Kathy Schrock’s Guide * for Educators to the Internet

Presentation F Definition of the Internet F Approach to the Internet F History of the Internet F Hook it up! F Searching the Web & evaluation F Internet tools software F Curriculum integration F Creating your own home page

The Internet is a......distributed hypermedia network of networks

Distributed F Information on the Internet is located on many millions of computers F No one agency has jurisdiction of the Internet; everyone plays a part

Hypermedia F The Internet supports many different formats of information Ù Text files Ù Pictures Ù Photographs Ù Sound files Ù Video files

Network of Networks F Network : two or more computers hooked together F Network of networks : over 40,000 networks of computers all hooked together

The Internet is a... F Distributed F Hypermedia F Network of networks

How to Approach the Internet F Don’t get frustrated F Keep it simple F Give yourself time to explore F “Mess with it!” F Find a mentor to help F Look for personal interests first

History of the Internet F Started in 1969 by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) F The Department of Defense wanted a system that would still work if part of it were destroyed F In 1983, the research computers that were networked became ARPANET

History of the Internet F In 1986 the National Science Foundation took the initiative and ran the network backbone F In 1995, the NSF stepped out and commercial providers took over the Internet

Hook It Up! Things You Need... F Computer F Phone line F Modem (28.8 kps) F Service provider F Software

Computer Specs for Graphical Access to the Internet F IBM PC-compatible or Macintosh F 8mb RAM (16mb better) F DX66 or equivalent microprocessor F 250 mb+ hard drive F Sound card is optional, but nice F 28.8 kbps modem

Internet Access Providers F Commercial services (AOL, Prodigy, Compuserve) F Local access providers (ISP) F Call a local computer store for information on ISP’s

Things to Look for in a Provider F About $35 for start-up and $20 per month for unlimited Internet and access F 1 modem per 10 subscribers; toll-free number F Tech support and start-up disk supplied

Addresses F Username followed by symbol F Computer name and domain F Domains : net, org, edu, mil, gov, com UsernameComputer name & domain

URL: Uniform Resource Locator F “Address” of a file on the Internet F Contains type of protocol followed by the computer name, directory and file name   gopher://gopher.boombox.micro/  ftp:// wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/windows/psp3.zip 

The World Wide Web F A global network of information servers F Information may be in the form of text, audio, video, or animation F Many millions of sites containing documents with links to other documents F Fastest growing area of the Internet

Finding Information on the WWW Search Engines F Software programs that scan the contents of Web servers to create large indices of information F User can perform keyword searches of these indices; combining of terms F AltaVista, Lycos, Webcrawler, HotBot

Finding Information on the WWW Directories F Collections of resources compiled and organized by a person F May be searchable via keyword F May be general or subject-specific F Yahoo, Magellan, Lycos A2Z

Evaluating Information on the Net F Who wrote it? F When was it written? F Why was it written? F Is it biased? F Is it authentic? F Is the author an expert? F Is the page easy to use? F Is the page free from HTML errors? F Are the graphics useful? F Can you verify the information? F Is a bibliography included?

Internet Software Needed F TCP/IP Software F Dialer F Software F WWW Browser F Telnet Software F IRC (Chat) Software F FTP Software F Newsreader Software

TCP/IP Software F TCP/IP is the language of the Internet that allows unlike computers to “talk” Mac TCP included with System 7.5+ Available for System 7 Windows 3.1 : Trumpet Winsock Windows 95 : TCP/IP included

Dialer F A dialer is a piece of software that is configured to allow your computer to connect to a PPP or SLIP provider Mac PPP : shareware Windows 3.1 : Trumpet includes a dialer Windows 95 : Network dialer included

Electronic Mail Software F Allows the user to send and receive messages from other users or mailing lists F Should include an address book function F Common shareware mail programs include: * Eudora * Pegasus Mail * Netscape Mail

Positive Aspects of F Can easily send to one or many people F Can send mail any time of day or night F May increase students’ communication skills

World Wide Web Browser F Allows you to view WWW sites which contain text, pictures, and sound F Netscape vs. Internet Explorer vs. Mosaic F After installation, browsers must be configured for your machine F Easy to move back and forth between pages due to cache

Parts of a Browser Window  Menu  Tool Bar  URL Field  Document viewing area  Status Bar

Browser Configuration and Helper Applications F The browser can display text and certain formats of pictures F For other formats the browser needs to have “helper applications” configured Example: If you choose a sound file, you have to have told the browser what piece of software on your machine is to be run to play the file

Saving File to Disk F File-Save on browser menu F Choose whether you want to save as a HTML or text file F Choose location for saving F Does not save graphics, only text F To save graphics, position cursor and use right mouse button to “save this image as...”

Telnet Software F Telnet is the Internet protocol that allows you to directly “hook up” with a remote, text-based computer F Many library card catalogs are accessed via telnet F Less computing power is needed for the host computer if the user is accessing via telnet

IRC (Chat Software) F A method of talking (via typing) to a multitude of people at the same time F You join a “room” of your interest F For schools, appropriate use includes online simulations and prearranged, live discussions

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Software F A system that allows files to be transferred between machines on the Internet F These files include text and programs F Access is usually via “anonymous” login into large computer archives of files; best to know exact location of file

FTP’ing via Netscape

Newsreader Software F Used to read newsgroups which are discussion groups dedicated to specific topics; open forums F Accessed via a bulletin-board type of listing F You can post and read messages via an type interface

Common Newsgroup Hierarchies F alt F comp F k12 F misc F rec

Newsgroups via Netscape

Message Subscribed Newsgroups List

Use of the Internet in Schools F Teachers become facilitators of student independent, active learning F Teach students to determine whether the Internet is the most appropriate information source F Teach students to evaluate sites F Integrate the Internet into the curriculum via models such as WebQuests F Wonderful for time-sensitive information

Collaborative Projects F Keypals F Global classrooms F Electronic appearances F Electronic mentors F Impersonations F Information exchange F Electronic publishing F Database creation F TeleField Trips F Pooled data analysis F Information searches F Electronic process writing F Sequential creations F Parallel problem solving F Simulations F Social action projects c1994 Judi Harris. The Way of the Ferret. ISTE.

The following information taken from : Serim, Fermi & Melissa Koch. NetLearning : Why Teachers Use the Internet. CA : O’Reilly, ( )

The Internet is useful when your students need to know something that is... F not in their textbooks or library F based on data collected by the government F likely to require specialized knowledge F best understood from eyewitness accounts F fast-breaking news

The Internet is not useful for... F in-depth historical information F a quick overview or definition of a topic

The Internet is also good for : F collaborating on projects with students all over the world F finding and contacting experts F getting real-world experience in researching and evaluating information F publishing students’ projects and publications

The Internet is not a substitute for : F face-to-face interaction with other students and teachers F drawing, writing, building, planting, or any other type of hands-on activities

Authentic Assessment F Teachers need to clearly state goals F Teachers need to create meaningful activities F Students need time to think about how they are learning F Create a rubric to evaluate student work F Have students peer-evaluate others F Cycle of reflecting, posting, reviewing, and responding

HTML : Hypertext Markup Language F The standard set of codes used on the Internet to design and view World Wide Web pages. F These pages are basically plain text files with special codes inserted throughout to tell a computer’s web browsing software how the document should appear and behave on the screen.

THE END c1996 Kathy Schrock