From: marc (Marc Siegel - NASA K-12 IITA Program)
Subject: Working w/o Internet in class, and misc
Date: Wed, 16 Oct 1996 06:17:38 -0700 (PDT)
Errors-to: mail-mgr@quest.arc.nasa.gov
Hello folks,
I few things are on the agenda for this email...
1) Those annoying "Errors-to: mail-mgr@quest.arc.nasa.gov" messages.
Jeroen Wierda was right on the button when he wrote:
I think that the stuff that some people were talking about lately is
NOT an error message. I think that it means that: If you encounter
errors with this service, you should send a message to the mail-mgr.
It also means that if there are errors in the list, they'll bounce back
to me, not to the person who originated the message. That was the situation
which prompted me to put in the Errors-to: field. So as with many things
computer, a fix on one front is a setback (confusing) on another.
I agree with Jeroen that it would be ideal to have the message at the
bottom of the header. I'm working that issue, but it isn't high on the
priority list. So for now, please learn to ignore it.
2) Another (infrequent) Marc whine about proper list use:
(THIS ONLY APPLIES TO PTK-ADVOCATES; ALL OTHERS PLEASE IGNORE)
I've noticed a few posting recently to ptk-advocate list that would be
best placed on discuss-lfm. General messages should always be shared
over discuss-lfm, since there is a much larger group of people subscribed
to discuss-lfm and your ideas will be more widely read (and enjoyed!).
Also, discuss-lfm is archived and digested for those who prefer their
teacher discussion in that format. So please limit ptk-advocate listings
to message that really only apply to ptk-advocates.
3) Needing Internet access in your classroom:
Recently, Linda McArthur wrote:
In Oklahoma, computers are scarce in classrooms and Internet access
is VERY scarce. I have been concerned about how this will limit
participation by our Oklahoma students and teachers in some of the
"Live from Mars" activities. For example, the Planet Explorer Toolkit
Activity is terrific, but only science teachers with Internet access
in their classrooms can participate.
I hear Linda's concern, but I respectfully disagree that folks must have
Internet access in their classrooms to participate. First off, the
entire design phase (ie what tools will be included in the kit) can be done
in class without any net access. When it comes to summarizing and sending
it in, that is only one email which can be sent from home. Then to
participate in the debate, I think in no more then an hour/week, a
teacher could collect (at home online) all of the postings for the past
week and put them on a disk. Then bring them to school and let kids
read them and discuss and compose their own response. Again, from home,
this info could be sent off in one email. I know it requires some
work from home. But certainly you could participate. And actually
getting involved in this way begins to build a strong case for why the
Internet is so important to have in the classroom.
We really do try to make these projects so that folks with just Email at
home can also participate. But this is really just an egghead idea
cooked up by some NASA weenies who aren't in classrooms. So I'd be
interested to listen to whether the scenario I described is indeed
workable. Have others on the list done these projects without Internet
in their classrooms?
Your network pal,
Marc