CHAPTER 2 Communications, Networks, the Internet, and the World Wide Web

What is Communications?  It is a process in which two or more computers or devices transfer data, instructions, and information.

Three Components of a Communications System  Two computers, one to send and one to receive data  Communications devices that send and receive data  A communications channel over which data is sent

How do networks work in school? A school network server connects all of the computers located within a school. A server manages the resources on a network and provides a centralized storage area.

Why do schools use networks?  To share hardware and software resources  To enable communications among schools and other organizations  To connect students and teachers to the internet

Computers and other digital devices connected to the Internet work together to transfer data around the world. Step 3: At the destination, the packets are reassembled into the original message. senderrouter recipient Step 1: Data is divided into small pieces, called packets. Step 2: Packets travel over the Internet via routers.

It’s All About Connections. Data sent over the Internet travels over networks and communications lines owned and operated by many companies. You can connect to these networks in one of several ways. -An Internet service provider -An online service provider, often using a modem to establish connection -Schools and businesses provide Internet by connecting their own network to an ISP. -Some school districts and states provide Internet services for teachers and admin so they can access from their homes.

World Wide Web

Web & Internet Not the Same!  The WWW is one of the many services available on the Internet.  Came into existence in the early 1990s.  Now is the most widely used service on the Internet.  Consists of a worldwide collection of electronic documents that have built-in hyperlinks to other related documents.  These links allow users to navigate quickly from one Web page to another.

Address box Web page displayed after Web address entered

Link between Web documents  A Web page is a hypertext or hypermedia document residing on an Internet computer. Hypertext

Hypermedia - Hypermedia document Basically the same as Hypertext, but contains links not only to other pieces of text, but also to other forms of media – graphics, videos, or sound %20Web%20Page%20videos

The use of Web browser software Web pages are viewed by a software called a Web browser. A Web browser is a program that interprets HTML and displays Web pages and enables you to link to other Web pages and Web sites. A Smartphone uses a special type of browser, called a microbrowser, which is designed for their small screens and limited computing power.

The first Web browsers used only text commands and displayed only text-based documents. In 1993, Marc Andreessen, created a graphical Web browser called Mosaic. Mosaic displayed documents that included graphics and used a graphical interface. Most browsers utilize their own Web page as the default home page. Continued…

Many current Web browsers support tabbed browsing, where the top of the browser displays a tab for each Web page you open. Continued…

How to use a Web search tool to find information Many websites provide search tools to help you locate specific information. Search tools enable users to locate information found at Web sites all over the world. Two basic types of search tools are search engines and subject directories. A search engine is a specific type of search tool that finds Web sites, Web pages, and Internet files.

A subject directory is a type of search tool that allows users to navigate to areas of interest without having to enter keywords. Subject directories are usually organized in categories such as education, sports, entertainment, or business. Continued…

Multimedia products available on the Web Some of the more exciting Web developments involve multimedia. Multimedia is the combination of graphics, animation, audio, video, and virtual reality. Incorporating multimedia to a web page makes it more entertaining. Many web pages use colorful graphical designs and images to convey messages.

Two common file formats for graphical images found on the web are JPEG and GIF. Most current operating systems contain a program, called a player, that can play audio files on your computer. Some of the popular players are Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, and iTunes. More advanced Web audio applications use streaming audio. Streaming is the process of transferring data in a continuous and even flow. Continued…

Streaming video is creating new possibilities for teaching and learning and is having an impact on today’s generation. Virtual reality is the stimulation of a real or imagined environment that appears as a three-dimensional space. Using special VR software, a web developer can create an entire 3-D site. Streaming audio enables you to listen to the sound file as it downloads to your computer. Continued…

Educational implications of the Internet and the World Wide Web  Not only does the Internet provide access to extensive text and multimedia it also allows teachers and students to reach out to other teachers and students all over the world, with projects like ePALS

ePALS  ePALS Classroom Exchange is a project created to help students get a first hand look at other cultures and languages without ever leaving the classroom. ePALS is available for any grade in any country.

Different ways to connect to the Internet and the World Wide Web  In the technology world we live in today there are many different ways to connect to the Internet or World Wide Web. A popular way these days is to log on through your cell phone through your cell provider. But what about when we are in class or at home…

Internet at Home and School  While at school most teachers and students simply log on through the school provided network, but at home they use CATV. CATV is Internet that uses a high-speed cable modem that sends and receives data over the cable television network. Many home users then set up a Wi-Fi hot spot in their home using a simple wireless router.

Benefits of Web 2.0  Web 2.0 or participatory web has many pros and cons which include being able to modify web pages to personalize the web site content.

WEB 2.0  Web 2.0 which are also called participatory web allows users to personalize web pages like pbworks.com to post lesson plans online for students and parents to see.