The SchoolNet Project Karen Kostaszek wcscses3@ccs.carleton.ca aa165@freenet.carleton.ca Thursday, August 19, 1993 If you are really interested in SchoolNet, you can subscribe to the Schoolnet listserver by sending an e-mail to: listserver@nstn.ns.ca In the text of the message, type: subscribe schoolnet yourname When you want to post a message to the list, send e-mail to: schoolnet@nstn.ns.ca Also, we have set up a SchoolNet FTP site. You can FTP to alfred.ccs.carleton.ca , log in as anonymous, and use your internet account for a password. Files are located in the pub/schoolnet directory. What are the Aims and Objectives of the SchoolNet Pilot Project? SchoolNet's objective is to enhance science and technology learning opportunities and achievements by providing electronic connectivity to elementary and secondary schools across Canada and by making national and international education resources available. SchoolNet aims to interconnect over 300 information technology intensive schools during its 1993-94 start-up year. What Resources will be Available to the Students? Through SchoolNet, students and teachers will have access to the following services and resources: x user's guide to the 100 best Internet science and technology resources to support classroom learning; x an access and training manual that will assist teachers in getting connected electronically to the various SchoolNet access points, as well as how to use the various networking functions, such as sending e-mail, participating in newsgroups and using computer teleconferencing; x a white pages directory of e-mail addresses for all SchoolNet participants available in both hard copy and electronic copy format; x databases of software, educational resources, research work/data, worldwide Internet e-mail addresses and Internet manuals/guides; x electronic discussion groups for teachers/students; x a career selection guide produced by the Minister of State for Youth and by Public Affairs Branch of Employment and Immigration Canada; x connections to libraries worldwide; x a database of over 350 scientists, engineers, technicians and technologists willing to interact with classrooms through e-mail from around the world; x simultaneous networking projects designed and managed by participating teachers; x access to a wealth of government information; x national press classroom edition newsfeeds; and x on-line support and troubleshooting. Teachers and students will also be able to access on-line support for SchoolNet information, or call a 1-800 hot-line number. How are the Two Official Languages Handled? The selection of schools for the SchoolNet pilot project has been made with a view towards ensuring a fair representation by French, English and immersion schools across Canada. All SchoolNet material produced by the federal government will be available in both official languages. Internet resources, which may be accessed through SchoolNet, will be available to schools in the language in which they have been electronically published. Who Does What? SchoolNet is a joint endeavour of Industry and Science Canada, provincial/territorial ministries of education, the participating schools, Canadian universities and colleges, CA*net Networking Inc. and CANARIE Inc. Firms in Canada's telecommunications, information technology and publishing industries are also contributing to SchoolNet. These include Stentor, Sun Microsystems of Canada Inc., Apple Canada, The Globe and Mail and Southam News. The selection of schools chosen to participate in the SchoolNet pilot project has been coordinated by selection committees involving provincial/territorial ministries of education and other interested parties. The respective committees have been responsible for: x identifying potential SchoolNet applicants; x submitting SchoolNet application forms to these schools and notifying the schools that will participate in SchoolNet during the 1993-94 school year; and x identifying the projects which the participating schools will provide to SchoolNet and providing a project moderator. An Advisory Board representing broad stakeholder interest will be established in support of the SchoolNet project. The Advisory Board will: x provide operational and strategic direction and guidance for the SchoolNet pilot project throughout 1993-94 and beyond; x consider the strategic plan for the ongoing development of SchoolNet as a cooperative federal, provincial and territorial educational and industrial endeavour; x facilitate partnerships between SchoolNet and other key groups involved and/or interested in educational networking; and x guide the evaluation of and improvements to the project. The FreeNet Science and Engineering Consulting Group has been responsible for developing the necessary "start-up" services, manuals and projects that are required for the SchoolNet initiative. The goal of these efforts is to ensure that first-time users, which includes both students and teachers, will learn about Internet and it's vast resources and potentials in a non-threatening, user-friendly environment. The five key areas of work have included: x compilation of the 100 best science, engineering and technology related resources currently available on the Internet and