[1499] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: So what is the answer?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (jrugo@nic.near.net)
Fri Oct 11 10:14:22 1991
To: com-priv@psi.com
Date: Fri, 11 Oct 91 10:13:19 -0400
From: jrugo@nic.near.net
Gentle readers,
I'm beginning to think that I was wrong when I decided not to take that speed
reading class in high school. Particularly when I read some of the
non-productive messages that have been sent to this list regarding this topic.
An observation from someone who is trying to figure out if K-12 access to the
Internet makes sense in my home state, is that we have run into the "fear of
the unknown". A commonly acknowledged problem with the Internet is that there
isn't a good directory service available, a problem felt most acutely by the
new user. There is alot of work being done to address this issue, however,
most users today face the "Internet Easter egg hunt" when they start their
Internet experience. Those of us who have been using the network for some
number of years don't have a complete knowledge of the information or services
that is available "out there".
It may be, however, that there should be an effort on a national basis to help
the K-12 community understand what is there so that they can make informed
decisions about use of the network. I presume that school personnel make
informed choices about cable channels they make availble to the students, why
not about data resources? By the way, I think of this in a positive sense,
such as the list of K-12 schools participating in international languge
education through e-mail with foreign countries. Wouldn't a brokerage house be
a nice function for that example? (By the way, I would be pleased rather than
embarrassed to learn that this is already going on and I don't know about it.)
So, rather than blathering on about Joe Abernathy's character, can't we pick up
a lesson or two and act on them?
- John Rugo
NEARnet Project Manager
BBN Systems and Technologies
