Click here to link to Ralph Bunche School World Wide Web server.
Click here to link to Ralph Bunche School Gopher server.
With the support of the NSF-funded Bolt, Beranek and Newman Inc. (BBN) Nation School Network Testbeds, Ralph Bunche School (RBS) has created a networked environment that gives students and teachers seamless user-friendly access to both local (LAN) and wide (WAN) area network resources. Using the Copernicus server developed and supplied by BBN, we now support over 300 e-mail accounts, have developed and used several newsgroups for our students in collaboration with other schools. We have built the first elementary school gopher and are now developing a Web server. We have experimented with other Internet tools including CUSeeMe and Maven. With the support of a major grant from Apple Computer and the support of Telebit we have connected Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. High School to our LAN and are sharing Internet resources and experiences.
The Copernicus services includes: Electronic mail, Network News bulletin boards, Gopher database server, File retrieval (FTP) server, and Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP). Copernicus is a UNIX-based server, but neither its day-to-day use nor its management requires knowledge of UNIX. An assistant at RBS uses a Macintosh program, Kepler, to interact with the Copernicus Manager to accomplish tasks such as adding new personal accounts and creating electronic mailing lists and bulletin boards.
The Copernicus Internet Server is a client-server system. Students and staff access Copernicus and other Internet resources using Macintosh client application currently in the public domain. They include Eudora for e-mail, TurboGopher, Newswatcher, Mosaic, CUSeeMe, and Fetch.
A second Macintosh server on the RBS LAN provides electronic portfolio (Macintosh folders) where all users save word processing, graphic, and other files. This diskless environment also supports collaborative workspaces, for example, the school newspaper, science projects and many other project based activities. The facility with which even our fourth graders use the network and network applications testifies to its simplicity.
New users have commented that the Internet is not the most user-friendly environment. Also, many of its resources are not child-appropriate. Highly technical or obscure data is essential to research scholars but usually confusing and off-putting to young users. Therefore in addition to a user-friendly environment we have been anxious to develop child-centered resources. To that end we started the RBS gopher which publishes student writing, the school newspaper and archives student scientific discussion from a RBS newsgroup.
To meet similar needs we created several newsgroups that are shared just in our school or with selected other schools. Students are encouraged to post comments on a wide range of topics including the school's uniform policy, planning for a new school, and speculation about "What would happen if the Earth stopped turning."
The availability of easy to use LAN and WAN resources has challenged students and teachers to develop new project and find new ways of acquiring as well as constructing knowledge. There have been problems, many new issues raised, and new challenges. However, the pilot project at RBS demonstrate that a school (or district) can become a full partner in the expanding NII.
Paul Reese Computer & Technology Coordinator CSD Five & Ralph Bunche School 425 West 123rd Street New York, NY 10027 Voice & FAX (212) 865-4351 Internet: preese@ralphbunche.rbs.edu Point your gopher to ralphbunche.rbs.edu or http http://192.246.43.96/***Ask me about joining CoSN***