This has been an interesting year. Districts are connecting to the Internet and surfing Cyberspace. Some of us are experimenting with our own "Gopher Holes" or Gopher Servers, World Wide Web Servers, Newsgroup readers, POPmail servers, and the like. However, one thread runs through the entire Internet connectivity issue: Training. While we as technologists can take responsibility for making the technical connection to the Internet, who is responsible for training? If we're hooking up schools and classrooms to the Internet, how will teachers and students deal with this new learning resource? What about access control and security issues?
Several districts are in the process of adopting policies regarding the use of computing equipment in general and the Internet in particular. As soon as these policies are officially adopted and available for publication, they will be summarized in The DataBus and placed in entirety on the Newport-Mesa Gopher Server, which can be accessed at gopher.nmusd.k12.ca.us or 198.188.8.6. If you use Mosaic or another World Wide Web client, you can connect to the NMNet Web Server, also at 198.188.8.6 (www.nmusd.k12.ca.us). The gopher server can be accessed directly from the NMNet Home Page.
Connectivity to the Internet is becomming easier. Look for turnkey solutions from Apple and other vendors that make creation of your own Internet domain much easier. Some solutions include the "functionality" of Unix (domain name service and mail handling) without requiring a Unix computer.
Our journey through Cyberspace and the Information Highway will continue in forthcoming issues. Happy surfing!