Failed to execute CGI : Win32 Error Code = 3
Sisters students now have a vast trove of research information at their
fingertips. Starting this year, all 25 computers in the Sisters Middle/High
School computer lab and the six computers in the library are hooked up for
instant access to the Internet.
According to teacher Jon Renner, the complete Internet access adds Sisters to
the many schools on the network worldwide, though, he said, "there aren't many
that are as small as we are that have good access."
Last year only four computers in the school were hooked up to the Internet. The
new expanded access means more students will be able to use the research tool
and whole classes can be taught how to use it at once.
And, as evidence of their entry into a new high-tech era, students will be
assigned not only locker numbers when they come to school -- they'll also have
their own electronic mail address.
According to Renner, the students will have access to research materials from
NASA, the New England Journal of Medicine, Time Magazine, the Center for
Disease Control, and a host of other resources.
"There just aren't resources like this in regular libraries," Renner said.
Students during this election year can monitor foreign media's response to the
campaign, and Renner plans to lead electronic mail surveying of student opinion
worldwide.
With the easy access to a virtually limitless volume and variety of
information comes new challenges for teachers and students who must learn to
sort good information from bad.
"That's really the new task," Renner reflected. Internet users must figure out
how to gauge the credentials of those providing information and, Renner said,
determine "what's good and worthwhile stuff to look at versus stuff that's just
trash."
To guide students in the right direction, the computers are set up for quick
and direct access to listings of pre-established "quality information" sources.
Still, wider exploration is part of the appeal of the Internet.
Renner acknowledged concerns that exploration in cyberspace could lead students
into areas staff and parents would prefer they not enter.
"We have been pretty firm about having absolutely zero tolerance for some
things," Renner said. Sexually explicit materials and materials that encourage
violence or demonstrate bomb or weapon making are expressly forbidden territory
for students, Renner said.
Students have a lot to learn about the nuts and bolts of working on the
Internet. They will learn how to search for particular pieces of information
and how to sort through listings on particular subjects.
Once they learn to navigate in cyberspace, Renner said, more and more of their
research projects will use the Internet. For Sisters students it is like having
the world's largest research library right here in Sisters -- no farther away
than their computer screens.
