Hit: T1, Modum, DSL

[Connie Welch <cwelch@SOFTHOME.NET>]

Dear Friends--
Thanks so much to those of you who responded to my question.  You have once
again assured me that there is NOTHING that I cannot attempt with you behind
me!  I haven't made any decisions yet.  Actually, the decision isn't totally
mine to make.  But, I'm going to be doing some research this summer so that
at least I'll know what everybody's talking about, and I'll be able to spot
who knows what they are talking about at the Tech Planning meeting and who
is really bluffing!

Responses are below:

--Maybe someone else has already told you, but here it
is:  April 2000 issue of Technology and Learning has
some basic info that will help you.

--I am taking a series of courses that is SUPPOSED TO certify me in school
networking.  The first class that we had used a $50 textbook from Cisco
Systems - Internetworking Technologies Handbook - way over my head.  The
best source I have found so far on the net is An Educator's Guide to School
Networks - http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/network/.  Another source is Cisco's
Networking Essentials Guide -
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/edu/K12/learn/.  This guide is on the
net, put there is also a link there for the PDF version.  Asante also has a
helpful guide - An Educator's Guide to Networking -
http://www.asante.com/solutions/s_edu_int.html.  This is the page that has a
link to the PDF document. Asante's Tech Tips for Networking Schools is also
a link off this page. The course that I am taking is taught by a couple of
guys from the Roanoke/Blacksburg area.  One is at Virginia Tech and the
other is at the Governor's School for Technology.  They have a website for
the first class but it is woefully inadequate - and nothing up yet for the
2nd course.  Several teachers and librarians in our system are taking these
courses because our Tech Director thought that it would be a way for some of
us to get trained to help out the Tech office with repairs, etc.  That is
not actually the intention of the series of classes, so we'll see how it all
comes out.  At any rate, the individual schools are paying for our tuition
and we can count the hours towards our recertification points, so that is a
good deal.  We already have a network so our input is not wanted or needed
about that.  We will probably come up with more ways that we want it changed
than they ever want to hear about.

--Oh, I just remembered - there was also something recently in March issue
of Technology & Learning on "Staffing Up for Technology Support."  Also 2
articles in Feb issue of FNO - http://fno.org/feb2000/covfeb.html - might be
of interest.  FNO also has a subject index - this is the link to the
Technology Planning section of that index -
http://fno.org/fnoindex.html#Technology.

--Ann Barron's book New Technologies for Education: A Beginner's Guide is
in its 4th edition now and it is an invaluable resource for basic
information of the sort you are seeking.  I might also suggest that you join
the EDTECH listserv for some really good technical information and advice.

--Whatever form of technology you use to connect to the Internet make sure
it is the fastest you can afford.  In fact even if you can't afford it you
must invest in providing sufficient bandwidth to run your network or it will
not be functional.  We have this problem.  Our building is one year old.  We
have a huge network (56 computers in the library, 24 in our adjacent lab, 6
computers in every classroom).  There are days when nothing will print,
there is a 15 minute wait between the time a student logs on and their
settings come up, the Internet never loads, etc.  Our technology people came
back from a conference and told us that they had discovered that for a
network of our size we needed 21 megahertz (sp?) of bandwidth and that we
had 3 megahertz.  Why this wasn't discovered before is another subject.
Just be careful.  This is really expensive stuff and it looks like a place
that can be shaved at budget time, but you will be sorry.  Have your people
investigate this issue thoroughly.  I hope this helps some.  If you need
more information I can try and get it, but understandably, our technology
people don't really want to talk about this issue to any one at this point.

--You can get some basic information from <http://www.whatis.com>, with
definitions and links to more information.

--I think INTERNET FOR SCHOOLS -- 3rd ed. (Linworth, 2000) will give you the
basic information on this topic.  And yes not techie.

Connie Welch, Librarian
O.L.P.H. School
Grove City, OH 43123
cwelch@SoftHome.net

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