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3.4 Will this technology replace books? There is room in any school for all kinds of materials and resources. Books and other print materials will certainly continue to be important. Internet resources have the advantage of tying together information from all over the globe, making them useful research tools. As mentioned before, they can also provide up-to-the-minute information and are therefore particularly relevant. In addition, you may be able to engage an expert in a dialog that clarifies or updates what you find in published materials.Sellers & Robichaux Informational [Page 5]RFC 1941 Frequently Asked Questions for Schools May 1996 One factor to consider is that much of the material published on the Internet lacks the authority imputed by an established publishing house or a reputable author, and may therefore be viewed as less reliable than books. For example, an encyclopedia or almanac found in a school library might reasonably be accepted as valid without question, while a source found on the Internet may require a more critical look. However, lack of authority is not always a negative. Reading an account of the fall of the Berlin Wall by a student in the local region the day it happened can be valuable even if the student is not a reputable author. Moreover, while it's true that with Internet materials it becomes increasingly important to evaluate where they came from, one of the hallmarks of a good education is the ability to assess information critically, whether the source be print, television, or some other media.3.5 How can use of the Internet be integrated into the existing curriculum? This is a key question. In order for the Internet to be used successfully in schools, it must be employed as a tool to teach content and to reach educational goals that have already been established. It cannot be seen as an end in itself. Individual teachers will first need to become familiar enough with the Internet to know how to do at least two things: find information on topics they consider important and locate people with like educational goals. Sections 5 and 6, "Questions About Using Internet Services" and "Questions About Classroom Resources, Projects, and Collaboration" will give you some ideas about how to begin. Once they are familiar with how to find content on the Internet, most teachers can decide how to use Internet resources to help their students meet goals. For example, science teachers often teach about hurricanes and other weather phenomena in the normal course of instruction. With Internet access they can use information and satellite data pertaining to the most recent storm to make their points, rather than outdated examples from textbooks. When teachers become familiar with finding other people on the Internet, some of them already grouped into network "communities" of interest, they can gain experience in using the Internet from educators who have been using it longer; they can join existing projects, contribute to the evolution of proposed projects, and propose their own projects; and they can ask for and give help to solve problems in the classroom ranging from the content they teach, to addressing students as individuals, to mastering effective discipline.Sellers & Robichaux Informational [Page 6]RFC 1941 Frequently Asked Questions for Schools May 1996 Internet access supports project-based learning. A teacher in an individual classroom can use the data and information available on the Internet as a resource for classroom projects, and there are also a variety of projects which take place over the Internet in more than one classroom at a time. A project may be initiated by any educator with an idea. A popular example of an educator-initiated project is one which requires data to be collected from diverse sites around the world or at least around the country. For example, together students in various locations have tracked butterfly and bird migrations, compared bodies of water, and measured the north-south circumference of the Earth. Various organizations also run projects in which schools can participate. Among the many groups which have invited schools to participate in projects with a focus on a specific topic are the Global SchoolNet Foundation, The European Schools Project, the International Educational and Research Network (I*EARN), and groups associated with such federal agencies as the Department of Energy, the United States Geological Survey, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Internet can also be used for peer review of student materials; as a medium for publishing student newspapers, art exhibits, and science fairs; and in a global email pen-pal program for the discussion of classroom topics. It cannot be stressed enough that the key factor these Internet uses have in common is that they are supporting classroom curriculum, not defining it. Learning about the Internet and how to use it is an important goal for any school's Internet program, but in the classroom, the message needs to be emphasized over the medium. There are several sources of material for discussing curriculum infusion, including mailing lists, World Wide Web sites, and archives of sample lesson plans. Most of the mail lists, Internet computers, and organizations in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts," address infusion of technology into the curriculum. See also Appendix C, "Examples of Educational Projects Using the Internet."4. Questions About Getting the Internet into the School4.1 How much does it cost to connect to the Internet, and what kind of equipment does my school need to support the Internet connection? 