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This is a memo I distributed to our faculty: Reflections from the Front Line: OR, A bucket of Cold Water By Carole H. Carpenter Our high school now has a wonderful tool for learning which, if used correctly, could provide more information to students and teachers than has ever been available before. However, there are some cautions we all need to consider before discarding older sources of information. Keep in mind that at this point the number of Internet workstations is small and the amount of time is limited. It would be unfair and unrealistic to expect an entire class to acquire Internet documents. Please keep these points in mind: 1. Contracts. Not all students have or will have Internet privileges. There parents who do not want to expose their children to the filth which is available on the Net. Therefore, you should be extremely careful about allowing students to partner with other students or yourself. Do not make Internet use a requirement of any assignment. 2. Availability. The program "Netscape" is quirky and does not always work properly. In addition, as more and more schools come online, the state's system response time slows down. Therefore, even students who have Internet privileges may be unable to connect to anything useful due to technical difficulties. 3. Scheduling. The four Internet workstations are not dedicated to that use. They must also be available for students looking up books, typing papers, and exploring careers. When teachers schedule library time they expect the computers to be reserved for their students. Do not release students to the library with hallpasses simply because they want to play on the Net. 4. Pornography and obscene language. They are easily found on the Net. When you are in the library, please help monitor what your students are doing. Chat lines are not a productive use of time. 5. Expectations. Some students will try to convince you that everything is available on the Net. This is not true. There is a lot of a material about popular culture and the sciences. Less is available about the Humanities. Do not allow students to waste time looking for information which is readily available in the library. Using the Internet to find basic information is like driving to a distant mall to buy a bottle of milk. It is silly, wasteful, and inefficient. 6. Socializing. Searching becomes a group activity. Vast amounts of time are wasted by both searchers and observers. 7. Reliability. Finding information on the Net in no way guarantees its validity. Hackers can and do alter data all the time. Documents from a twelve year old's homepage should not be given equal weight with information from reliable sources. Students will need a great deal of guidance learning to make such discriminations. Some college professors will not accept Internet sources on research papers for this reason. 8. Search strategy. Students will need help formulating their searches. Each search engine (Webcrawler, Lycos, etc.) reacts differently to keywords. Poor search strategies will result in frustration and wasted time. We are at the beginning of a cultural phenomenon. Just as radio survived the advent of television and video, so will books probably survive the coming of the Net. (Magazines may not, however.) It is good that some of our students can add netsurfing to their skills. We must work to insure that they use this skill appropriately and judiciously to further their education. Carole H. Carpenter chcrpntr@strauss.udel.edu Milford Sr. H.S. Milford, DE