet" and the hostname, for example:
telnet naic.nasa.gov.
Unlike FTP repositories, which are accessible over the network but
which you have to access one at a time, many Gophers are linked
together over the Internet. Therefore, if you have access to one
Gopher, you usually have access to hundreds more. This huge
network of gophers and the vast amount of information they serve
is referred to as "gopherspace". You can use a service within
Gopher called "Veronica" to search gopherspace to see if there is
more information out there of a particular type you are interested
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
in finding. From within Gopher, look for a menu item such as
"Search Gopherspace Using Veronica" to find out more information
about using the Veronica service.
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
APPENDIX C: 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 (RFC
1392), "Internet Users' Glossary". These definitions are largely
excerpted from that glossary. (See Section 8, "Suggested Reading",
above.)
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.
Cracker
A person who uses computer knowledge to attempt to gain access to
computer systems and/or maliciously damage those systems or data.
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
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
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 links many types of
information from all around the Internet and presents it to the
user in a series of menus. Because hundreds of Gopher servers
cooperate in providing access to information and services, the
user sees a single, uniform interface to information that actually
resides on different host computers. The Gopher interface is very
easy to use, and public domain versions of the clients and servers
are available.
Hacker
A person who delights in having an intimate understanding of the
internal workings of a system, computers and computer networks in
particular. The popular media has corrupted this term to give it
the pejorative connotation of a person who maliciously uses
computer knowledge to cause damage to computers and data. The
proper term for this type of person is "cracker".
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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
The IETF is a large, open community of network designers,
operators, vendors, and researchers whose 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 is a major source of protocol proposals and standards.
InterNIC
A Network Information Center (NIC), funded by the National Science
foundation, that provides information about the Internet. The
InterNIC is a team of three contractors, each of which focuses on
a particular network support task. The three tasks are:
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, 56Kbs is 56*1000=56,000 bits per second.
LAN (Local Area Network)
A data network intended to serve an area of only a few square
kilometers or less. Since such are networks relatively small they
can usually be directly controlled by the users and operate at
relatively high speeds (up to 100Mb/s [10 million bits per
second]) over inexpensive wiring.
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
continually exchanged between two computers (in the Internet,
generally between routers). A leased line is billed at the same
rate per month independent of how much the line is used and 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. In
the Internet, listservs are usually accessed as "listname@host";
for example, the list server for the hypothetical list
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
"newsreports@acme.org" would be called "listserv@acme.org".
Sending email to "newsreports@acme.org" causes the message to be
sent to all the list subscribers, while sending a message (to
subscribe or unsubscribe, for example) to "listserv@acme.org"
sends the message only to the list server. Not all mailing lists
use list servers to handle list administration duties.
Mailing Lists
A list of email addresses. Generally, a mailing list is used to
discuss certain set of topics, and different mailing lists discuss
different topics. A mailing list may be moderated, that is
messages sent to the list are actually sent to a moderator who
determines whether or not to send the messages on to everyone
else. Many mailing lists are maintained by a "listserv" (list
server) program that automatically handles operations such as
adding new people to the list. (See above.) In the Internet, for
those mailing lists maintained by a human, rather than by a
listserv, you can generally subscribe to a list by sending a mail
message to: "listname-REQUEST@host" and in the body of the message
enter a request to subscribe. To send messages to other
subscribers, you will then use the address "listname@host".
Modem (MODulator/DEModulator)
A device that converts the digital signals used by computers into
analog signals needed by voice telephone systems. Modems can be
"dial" or "leased line" type. Dial type modems are used on normal
telephone lines to call remote computers, and usually operate at
speeds between 120 to 1,920 characters per second.
Network Access Provider (Network 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".
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NIC (Network Information Center)
A central place where information about a network within the
Internet is maintained. Usually NICs are staffed by personnel who
answer user telephone calls and electronic mail, and provide
general network usage information and referrals, among other
possible tasks. Most network service providers also provide a NIC
for their users.
