Background:
Monta Vista High School is in the Fremont Union School District and is located in Cupertino. The student body consists of about 1,650 students, largely from upper-middle-class homes. The majority of students are college-oriented. The following numbers categorize the ethnic diversity of students at Monta Vista: 40% Asian, 5% other minority, 55% Caucasian.
Monta Vista has been part of the California Model Technology in the Schools Project. As a result, the school owned over 100 networked Macintoshes prior to its foray into internetworking. The majority of these computers were distributed throughout three labs. The teaching staff was knowledgeable in general computer use (word processing, etc.) and often made use of the technology in the classroom. Other enhancements, such as computer screen projection, further facilitated computer use.
The computers within the labs were networked with LocalTalk hardware. This system was used to allow lab computers to access data and software from the file servers. In addition, printer sharing was enabled via a network.
The impetus for the Internet project at Monta Vista was externally driven by NASA Ames Research Center. As part of the High Performance Computer and Communications Act of 1991(HPCC), federal agencies were tasked with helping K-12 schools utilize Internet technology. In early 1992 NASA networking technologists chose Monta Vista as a partner to begin testing (in a hands-on fashion) the impact of Internet within a high school.
Goals/Vision
The following were the project goals agreed upon by NASA and Monta Vista:
- to utilize Internet in student projects that involve research in the areas of aeronautics and space for physics and general science courses;
- to explore the Internet to discover how it can be valuable in other educational settings;
- to create guidelines/instructions for the responsible use of Internet that can be effectively used by other students and schools;
- to begin creating a database of the resources found on the Internet that are useful to high school students and teachers;
- to establish formal contact with other schools and assist them in using Internet;
- to participate in group research projects that involve students from other schools and science mentors (from NASA or private industry); and
- to exhibit ethical use of the network.
Technical Solution
Monta Vista was connected to the Internet by BARRNet, a third party service provider with a strong presence in Northern California. A leased 56K circuit and dedicated hardware (IP router and CSU/DSU) were installed; this provided an Ethernet interface to the Internet. Additional hardware, including a 4-port transceiver and Comtalk router, were used to enable connectivity between the existing AppleTalk system and the outside world. Also, an older Sun 3/60 was provided as a home for electronic mail. The system was designed to integrate with the existing network and to augment, not replace, previous capabilities. Specifically, it was designed to allow Internet access directly from individual Macintosh computers.
A major benefit of this network connection was that it provided easy-to-use Macintosh applications, such as Turbo-Gopher, Fetch, Eudora and WAIStation. The point-and-click nature of these applications made it easier for teachers and students to navigate the Internet. In addition, the connection allowed many users to access the network simultaneously and made possible group training. Another benefit of the design is that the dedicated circuit provides much better performance than a modem/phone line solution. This allows for faster file transfers and facilitates more rapid browsing of potential Internet resources.
The biggest disadvantage of the approach revolved around the Unix workstation. Support of the system has been a continuous problem for the school. NASA was not prepared organizationally to maintain the system, and Monta Vista was not prepared technically for the role. Administration of a Unix computer is a very complex task and requires significant people resources. The experience at Monta Vista strongly suggests that the necessary human and technical resources for maintaining a Unix workstation must be identified at the start of the project if one is to be involved. Similarly, the SUN computer was an older model which had inadequate disk space and was originally configured with an incomplete operating system. Once again, it was demonstrated that integrating older donated hardware into the school's network without adequate support is an approach which can create more problems than it solves.
Funding
The communications hardware and ongoing circuit costs for the first three years of operation have been funded by NASA. After the initial three years, the school will be expected to fund the ongoing costs (approximately $2,000/year).
Training and Support
During the first year of the project, participation was limited to only a few teachers and approximately 15 students. Because NASA expressed a concern about ethical use of the network and security issues, students applied to participate and were selected through a screening process (see attachment below).
Some hands-on training was provided by NASA to an original group of participants. Over time, the teacher liaison and other student "experts" taught classes to the additional people who joined the project. These tutorials were held outside of regular school hours, without compensation.
