An Appraisal Of The Internet
And Associated Tools For Students
And Associated Tools For Students
Author: Mr D Wilson
Source of document: Open University
Date: 12/6/96
Introduction. The internet is a collection of different types of computers connected together by a combination of national phone networks, international phone networks and dedicated communication links between access providers on a global scale. When you think of a phone network don't think of your telephone line, think of satellite communications and optical fibre trans Atlantic cables.
The subject matter that can be found on the internet is as vast and varied as your imagination. If want to discuss a subject or research a subject the internet will have information on that subject. For example there are over 1400 news groups available. Each covering a different topic.
Much of this information is text based but graphics, sound, movies and applications are also available. The internet can be used to provide local cost audio phone calls over trans Atlantic distances.
INTERNET TOOLS
To access the information and use the internet, various tools must be used. The tools provided for OU students are Windows compatible.
Ping. This can be used to identify the IP address of a machine. These unique addresses identify all machines connected to the internet. By sending a ping request you are also checking the connection between your machine and the one you are pinging. The ping is repeated and the times taken for the pinged machine to respond are used to measure the performance of the connection. This is simple to use but is of little use to most OU students, as internet providers monitor connections to maintain them at optimum levels.
Telnet. This program allows the student to access other computers as though they were physically typing on the keyboard of that computer. The program turns the students computer into a terminal. The OU Cosy network can be accessed from the internet via telnet. Once at the login prompts, further access will be determined by the user name and password. The telnet program is easy to use to make the connection. Once connected the ease of use depends on the system accessed.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP). An FTP client is used to transfer files between computers over the internet. The file can be anything from a sound clip to a movie. The program is easy to use once the list of FTP servers has been setup. This involves knowing the name of an FTP server and the password to gain access. Most servers allow limited access to a login name of anonymous with a password of your own internet email address. The ability to transfer files between machines is extremely useful. Program updates and shareware can easily be obtained. Documents for research can be down loaded and then read offline at the students leisure keeping phone bills to a minimum. The problem is to find the information to down load.
Gopher. This program is used to browse for information. It provides directory listings of files and documents that are available on networks. These files may be programs, documents or links to databases. Gopher can be used to search data sources and then retrieve them using an FTP program or link to them using a telnet program. The program allows the student to access directory listings that contain specific information.
Veronica. This is a resource discovery system providing access to information resources held on most of the world's gopher servers. Veronica includes references to many resources provided by other types of information servers, such as WWW servers, usenet archives and telnet accessible information services. A simple query can be quite powerful because a large number of information servers are included in the index. The result of a Veronica search is a gopher menu comprising information items whose titles contain the specified key words.
The World Wide Web (WWW). This allows all the above and more to be achieved using a graphical interface with hyperlinks between documents and servers. The WWW is simple to use with a common point and click interface. Links to gopher/Veronica searches can be found as well as internet searches. It is the easiest way to access the internet but as a result the useful information available is diluted by gigabytes of opinionated drivel and advertisements. It can be used as a research tool but is more suited to entertainment and providing services such as online florists, airline reservation and computer shopping.
ACCESS
Any computer that can connect to a modem or a network can be connected to the internet. The type of computer used will determine the type of connection made. An IBM compatible computer with a specification of; 386 CPU, 4Mb RAM, 35Mb free hard disk space, 1 free com port or 1 free internal 8 bit ISA card socket, running Windows 3.x is an example of the type of computer that could be used. This is not a minimum or maximum specification. This purchased second hand would cost about £200.
A modem will be required to connect using the PSTN phone network or a terminal adapter to connect by ISDN. Terminal adapters are more expensive £350+VAT as opposed to an internal modem from £75+VAT. The current standard speeds are 14.4 bits per second or 28.8. There are analogue modems that will work at speeds greater than 28.8 but these will only work when connected together using proprietary standards.
ACCESS PROVIDERS
To use the Internet you must have an address. Access providers sell these addresses and provide a connection point into the internet. This connection allows the user to connect to the access provider using the PSTN, in most cases at the local call rate. This would allow a user to connect to a computer any where in the world at a charge of £1 per hour at weekends.
This service is charged for at a rate of £7.50 - £15.00 per month depending on the service provider used. The cheap ones will offer limited help to users, the more expensive ones offer software, online help, free phone help, automatic upgrades of software, local conferences and online services not available to other internet users.
The cheapest providers can sometimes have access problems in that they become over subscribed for the amount of bandwidth that they can provide. The more expensive providers charge for the extra services and can become very expensive for new users who are unaware that they are connected to a premium service until the bill arrives in the post.
The OU used to provide free access to the internet requiring the student only to pay for phone calls. This is no longer the case. The OU offer internet connection depending on the students requirements and ability to pay. Phone calls may or may not be at local rate depending on the students location. An ISDN connection is not available as standard through the OU.
COST
From my personal experience and from the articles that I have read on the subject, initially connection time consists of 30 - 60 min periods of limited success attempting to configure and learn the systems. Once the basics have been learnt the connection times increase to perhaps 1hr a day and 4-5 hrs at weekends. After the first six months the novelty wears off and the internet is used mainly at weekends 1-2 hrs and perhaps once midweek for 5-10 min to collect mail and news.
USEFULNESS AND QUALITY OF INFORMATION
The quality of any information depends on the source or owner of the information and the date of the information. For internet information both these criteria will be known when you access the information. The usefulness is determined by the student. A report published by the Health and Safety executive can be available online before the hard copy has gone to press. This would make it very useful. The source would be known as it comes from a government Web site. This would be at the top end of the quality scale.
Anyone who wants to, can publish opinionated drivel on the internet and make it look good. An OU student must be aware that a professional looking Web site is not difficult to setup, not expensive to maintain and can be found by an internet search engine as easily as HSE report mentioned earlier. In comparison a home produced newsletter full of opinionated drivel, is unlikely to be stored in the local library. Online information needs to be carefully selected.
CONCLUSION
The internet does provide cheap access to quality information from across the globe. This needs to be carefully selected using the tools available. These are simple to use and very powerful. The internet could be used more extensively by the OU and OU students to present course material and conduct research respectively. The benefits of this would seem limited and the internet would be better used to enhance current OU distance learning.