rfc1941.txt

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Network Working Group                                         J. Sellers
Request for Comments: 1941                   Sterling Software/NASA IITA
FYI: 22                                                     J. Robichaux
Obsoletes: 1578                                                 InterNIC
Category: Informational                                         May 1996


                 Frequently Asked Questions for Schools

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 document, produced by the Internet School
   Networking (ISN) group in the User Services Area of the Internet
   Engineering Task Force (IETF), is to act as an introduction to the
   Internet for faculty, administration, and other school personnel in
   primary and secondary schools. The intended audience is educators who
   are recently connected to the Internet, who are accessing the
   Internet by some means other than a direct connection, or who are
   just beginning to consider Internet access as a resource for their
   schools.  Although the Internet Engineering Task Force is an
   international organization and this paper will be valuable to
   educators in many countries, it is limited in focus to
   internetworking in the United States.

Table of Contents

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




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1.  Introduction

   As more and more schools begin using technology to achieve
   educational goals, access to the worldwide network of computer
   networks known as the Internet is expanding. Help for schools in the
   form of printed materials, electronic resources, and people is also
   expanding. The Internet School Networking (ISN) group of the Internet
   Engineering Task Force (IETF) remains committed to articulating the
   advantages of Internet connections for schools and providing
   solutions to the challenges schools face in getting connected. The
   FYI (For Your Information) series, which is a subset of the IETF-
   produced RFCs (Requests for Comments) is one way to achieve these
   goals. (See Appendix A, "Glossary of Terms Used in This Document" for
   further explanation of "FYI" and "RFC.")

   While the IETF and ISN are international groups, the authors of this
   document are experienced only in bringing the Internet to schools in
   the United States. We are aware that culture and the national economy
   effect how one views the issues surrounding school networking. (To
   give just one example, in the United States, educational reform is an
   important reason for schools to get connected to the Internet. Other
   countries may not have the same incentive to transform the teacher's
   role to more of a guide toward knowledge and less of a sole provider
   of information.) So, while this document may have a U.S. flavor, we
   feel that the focus will not prevent it from being useful to those in
   other countries!

   Some of the questions educators have about the Internet are of a more
   general nature, and for those we recommend reading FYI 4, "Answers to
   Commonly Asked 'New Internet User' Questions." (For information on
   how to get this and other IETF documents of interest to the general
   Internet user, See Appendix B, "Ways to Get RFCs.")

   Remember that the Internet is a changing environment. Although we
   have tried to include only the most stable of network services and
   contacts, you may still find that something listed is unavailable or
   has changed.  The positive side of this constant change is that you
   will discover much on your own, and some of what you discover will be
   new since the writing of this document.

   This is an update of an earlier document (FYI 22/RFC 1578, "Answers
   to Commonly Asked 'Primary and Secondary School Internet User'
   Questions"), and renders that document obsolete. If future updates
   are produced, the RFC number will change again, and the FYI number
   (22) will remain the same.






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2.  Acknowledgments

   In addition to Ronald Elliott, Klaus Fueller, Raymond Harder, Ellen
   Hoffman, William Manning, April Marine, Michael Newell, and Anthony
   Rutkowski, all of whom contributed to the first version of this
   document, we would like to thank Sepideh Boroumand, Sandy Dueck, Jeff
   Gong, Bill Grenoble, Pat Kaspar, Ed Klein, Yermo Lamers, Gary Malkin,
   April Marine, Michael Newell, and Jan Wee for their invaluable
   suggestions and contributions to this version. Thanks also to Nathan
   Hickson for checking each of the entries in the formidable Section 9.

3.  Questions About the Internet in an Educational Setting

3.1  What is the Internet?

   The Internet is a large and rapidly growing worldwide network
   comprised of smaller computer networks, all linked by a common
   protocol, that enables computers of different types to exchange
   information. The networks are owned by countless commercial,
   research, government, and education organizations and individuals.
   The Internet allows the almost 5 million computers [1] and countless
   users of the system to collaborate easily and quickly either in pairs
   or in groups. 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 used for education, research, professional learning,
   public service, and business.