FreeNets; x identifying and inviting over 350 scientists and engineers from around the world to Participate in SchoolNet as Electronic Innovators; x reviewing the feasibility of potential projects for SchoolNet as well preparing a complete compilation of all projects and project leaders; x ensuring all participating SchoolNet schools will be able to access and login to the Internet, as well as accessing the various functions and applications; and x stimulating interest in the use of Internet to first-time users by implementing several tried and tested services. The FreeNet Science and Engineering Consulting Group will continue to be responsible for the technical management, development and support of SchoolNet. Corporate support for the SchoolNet pilot project will include: x Canada's telephone companies, as represented by STENTOR assisting schools to gain access to the nearest Internet/SchoolNet node and providing assistance in the establishment of computer conferencing linkages amongst schools for cooperative project purposes; x the electronic publishing industry as represented by "Support and Promotion of Information Retrieval through Information Technology" (SPIRIT), contributing, courtesy of The Globe and Mail and Southam News the electronic edition of The Globe and Mail and the National Electronic News Feed respectively; x the donation of information hardware and software by firms such as Apple Canada. In addition, SchoolNet's information services are being lodged on a $50,000 SPARC station 10 system donated by Sun Microsystems of Canada Ltd; and x connections to SchoolNet, through Internet which are being provided by CA*Net Inc., Canada's universities and colleges and provincial government educational networks. Who Funds What? A lack of sufficient financial and technical resources preclude participation by all schools at this time. For the pilot phase of the project, 300 accounts have been donated by the various SchoolNet partners in universities and colleges, provincial ministries of education and regional telecommunications carriers to support school access. SchoolNet materials will, however, be based upon an open electronic system accessible by all schools, provided they can obtain access through an Internet node. The federal government will contribute $1.6 million to the project over the next 4 years. What Obligations Will the Schools Selected Have? The schools selected must ensure that they are equipped with the requisite equipment and support facilities required to electronically connect to the network. Schools should also demonstrate the determination to exploit this opportunity to improve learning and the commitment to contribute to the network by organizing one or more projects over the course of the 1993-94 academic year. KEY AREAS OF THE SCHOOLNET PILOT PROJECT In order to stimulate electronic networking in the classroom, SchoolNet will interconnect over 300 of Canada's most information intensive schools during the 1993-94 school year. Through SchoolNet, students and teachers will have access to the following services and resources: Platform to the Internet: SchoolNet provides its users with a user-friendly front end interface to the largest network in the world. This will allow teachers and students to use electronic communications without going through the often difficult learning curve associated with the Internet; Resource Manual: Compilation of the 100 best science, engineering and technology related resources currently available on the Internet. Each of these resources is fully documented, with instructions provided for accessing each of the resources provided; Access Manual: Will assist teachers in getting connected electronically to the various SchoolNet access points, as well as how to use the various networking functions, such as sending e-mail, reading newsgroups, etc. The access Manual will be distributed in hard copy, as well as being available electronically. Teachers and students will also be able to access on-line support for SchoolNet information, or call a 1-800 hot-line number; SchoolNet White Pages: A white pages directory of e-mail addresses for all SchoolNet participants will be available for all users in both hard copy and electronic copy format. The white pages directory will serve to facilitate ease of communication amongst SchoolNet participants; Electronic Newsfeeds: SchoolNet participants will have access to direct, up-to-the-minute electronic newsfeeds from the Globe & Mail (Classroom Edition), and Southam News. Initially, these newsfeeds will be updated on a daily basis, with updates becoming more frequent in the near future. Users will be able to find out about world events, prior to watching/hearing about them on the evening news; Announcements: In order to keep SchoolNet users updated and in touch, announcements regarding national events and programs, revisions to the SchoolNet project, winners of SchoolNet competitions/projects etc. and calls for participants for network projects and new technologies will be posted on the Internet; Scavenger Hunts: The participants will be able to compete in the SchoolNet scavenger hunts, searching for information on the Internet, while learning how to navigate the net, and invoke