Network Terms to Get You Through the 1990s

Abstract

Editor's Note: This information was adapted from the fall 1995 issue of The ERIC Review. ERIC's role as an information provider on the Internet and various online services expanded significantly. Each week, more than 500 mail people send e‐mail to the AskERIC question‐answering service; another 25,000 visit the AskERIC Virtual Library, the National Parent Information Network, and the subject‐oriented Gopher and World Wide Web sites maintained by many ERIC clearinghouses. The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that nearly half of the nation's public schools have access to the Internet or another wide area network such as CompuService, America Online, or Prodigy. Sixty‐seven percent of public schools have plans to implement or update a wide area network. The fall 1995 issue of The ERIC Review is intended to help teacher educators, administrators, librarians, adult educators, and individual teachers introduce others to education resources on computer networks. It includes information about how teachers can learn to use telecomputing tools, a first‐person account of what happens when a teacher begins incorporating telecommunications in the classroom, and guidelines to help schools create policies for Internet use. Readers also will find a glossary of network terms, reading and resource organization lists, an overview of federal telecommunications initiatives related to education, and complete access information for ERIC‐sponsored network sites. For information about Educational Resources Information Center, including details on how to access the database or referral to one of 16 subject‐specific ERIC clearinghouses, call 800/LET‐ERIC, send e‐mail to acceric@inet.ed.gov, or browse the ERIC systems web pages at http:www.aspensys.comeric2welcome.html.