FYI on Questions and Answers - Answers to Commonly Asked "Primary and Secondary School Internet User" Questions
RFC 1578

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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

Sellers                                                         [Page 1]
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