This paper was published on 18 March 1996 and is still in its original form.
Updates of this document may be found at: http://somerset.qld.edu.au/billspages/somenweb96.html and the original '95 version at http://somerset.qld.edu.au/billspages/somenweb95.html
Silicon et al based: The Network I support consists of about 150 computers spread throughout the campus, 90 in three secondary computer labs, 1 or 2 in all classes from pre school to year 7. Three machines the library and many in staff offices and work areas. The majority of computers range from Mac Pluses to Power Macs, one laboratory has Dos and Windows machines as does the library and a separate research area. The system is served by one Netware and two AppleShare servers with networked compact disc players and five laser printers. Other systems include the Library (Pick) system and Accounts (DG) which run separately with dumb serial terminals and no networking. The bookshop has a 3 workstation Netware Lite system and the new engineering science lab has a Windows NT server and 12 pentium workstations. The fastest networking we have is thin ethernet.
Our internet connection is a permanent ISDN link via a local service provider Onthenet who are helpful and knowledgeable. We have 5 dial in lines 1 for AppleTalk remote access, 1 for PCAnywhere and 4 for ppp dial in ... I know that adds up to 6, but the PCanywhere service is being phased out. At the moment we do not have a web server on site, but I have tested a Linux and a Macintosh solution and have ordered a Macintosh web and file server.
Our web services will be edited by staff
moving documents around on the Macintosh server, at the moment I accept, files,
convert them to HTML and mount them, this is not an onerous duty.
HomeLink via the
internet uses Farallon's Timbuktu Pro software to
enable remote control of Macs and Windows machines on our network via TCP/IP,
Obviously there need to be safeguards here for access, copyright and to protect the
integrity of the machines. The access security is provided by the need for a user name
and password, regular password changes and a usage log. Copyright by restrictions
on file copying and usual network security. Maintaining the integrity of the machines
has been adequately established using an auto reboot system extension and MacPrefect
software on Macs and commands in the Progman.ini and control.ini files on the Windows
machines.
We offer staff free access to HomeLink and the internet via our four
dial in lines which are accessed via one number. We could take the next step and
become a service provider for our school community, but that "we", is "I" and I don't
have the time to run a monitoring, billing and guaranteed service: More
pointedly it is literally not our business to be an internet service provider rather
an Education Service Provider, so such we will be, using the
internet to do it.
Software licensing issues
have been adequately resolved in most cases during our past experience with HomeLink,
most vendors are developing policies on remote access, some throw the problem in the
too hard basket and some need to be guided away from initial knee jerk reactions.
Fortunately there is a distinct move towards maturity, another legacy of the advent of
the web. There is a lot of software around and we can afford not to use specific
titles if the licensing is not suitable for our needs. With remote control rather than
remote access, the issue is a fair bit clearer as the software is in the RAM of the
machine at school, only the screen display is transported off campus.
I hope that this year I will be able to add some variety to our web presence. The problem
is that although staff are using the web they are not contributing to it. Last year I
designed and ran courses on browsing and authoring, these were poorly attended by
staff, most disappointing. I am hoping that my plan for delegation of
responsibilities for the web pages will be adapted and implemented. A strong push for
staff web awareness comes from the students who are using the internet as a research
and resource for their work. Our own web presence is the first stage
in developing a Queensland curriculum resource on the web ,
plenty of information is out there but it is not organised with respect to the needs
of Queensland students. There is a huge amount of curriculum specific information
within schools: policies, methods, philosophies, research and actual classroom stuff.
The provision of this education service is a project of a consortium of five
schools: The Southport School, St. Hildas, All Saints Anglican School, Trinity
Lutheran College and ourselves. The first stage has been to get each of us networked,
onto the net. The second stage, which needs a bit of a push right now, is to produce
a web index and eventually provide a dedicated manager for the system, I think the
manager is essential as committees are okay for forming a consensus but the best thing
they actually do... is lunch. The most generally valuable long term goal of this
coherent educational resource could be to provide a forum for sponsoring students work
and experiences and links with the world. I think ultimately education along with
society will be literally global and that it should be our role to help facilitate
this.
Student access to the web if free and unrestricted. Our policy on
censorship is practised and tested: We are ambivalent about the ethics of filtering
out sites, nor is it of any practical value since there are so many home computers
accessing the internet. Mostly, we wish to remove the link between the messenger and
the message. It is not the technology or the access which is the problem, it is
certain content. In short we do not differentiate between the bringing of a naughty
thing to school via the internet or a school bag. On the other hand if we were to
claim that we monitored traffic and failed in perhaps some unforeseen way to do so,
then we may be legally liable (It has happened, to Prodigy services, a large communications
network).
Girls use the web and computers less than boys. There is a lot of
variety in the usage by students in general, from none to manic. I note that girls
don't generally play with the computers, their usage tends to be more purposeful than
boys, yet there are about the same number of "purposeful" boy users as girls. Everyone
has the opportunity to use the information system. Personally I do not subscribe to
"affirmative action", positive discrimination of one group over the other, means
negative discrimination of the other over the one. I would advise the purveyors of
such rhetoric as "the end justifies the means" to take a long hard look at history. Our
clients have been born and grown in a society where there is a fundamental acceptance
of the principal of equality. On the issue of isolation from the real world due to
manic use of computers, children are wont to be consumed by fads as are adults,
football is a good example of a socially encouraged mania. "Computer mania" is rarely
permanent and may actually lead to discovery of talent or a career. I am dubious of
the term "real world", it is a personal construct of ones experience, peer group,
hopes and dreams. From my perspective the information revolution is sweeping like a
tidal wave over society, those who don't surf it are in my opinion failing to live in
the real world and it is they who will find their skills
less relevant.
HomeLink has changed so that it is accessed exclusively from
the internet. This change is due to increasing usage and the the high profile advent
of the World Wide Web in society and the rather low cost for service. It is no longer
an issue of expense or expertise that precludes families from getting onto the web.
Nearly everyone has an adequate home computer, modems and internet offers are being
included as standard features of computer packages and are already becoming a delete
option as CD players have become. So I expect that families will buy an internet
account and encourage them to do so. We can offer much more access via this method
than by providing our own modem bank. Policy and Practice
The policy regarding our web
presence is to delegate responsibility for the pages to those responsible for the
information.