various Internet commands; Government Program Information: Participants will have access to a wealth of government information. This includes information pertaining to the Canada Scholarships Program, Prime Ministers Awards for Teaching Excellence and Science Culture Canada Funding. Electronic application forms will also be available, as well as e-mail addresses for submitting the electronic forms. For more detailed information regarding a specific program, e-mail contacts will also be provided. In addition to this, users will have access to directories compiled by the federal government for commercial/non-commercial educational resources, training services, newly released reports and newsletters; Career Selection Guide: Students and teachers will have access to a career selection guide. This will list educational requirements, salary expectations and projected demand for a chosen field of work. This is produced by The Government of Canada, Minister of State for Youth under the Canadian Occupation Projection Systems and by Public Affairs Branch of Employment and Immigration Canada; Electronic Innovators & Electronic MP's: SchoolNet will have over 350 scientists and engineers on-line from around the world to provide expert advice to teachers and students. A directory guide to accessing the Electronic Innovators, structured by area of expertise/interest, will be compliled and distributed to participating schools. There are three sections to this directory - Discussion Newsgroups, School Advisors and In-class Visitors. Electronic Members of Parliament will also be available to SchoolNet users in order to answer questions relating to the Canadian political system; Networking Projects: SchoolNet users will have the opportunity to participate in collaborative projects with students across the country and around the world. SchoolNet facilitates this process by having students from different classrooms work as a team to solve problems, conduct experiments, hold e-mail debates, challenge each other in network resource hunts, etc. The projects also provide a forum for students to work with professional researchers in solving real life problems; Electronic Libraries: Students and teachers will have access to 42 libraries (National Library of Canada to name but one) across Canada and around the world. On-line search capabilities will permit access to the most updated editions of published works on a wide array of topics (an improvement on text books which often become outdated soon after they are printed). Some electronic systems allow books to be reserved electronically as well; Electronic Databases: Using SchoolNet, teachers and students can access databases worldwide, and obtain relevant files. Databases of software, educational resources, research work/data, worldwide Internet e-mail addresses and Internet manuals/guides, are just some of the data users will be able to access; Links to National & International Electronic Educational Networks: SchoolNet will provide a platform, or Internet port, to other educational networks and initiatives around the world. Direct connections are part of the SchoolNet menu, so that users need not know Internet commands and addresses. This simplified method of connecting to other networks allows teachers and students to go beyond the classroom walls without having to go through the large learning curve associated with the Internet. Direct access is provided to both commercial and non-commercial networks, such as Writers in Electronic Residence, Kids from Kanata/SciLink, Global Classroom, Kidsphere, NYSERNET, etc; Internet Search Facilities - Veronica, Gopher, WAIS, WWW: Access to these "travel agents" and search facilities will let SchoolNet users find information on any topic on the Internet without having to search a number of computers. These facilities will search the whole Internet for the required information, and return this information to the SchoolNet user. Such global searches are very straightforward and easy to use; Discussion Groups for Students: SchoolNet students can participate in discussion groups with other students from around the world in an electronic forum - sharing information, ideas and establishing electronic "pen pals". Only the students are allowed to use this area, making it their own, and developing it as they choose; Discussion Groups for Teachers: These discussion groups will work towards ending the professional isolation that many teachers currently experience by providing them with a forum to exchange ideas and experiences with other teachers from across Canada and around the world. Discussion issues include curriculum development, teaching and learning methods, educational resources, upcoming conferences, training programs, etc; Part of the Future - Global Classrooms: SchoolNet participants become, by the very act of participating, players in a technology that is changing the traditional aspects of the educational system by replacing text books, overcoming isolation, extending the classroom walls to encompass the world and promoting learning by exploration rather than lecturing. New breakthroughs such as the teaching of courses on the Internet and designing "global classrooms" with voice and video interfaces over