Using the Internet model to distribute 'The Internet'

Peter Batchelor, Sunrise Research Laboratory at RMIT, GPO Box 2476V Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia. Phone: +613 9660 3141 Fax: +613 9660 2761 E-mail: peterbat@rmit.edu.au Web Pages: //www.srl.rmit.edu.au/

Liddy Nevile, Director, Sunrise Research Laboratory at RMIT, GPO Box 2476V Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia. Phone: +613 9660 3024 Fax: +613 9660 2761 E-mail: liddy@rmit.edu.au Web Pages: //www.srl.rmit.edu.au/

Keywords: WorldWideWeb, OZeKIDS, professional development, teachers, CD

Introduction

In this poster, we describe an Internet model of distributing training in the use of Internet which draws, in good Internet style, upon the resourcefulness and capabilities of users. We report the recursive process which has involved many in the development of material which has appeared on subsequent models of the disc as users have learned from material on the disc.

Background

In early 1995, a new approach to the use of CDs as resource-bases for those wishing to move into Internet (as an environment) was first explored. A hole was made in a CD which allowed users to move off the material on the CD if their computer happened to be connected to Internet. This led to the development of a www-style browsable CD which was designed to facilitate the establishment of locally-based computers as configured Internet serving/browsing computers for those who do not know 'in advance' how to do this using the www. For early users, software which is usually found necessary within a short time of starting to use the www was immediately available from the disc. Working with the next set of users led to the inclusion on the disc of the teaching materials which were being developed for use with the disc. Subsequent use, of later versions of the disc, led to the realisation that what starts as a learning tutorial may be more useful if it seamlessly transforms itself into an on-line reference source, but in this case it will need to include a searchable glossary. And so the process has gone on.

In addition, the adoption of the disc as the resource-base for professional development courses has led to the development of material which shows how www-style material might be used in teaching contexts, for investigations, for information provision, and so on. As the Directorate of School Education in Victoria (DSE) was to distribute the disc to those involved in DSE professional development courses, special material was generated to be put on the disc for these courses.

The convenience of being able to conduct courses on Internet use 'off-line' (and the saving in costs) then led to new ways of thinking about how these courses might be conducted. It is not necessary that teachers be present for the full 18 hours of the course if they can take the tutorial material away with them. They can, in the case of the OZeKIDS disc, because the disc cost so little it could be distributed to every course attendee. This, of course, was only possible because those who gave their material to be placed on the disc did so at no cost. In some cases, it was existing web sites that were donated, and (with permission) massaged to make them suitable for inclusion on the disc, and in other cases it was original material that was contributed.

The shift from a resource-poor to a resource-rich learning environment for those working in the professional development courses had a beneficial side-effect. If the focus of the activity does not need to be skill development but can afford to be more why the skills?, how will I use them?, the nature of the course contact time changes.

The process continues. After working in the Northern Territory with teachers and resource support personnel, it has become obvious that within the Territory for instance, off-line use of material is likely to be more than just convenient. Schools which have no hope of getting access on-line to Internet for a long time because they do not have so much as telephone contact, let alone efficient phone lines, have even more need for some of the solutions www-style activity offers them. The distribution of material on disc to such schools can offer them a simulation of what is becoming main-stream in other schools; a suitable format for exchange of material with other schools, even if by post, and an appropriate local area network model for the future.

Finally, the OZeKIDS story is one of sharing by principle (which we think of Internet-style distribution of activity). Material placed on the disc is available in floppy disc size chunks which encourages two important parts of the process described: the copying and further distribution of the material even to those who do not have CD drives, let alone Internet access, and the openness of the material makes it easy for those who do copy the material to customise it for their needs. Participants in workshops start with an on-line tutorial, for instance, which they customise to their purposes, adding graphics of relevance to their community, linking in local web sites.

The Future

OZeKIDS activities have so far focussed on the needs of teachers and support for them at a systemic level. It is the aim of the OZeKIDS Committee, as soon as possible, to have the material re-written in a form which makes it attractive and useful for younger people. Again the aim is to help distribute Internet Internet-style - this time by making it possible and easy for teachers who are prepared to let their students work Internet-style even if they, the teachers, do not themselves have the skills to do this.

Conclusion

Internet, some would say, has been a success because it has made it possible for those who want to, to show how they can do. At Sunrise, we have made a feature of this.

Copyright

Peter Batchelor, Liddy Nevile © 1996. The authors assign to Southern Cross University and other educational and non-profit institutions a non-exclusive licence to use this document for personal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is reproduced. The authors also grant a non-exclusive licence to Southern Cross University to publish this document in full on the World Wide Web and on CD-ROM, and for the document to be published on mirrors on the World Wide Web. Any other usage is prohibited without the express permission of the authors.
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