   There is a confusing variety of types of Internet access. These types
   of access are distinguished either by the services one can use
   (telnet, Gopher, FTP or File Transfer Protocol, World Wide Web) or by
   the technology underlying the access (the protocol, or rules the
   computers must follow in order to communicate with one another). The
   Internet is most clearly defined by its technology, but other
   technologies now offer access to many of the same Internet services,
   most notably electronic mail and the World Wide Web. The most
   important question for a user today is probably not "Am I on the
   Internet?" but "Do I have access to the Internet services I want?"
   See Section 5, "Questions About Using Internet Services," for further
   discussion of telnet, Gopher, FTP, the World Wide Web, and electronic
   mail.

   While there is no official governing body of the Internet, the
   Internet Society serves as the international organization for
   Internet cooperation and coordination. See Section 9, "Resources and
   Contacts" for Internet Society contact information.





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   For a more complete basic introduction to the Internet, see FYI 20,
   "What is the Internet?" cited in Section 8, "Suggested Reading." For
   information on how to retrieve FYI documents produced by the Internet
   Engineering Task Force, see Appendix B, "Ways to Get RFCs."

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

   The Internet is an exciting classroom resource. It expands the
   classroom dramatically by delivering information, data, images, and
   even computer software from places otherwise impossible to reach, and
   it does this almost instantly. This access to up-to-the-minute
   information can make a student's education more relevant. Some of
   these materials are original sources which are too expensive or in
   other ways difficult for schools to own. Some information is news
   unfiltered by mass media, requiring students to critically assess its
   content and value.

   But the Internet is not strictly a place from which to gather
   something.  It is also a place to communicate, to make contact with
   people all over the world. The Internet brings into the classroom
   experts in every content area, new and old friends, and colleagues in
   education. And it allows students and teachers to leave the classroom
   by sharing ideas with people far away. The isolation inherent in the
   teaching profession is well-known among educators. By having Internet
   access to colleagues in other parts of the world, as well as to those
   who work outside of classrooms, educators are not as isolated.

   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. For guidance in finding schools with a
   presence on the Internet, see Section 9, "Resources and Contacts."

   Use of the Internet shifts focus away from a teacher-as-expert model
   and toward one of shared responsibility for learning, making it a
   vital part of school reform. Many reform efforts attempt 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 a focus on content and toward a focus on concepts
   [2]. The Internet can play an integral part in helping to achieve
   these shifts, since it is well-suited for use as a project resource.
   Information on the Internet, as in the rest of the world outside the
   classroom, is not divided into separate disciplines such as geometry,
   writing, geography, or painting.

   As a hands-on classroom tool, the use of the Internet encourages the
   kind of independence and autonomy that many educators agree is
   important to the learning process. Internet use itself can also be a



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   motivator for students. Additionally, 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.

   There are a number of resources you can use to convince others of the
   benefits of the Internet in the classroom. The NASA IITA (National
   Aeronautics and Space Administration Information Infrastructure
   Technology and Applications) K-12 Internet Initiative has produced an
   11-minute video describing the benefits to schools in using the
   Internet.  Its title is "Global Quest: The Internet in the
   Classroom." Another video appropriate for a mixed audience of
   stakeholders is "Experience the Power: Network Technology for
   Education," produced by the National Center for Education Statistics
   in the U.S. Department of Education. Several articles appearing in
   various periodicals make a strong case for using the Internet in the
   classroom. A particularly good one by Al Rogers of the Global
   SchoolNet Foundation is called, "Global Literacy in a Gutenberg
   Culture." Student essays can also give compelling testimony.  For
   information on the Rogers article, see Section 8, "Suggested
   Reading." Some student essays can be found on NASA's Quest server
   listed in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts," as can information on
   the videos.

3.3  Will using the Internet replace teachers?

   Just as textbooks, periodicals, videos, guest speakers, and field
   trips are often used to support a curriculum, the Internet can be
   used as a tool for teaching and learning. This does not mean that it
   must be the sole instructional method in a classroom. Teachers will