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 whatSellers & Robichaux Informational [Page 7]RFC 1941 Frequently Asked Questions for Schools May 1996 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), Internet access providers, or technology consultants. See also Question 4.6. To give you an idea of possible cost and equipment needs, think of four groups of Internet users. We will call them basic individual users, advanced individual users, school networks, and school district networks. How you approach acquiring service depends on which category you feel best describes your needs. This discussion is based on experiences in the United States. (For more information on the Internet services you'll be reading about in this section, see Section 5, "Questions About Using Internet Services.") Basic users are individuals who want to access common Internet services such as the World Wide Web, Gopher, and email. There are two types of basic users: those who plan to be online for a few hours per week, and those who plan to be online for many hours per day. Basic individual users who require access to common Internet services such as Web pages, FTP sites, and email for only a few hours per week may be best served by one of the nationwide online services such as America Online, CompuServe, or Prodigy. These services have the advantage of providing the user with a simple setup and easy, graphics-based access screens which hide the complex commands required by some Internet services. They also provide value-added services not available via the general Internet, such as access to news magazines and encyclopedias. Hardware required is generally a standard Windows-based PC or Macintosh and a 14.4 kilobits per second (Kbs) or higher modem. At the time of this writing, prices typically run around $10 per month for the first 5 hours of connect time, and $2-4 per hour thereafter. Basic individual users who access common Internet services for many hours per day should consider a "shell" account from a local Internet Service Provider (ISP). Shell accounts generally provide access to a Unix computer which is connected to the Internet, so those choosing this option should be prepared to learn a few Unix commands. Shell account users will get all the standard Internet services but at a cheaper rate, generally in the $30 per month range for 6 hours per day access plus $1-2 per hour for extra hours. Most shell account vendors do not provide nationwide access, and shell accounts do not have graphical user interfaces, so you cannot use Web browsers such as Netscape and Mosaic. While you may be able to use Lynx, a text- based browser, some ISPs do not install it on their computer servers.Sellers & Robichaux Informational [Page 8]RFC 1941 Frequently Asked Questions for Schools May 1996 Many FreeNets also offer shell account access gratis, but they may not be able to offer much support. In the United States, there are a number of statewide 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 basic user accounts to educators and/or students, contact the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) or consult the document "Getting US Educators Online" by Linda Conrad, listed in Section 8, "Suggested Reading." Advanced individual users are those who want graphical user interfaces to Internet services and who may want to use their computers to offer services to other Internet users. For example, they may want to create Web pages for others to access or put files online for others to retrieve. If you are an advanced user, you might consider getting a Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) or Point to Point Protocol (PPP) account from an Internet Service Provider. The interface is similar to that of nationwide online services available to basic users, but the performance is better and the cost is less for someone who wants to use the service for more than just a few hours per week. Setting up a SLIP or PPP account requires configuration and installation of Internet and SLIP/PPP software. Some ISPs only provide the software, some will install the software for you, and some preconfigure the software and send it on disk, with instructions to the user, via postal mail. Again, hardware required is generally a standard Windows-based PC or Macintosh and a 14.4 Kbs or higher modem. Costs are generally comparable to basic shell accounts, but for 24-hour connections expect to pay $100 or more per month. If in your school you plan to have more than a few individual Internet users, you will need to consider a network with a high-speed dedicated line connected to the Internet. This school network is probably a small- or medium-sized network in a single building or a very few geographically close buildings. It may include only one or several LANs. Most high speed connectivity is provided through a dedicated leased line, which is a permanent connection between two points. This allows you to have a high quality permanent Internet connection at all times. Most leased lines are provided by a telephone company, a cable television company, or a private network provider and cost $200 per month or more. Typically the connection from your LAN or LANs is a digital leased line with a Channel Service Unit/Data Service Unit (CSU/DSU) which costs between $600 and $1000. Less frequently, the connection is an analog leased line with a modem which costs betweenSellers & Robichaux Informational [Page 9]RFC 1941 Frequently Asked Questions for Schools May 1996 $200 and $800. You will also need a router which costs roughly $1500. This is a substantially more difficult setup to manage. After you have determined the ways in which you believe you will use Internet access, you should contact several ISPs in your area and compare prices and services. School district networks are even more complex. If you have several locations which require connectivity, you should contact several ISPs and get bids for the service. The ISP world is changing very rapidly, especially at the low end. At the time of the first edition of this document, local ISPs were rare, small, and fairly expensive. At the time of this writing ISPs abound, offering a wide variety of services at reasonable prices. Additionally, several groups are working on low-cost solutions to school networking. Subscribe to the mail lists in Section 9, "Resources and Contacts," to keep abreast of new developments. "Getting US Educators Online" and "Connecting to the Internet: An O'Reilly Buyer's Guide" by Susan Estrada are both listed in Section
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