the Internet are currently being developed; SchoolNet Archives: A library of resources specific to Canadian SchoolNet schools, and educational networking groups will be available electronically. This will include educational software (A World of Chemistry, Society of Automotive Engineers Learning Kit, etc), reports/manuals, pictures/graphics and database files. All resources in the archives can be downloaded by any SchoolNet participant to their local computer; Participate in Electronic Conferencing, Multi-User Simulated Environments: Electronic conferences (where several users "talk" to each other in virtual space), and multi-user simulated environments allow SchoolNet users to interact with each other in virtual space, at different levels. Users can "talk" back and forth, play electronic chess and other interactive educational games, or wander through virtual space, developing experiments and projects that other users view or interact with. SCHOOLNET PLUGS IN STUDENTS AND TEACHERS ACROSS CANADA McLuhan SchoolNet is a national networking pilot project designed to equip schools across Canada with the necessary technology to connect to the resources available through electronic communications and information technology. Canada remains at the forefront in terms of developing and marketing advanced telecommunications systems. However, by comparison with certain other industrialized countries, only a handful of Canadian schools have the resources to effectively exploit the tremendous learning potential which information technology is now able to deliver into the classroom. The SchoolNet project recognizes that educators who are plugged into worldwide networks, are better positioned, due to the vast additional information and expertise literally at their fingertips, to expand the learning experiences of their students. For example, SchoolNet will have more than 350 scientists and engineers on-line from around the world to provide expert advice to teachers and students. McLuhan SchoolNet will accelerate the emergence of electronic networking in the classroom and stimulate the development of electronically based learning projects, especially in the science, technology and mathematics areas. To achieve this SchoolNet will interconnect over 300 information technology intensive schools over the course of the 1993-94 school year. Through SchoolNet, students and teachers will have access to national and international database resources as well as innovative electronically-based learning projects. The extent and speed with which this initiative will be extended to include more of Canada's over 16,000 schools will depend on SchoolNet's initial success, demand and resources. By expanding the use of information technologies in the classroom, the SchoolNet initiative responds to the call for national electronic highways particularly in the education areas as highlighted in the recent Prosperity Report entitled - Inventing Our Future. SchoolNet will also create important new market opportunities for innovative information technology products and services. SchoolNet is a joint endeavour of Industry and Science Canada, the participating schools, provincial ministries of education, Canadian universities and colleges and CA*net Networking Inc. Firms in Canada's telecommunications, information technology and publishing industries are also contributing to SchoolNet. These include STENTOR, Sun Microsystems of Canada Ltd., The Globe and Mail and Southam News The project will operate under the general direction of the Canadian Educational Network Coalition through an Advisory Committee representing broad stakeholder interest. SCHOOLNET QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Q. How will you ensure that unsuitable materials will not be accessible through SchoolNet? A. Access to Internet through SchoolNet will provide classrooms with a vast learning resource for teachers and students. Unfortunately, a very small amount of the material accessible on Internet is not suitable for student viewing because it is racist, pornographic or violent. Students will not be provided with individual accounts, but will access materials and projects on the SchoolNet at the teachers discretion. Classroom experience with Internet use to date in Canada suggests that this aspect of potential Internet use is not problematic in the classroom. We will be ensuring that teachers and others responsible for SchoolNet accounts are aware of the possibilities of accessing such material and establish guidelines and safeguards within the classroom to ensure that SchoolNet provides positive learning experiences. Q. How were schools chosen to participate in the SchoolNet pilot project? A. The selection of schools for the SchoolNet pilot has been made by provincial selection committees involving provincial ministries of education, Industry and Science Canada and other interested parties based upon a competitive process in which schools were invited to participate. For this pilot phase of SchoolNet only those schools which are technically advanced and which have the requisite equipment were invited to participate. Q. Do you plan to make SchoolNet services available to all schools? A. A lack of sufficient financial and