The
Internet provides many new and exciting educational
opportunities. Communication on the net can be via
e-mail, video conferencing and online chat which
can help you deliver large parts of the English
curriculum as well as developing communicating and
information handling skills. Electronic publishing
can be an interesting stimulus for cross-curricular
work whilst developing art, design, writing, research,
presentation and programming skills.
Further, the net has a plentiful supply of learning
resources - from vast libraries of reference information
to programs on all National Curriculum subjects
ready to download and use. These resources will
expand even more as the NGfL becomes established
in our schools and throughout society. By tapping
into this wealth of resources, pupils will develop
research and study skills and gain awareness of
how ICT tools and information sources can help them
in their work.
Connecting to your Internet Service Provider (ISP)
may be done quite simply by attaching a stand alone
computer, equipped with a MODEM and appropriate
software, to a telephone line. The disadvantage
is that this restricts use to one student at a time.
To
connect to several computers, a whole class or the
campus simultaneously to the Internet requires the
computers to be networked and linked, either via
telephone, ISDN, cable or leased line to the ISP
using a router or similar device in place of the
MODEM.
The
actual connection method and router specifications
depend upon the number of simultaneous users, the
level of technical support available and the performance
required.