Because the students often couldn't meet at same time, the same tutorial was usually given twice (once after school, and once on a Saturday). NASA continued to provide a last line of support for questions which arose and could not be resolved within the school, however, the response time to questions from NASA was often slow. This time lag between questions and answers was very frustrating for the teachers and students. The experience points out the importance of having local (within the school) experts who are able to quickly resolve technical difficulties.
The Internet project at Monta Vista began as a pilot effort. Other than a few lead teachers, no effort was made to provide training or awareness for the entire teaching staff. As a result, all student involvement took part outside of the normal curriculum.
Evaluation
A formal evaluation process has not been employed for this project. Although students did fill out an initial questionnaire, and a post questionnaire has been developed, the turnover in the group and lack of time and interest made evaluation a low priority. Instead, NASA and teachers have relied on direct feedback from students and individual observations to assess whether project goals are being met.
The following are observations the teachers have recorded regarding the implementation of the project to date:
- Providing hardware is only a start; ongoing, timely technical support is vital to project success.
- The Internet, as it was accessed in this connectivity solution (UNIX-driven), was not very user-friendly. Applications such as TurboGopher, Mosaic, and Eudora significantly improved our access, and we feel applications like these must continue to be enhanced and made widely available. Our original problem was that more time was spent teaching users to navigate the Internet through the UNIX interface than in learning what educational resources were available.
- A substantial investment in time must be made to train teachers in the use of Internet (beyond email). Only when teachers are comfortable with the resource (at least understanding what it can do) will they encourage students to access the network for resources, or create specific student projects integrating its use.
- Focusing on math/science applications can be a mistake. The Internet is a tool that should be utilized across the curriculum. The goal at the K-12 level should be to get students to learn the tool in its broadest utilization.
- To be successful, the use of Internet must be integrated into the curriculum rather than just being a "club" or volunteer activity.
- Finally, frustration with hardware problems or navigation of the Internet can kill student and teacher interest. There must be ongoing site support for all aspects of Internet use.
Plans call for focusing more on the teaching staff. Two teachers knowledgeable in the Internet are spending paid time during the Summer of 1993 to further investigate the Internet. Their goal is to identify good resources which will be useful for other Monta Vista teachers and to create model lesson plans across curriculum areas.
The broad goal for the 1993-94 school year is to begin using the Internet as a tool for day-to-day classroom activities.The following was provided to students wishing to participate in the NASA/Monta Vista High School Internet Project:
In an effort to educate students about "long-distance" learning and the importance of telecommunications and networks, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has approached two high schools to be involved in a project involving access to the Internet. NASA at Ames in Mt. View has identified Monta Vista as the West Coast site.
The following are the project goals that have been agreed upon by NASA and Monta Vista:
- to utilize Internet in student projects that involve research in the areas of aeronautics and space for physics and general science courses;
- to explore the Internet to discover how it can be valuable in other educational settings;
- to create guidelines/instructions for the responsible use of Internet that can be effectively used by other students and schools;
- to begin creating a database of the resources found on the Internet that are useful to high school students and teachers;
- to establish formal contact with other schools and assist them in using Internet;
- to participate in group research projects that involve students from other schools and science mentors (from NASA or private industry); and
- to exhibit ethical use of the network.
Students who are accepted into the project have a direct obligation to adhere to the standards expected by NASA. Any irresponsible conduct could lead to a termination of the project and cause a great loss to the other Monta Vista students and teachers involved.
A core of 6 to 12 students will be identified to participate in the project. All students who participate in the project will be expected to work toward fulfilling goals 1 and 7 and may address other goals that interest them. Internet students will be required to keep a personal log, and occasionally students may need to attend a lunch meeting to receive information or directions concerning Internet use. Variable credit/Independent Study will be available.
If you wish to join the Internet Project you need to complete the following:
- a computer lab agreement form
- a NASA/Internet agreement form
- an Internet Project application
Rich Amlin
ramlin@walrus.mvhs.edu