technical resources preclude participation by all schools at this time. For the pilot phase of the project, 300 accounts have been donated by the various SchoolNet partners in universities and colleges, provincial ministries of education and regional telecommunications carriers to support school access. SchoolNet materials will, however, be based upon an open electronic system accessible by all schools, provided they can obtain access through an Internet node. Q. Will the materials produced for SchoolNet be available in both English and French? A. The selection of schools for the SchoolNet pilot has been made with a view to ensuring representation by French, English and immersion schools across the country. All SchoolNet content provided by the federal government will be available in both official languages. Internet resources, which may be accessed through SchoolNet, will be available to schools in the language in which they are produced. Q. Is there a link to the CANARIE initiative? A. SchoolNet supports the Canarie initiative by upgrading and enhancing a communications bridge to support Canada's educational community. The SchoolNet project will operate under the guidance of the Canadian Educational Networking Coalition (CENC), representing K-12 educational networking interests across Canada. The CENC will be submitting a formal application to CANARIE for the development of a scalable broad band electronic network for the benefit of all Canadians involved in educational communications. Q. When will SchoolNet commence? A. Schools in the pilot phase will be able to access SchoolNet beginning in September of 1993. Those schools not on-line as of September will have access to SchoolNet resources in accordance with the implementation dates for their regional networks. Q. What new services and content will be provided with SchoolNet? A. SchoolNet services will include: - users guide to the 100 best Internet science and technology resources to support classroom learning; - a career selection guide; - connections to libraries worldwide; - a database of over 350 scientists, engineers, technicians and technologists willing to interact with classrooms through e-mail from around the world; - access to Members of Parliament electronically; - simultaneous networking projects designed and managed by participating teachers; - access to a wealth of federal government information; and - national press classroom edition newsfeeds courtesy of the Globe and Mail and Southam Publishing. On-line support and troubleshooting will also be available. Q. Why is the federal government becoming directly involved in educational networking? A. The federal government has a vital interest in ensuring that young people leave the education systems in Canada with the skills which will ensure that Canada can continue to compete internationally. Accessing and making use of information through technology is a skill which is very important in the "information economy". It has been demonstrated that, in many subject areas, the use of technology can greatly enhance the learning experience. A national presence in educational networking is required to ensure that efforts are not duplicated, that systems which are developed are compatible across Canada and that efforts can be productively shared. The recent report on Canadian prosperity "Inventing Our Future" calls for the creation of a national electronic highway. Working with the provincial governments, industry and networking interests, Industry and Science Canada is endeavouring to coordinate the creation of this information highway across the nation's more than 16,000 schools -- the most common institutional sites in all communities in Canada. Q. What is the extent of corporate support for the SchoolNet pilot project? A. The 1993-94 SchoolNet pilot project is heavily supported by contributions from corporations, universities and colleges and provincial governments. Examples include: To support SchoolNet, Canada's telephone companies, as represented by STENTOR will be assisting schools to gain access to the nearest Internet/SchoolNet node and to provide assistance in the establishment of computer conferencing linkages amongst schools for cooperative project purposes; The electronic publishing industry as represented by Support and Promotion of Information Retrieval through Information Technology (SPIRIT), is contributing, courtesy of The Globe and Mail and Southam News the electronic edition of The Globe and Mail and the National Electronic News Feed respectively; The Information Technology Association of Canada has expressed strong support for SchoolNet and many of the participating schools have been provided with gifts of information technology by firms like Apple Canada and IBM Canada. In addition, SchoolNet's information services are being lodged on a $50,000 Workstation 10 system donated by Sun Microsystems of Canada Ltd; and Connections to SchoolNet through Internet are being provided by CA*net Inc., Canada's Universities and Colleges and provincial government educational networks. Karen Kostaszek Director FreeNet Science & Engineering Consulting Group e-mail: wcscses3@ccs.carleton.ca OR aa165@freenet.carleton.ca phone : (613) 233-7989 and (613) 788-6699