Port
TCP/IP assigns at least one address to a host computer, but
applications such as FTP must talk to a corresponding server
application on the host. The "port" is the way TCP/IP designates
the remote application. Most common Internet servers have
specific port numbers associated with them. For example, Telnet
uses port number 23. These are known as "well known ports" and
allow application programmers to write standard applications (such
as Telnet, FTP, etc.) that "know" where the corresponding server
is on a particular host.
PPP (Point to Point Protocol)
A protocol used to establish TCP/IP connections using serial lines
such as dial-up telephone lines. Similar to SLIP (see below), PPP
is a later standard that includes features such as demand dial-up,
compression, better flow control, etc.
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 (e.g.,
the order in which bits and bytes are sent across a wire) or
high-level exchanges between allocation programs (e.g., the way in
which 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.
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RFC (Request for Comments)
The document series, begun in 1969, which describes the Internet
suite of protocols and related experiments. Not all (in fact very
few) RFCs describe Internet standards, but all Internet standards
are written up as RFCs. The RFCs include the documentary record
of the Internet standards process.
Router
A computer which forwards traffic between networks. The
forwarding decision is based on network layer information and
routing tables, often constructed by routing protocols.
SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol)
A protocol used to establish TCP/IP connections using serial lines
such as dial-up telephone lines. Small computers, such as PCs and
Macintoshes, can use SLIP to dial up to servers, which then allow
the computer to act as a full Internet node. SLIP is generally
used at sites with a few users as a cheaper alternative than a
full Internet connection. SLIP is being replaced by PPP at many
sites.
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 communications
between hosts in the Internet. All of the service protocols, such
as FTP, Telnet, Gopher, use TCP/IP to transfer information.
Telnet
Telnet is the Internet standard protocol for remote terminal
connection service. The name "telnet" also is used to refer to
programs that allow interactive access to remote computers, as
well as the action of using said programs. For example, the
phrase "Telnet to host xyzzy." means to interactively log into
host "xyzzy" from some other host in the Internet.
Upload
To copy data from a local computer to a remote computer. The
opposite of download.
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RFC 1578 FYI Q/A - for Schools February 1994
Usenet News
An electronic bulletin board system created originally by the Unix
community and which is accessible via the Internet. Usenet News
forms a discussion forum accessible by millions of users in almost
every country in the world. Usenet News consists of thousands of
topics arranged in a heirarchical form. Major topics include
"comp" for computer topics, "rec" for recreational topics, "soc"
for social topics, "sci" for science topics, etc. Within the
major topics are subtopics, such as "rec.music.classical" for
classical music, or "sci.med.physics" for discussions relating to
the physics of medical science.
UUCP (Unix-to-Unix CoPy)
This was initially a program run under the UNIX operating system
that allowed one UNIX system to send files to another UNIX system
via dial-up phone lines. Today, the term is more commonly used to
describe the large international network which uses the UUCP
protocol to pass news and electronic mail.
Virus
A program which replicates itself on computer systems by
incorporating itself into other programs which are shared among
computer systems.
WAIS (Wide Area Information Server)
A distributed information service which offers simple natural
language input, indexed searching for fast retrieval, and a
"relevance feedback" mechanism which allows the results of initial
searches to influence future searches. Public domain
implementations are available.
WWW (World Wide Web)
A hypertext-based, distributed information system created by
researchers at CERN in Switzerland. Users may create, edit or
browse hypertext documents. The clients and servers are freely
available. The WWW servers are interconnected to allow a user to
traverse the Web from any starting point; in addition, many other
servers such as WAIS and Gopher have been incorporated into the
WWW servers.
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FYI on Questions and Answers - Answers to Commonly Asked 'Primary and Secondary School Internet User' Questions
RFC TOTAL SIZE: 113646 bytes
PUBLICATION DATE: Friday, February 18th, 1994
LEGAL RIGHTS: The IETF Trust (see BCP 78)
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