RFC 1578 (rfc1578) - Page 2 of 53
FYI on Questions and Answers - Answers to Commonly Asked "Primary and Secondary School Internet User" Questions
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
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
stream of feedback flowing. Extra special thanks go to the
remarkable Ms. April Marine of the NASA Network Applications and
Information Center for her contributions to the document, her expert
advice, and her unparalleled support.
Sellers