[1234] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
K-12 Networking
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Janet Murray)
Wed Aug 28 00:14:22 1991
Date: Tue, 27 Aug 91 16:40:52 PDT
From: Janet.Murray@f23.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Janet Murray)
To: com-priv@psi.com
Hi, Bill -
In response to your inquiry:
BG>From: bill@tuatara.uofs.edu (Bill Gunshannon)
BG>no one looking at how to provide that last piece of the link at a
BG>price that
BG>small schools (like elementary schools) can afford??
The Consortium for School Networking was established
specifically to address the issue of K-12 teleconnectivity.
As a founder and the West Coast hub of K12-Net (a _very_
cheap alternative), I was invited to attend a meeting
in Austin, Texas, last week, which focused on a K-12
Users' Interface. Statewide projects in California, Texas,
and Virginia provide access to the Internet for K-12
educators and students.
K12-Net, on the other hand, is a "network" of volunteers
who run (generally) FidoNet bulletin board systems. In
less than a year, it has spread to more than 150 systems
in Australia, Hawaii, throughout North America, northern
Europe, and the USSR. The K12 "echoes" (conference areas)
are also available as USENET newsgroups, and are being
picked up by TENET (the Texas Education Network), Cleveland
FREENet, FrEdMail, and a number of other universities.
The software to run a K12-Net bulletin board is usually
either public domain or low cost shareware, and online
access is available through virtually any microcomputer
equipped with a modem. Through the USENET connection,
elementary school students can share information with a
broad base of users.
K12-Net conferences are divided into curricular areas
(such as math, science, social studies, health, etc.),
foreign languages (French, German, Spanish, Russian),
special interest groups (Special Education, Talented
and Gifted), "chat" areas by age level, and projects
designed for classroom-to-classroom exchanges on a short
term basis. As USENET newsgroups, they are available in
the hierarchy k12.*
BG>Is anyone else concerned about this, or am I al alone (as
BG>usual)??
We're interested; we're proactive; and you're not alone!
For more info:
Janet Murray, Librarian
Wilson High School
1151 S.W. Vermont St.
Portland, OR 97219
(503) 280-5280 x450
System Operator, HI TECH TOOLS for Librarians
FidoNet 1:105/23
jmurray@psg.com
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Internet: Janet.Murray@f23.n105.z1.fidonet.org
