Assignments
Activate your e-pals account..
Send a message to Mrs. Nowlan at jdnowlan@cbe.epals.com to tell me you are available for communication.
It is expected we will use common courtesy when we talk among ourselves.
No less is expected when we talk in other environments, such as the
'Net. Not only are the “courtesies” listed below important
but any misuse of the schools communication tools
may result in suspension and or removal of computer privileges.
Common Courtesies of the "Highway"
“Please make sure you understand these common courtesy rules.”
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DON'T USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS (This is considered "shouting" on the 'Net).
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Spelling and grammar count (just like in English class). "A sloppy, misspelled message is sort of like showing up at a party with big grease stains on your shirt." (Levine, John R. et al., 1995, The Internet for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide, Inc: Chicago, IL, p. 332.)
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Don't "flame" (respond to comments in sarcastic, crabby language)
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Don't "spam" (send lots and lots of copies of a message to lots and lots of users).
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If you don't have anything useful to day, don't say anything at all.
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Everybody makes mistakes. Don't publicize yours or others' to news groups. (If you have a legitimate complaint to discuss, do it through email with the individuals involved.)
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Don't send on-line chain letters.
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Don't transfer lots and lots of audio and video materials (it slows down the 'Net).
Assignment
Visit the following sites:
There are more "Rules of the Road" at these sites. Read through
the information pertaining to Netiquette.
In an email to your teacher, send one example of "Netiquette" from one of these sites written in your own words. Make sure your email subject line has the following title: netiquette
Task 3: Who's Who on the Internet
The Internet continues to grow at an astonishing pace and contains information on any topic imaginable. When you are using the Internet as a resource you need to make sure that you are finding “reliable” information.
Not all the information on the Internet is reliable and you must be able to not only search for information but also determine what sources are reliable. If you include information from a site that is incorrect then you are responsible.
Searching can be a challenging task, especially with so many sites on the 'Net.
Sometimes you end up in places where you are not supposed to be...that happens to all of us. If you find yourself at a site you know you should not be at then get out immediately. It is easy to tell whether you reached a site by accident or purposefully went to it.
HOSTNAME ZONES:
The three-letter last word of Internet hostnames, can often tell you a lot about a site before you even visit it. Many of these are obvious, but they are listed here for your convenience.
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com: company or individual (usually a commercial site)
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edu: educational institution
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gov: government
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mil: military
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net: network organization
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int: international organization
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org: nonprofit or other noncommercial organization
Assignment
- Open a Microsoft Word document
- Create a table of four columns and eight rows. Use the Word "Tables Function" to create a table of four columns and eight rows.
- Click on Table
- Click on Insert -> Table
- Type 4 in Number of columns, type 8 in Number of rows
- Click OK
|
Host name zone
|
Date of visit
|
Name of site
|
One interesting fact
|
Visit the sites listed below.
Identify and record the "owner" of each site and what type of
information is available on that site.
List the hostname zones in the FIRST column.
As you visit each zone, complete the DATE of the visit (SECOND column);
the name of the site visited (THIRD column); and one interesting fact
noted at the site (FOURTH column).
Save the table as whowhousername and email it to your teacher. Email subject:
whowho.username
Check out the links within from the listed sites.
- http://ednet.edc.gov.ab.ca
- http://www.people.com
- http://worldpeace.org/
- http://cool.infi.net/
- http://www.who.int
- http://www.navy.mil
- http://www.uwm.edu
- For the final row...list your favorite site and complete the table.
Save this table as host-yourname and drop into the drop box
Task 4: Acronyms and Emoticons
When using the Internet, you are likely to come across a variety of acronyms (groups of letters that seem to mean something to everybody, but you ;-). These developed originally because messages lumbered over the telephone lines at 1200 baud per second, and it was important to keep communications short and snappy (and therefore, less expensive). Now, they are just part of what makes the Internet, "the 'Net". Like the English language, the language of the 'Net is constantly changing, so only a few of the widely recognized 'Net acronyms are listed here.
| BTW | by the way |
| TTFN | ta' ta' for now |
| FAQ | frequently asked questions |
| DNS | domain name server (translates domain names and numeric addresses) |
| HTML | hypertext markup language (used in writing web pages) |
| HTTP | hypertext transfer protocol (the way web pages are transferred over the 'Net) |
| FTP | file transfer protocol (the way web pages are transferred to a server) |
You may also come across what appear to be groups of unrelated, non-alphabetic keystrokes....hmmm. These are, in fact, drawings known as emoticons. Most of us actually use these regularly, including myself. One example is :-) This is, of course a smiley face...and when I use it means that you have made me happy. :-( Guess what that means....
- acronyms : http://www.harper.cc.il.us/bus-ss/cis/118/lessons/acronym1.htm
- http://www.chirpingbird.com/netpets/html/computer/emoticon.html
Assignment:
- Use the Word "Tables Function" to create a table of two columns and 24 rows.
- Click on Table
- Click on Insert -> Table
- Type 2 in Number of columns, type 20 in Number of rows
- Click OK
- In your 24 row table, record 10 examples of acronyms
(not including those above) and record 10 examples of emoticons
with their meanings. Record each acronym and emoticons you know of or
have encountered and their meaning (You can of course use some of the
examples from the websites I sent you to.) Save the file as acronyms-yourname
and sent to the drop box.
Search engines use a program called a robot to scan the Web for new and updated pages. Since hundreds of new pages are created each day, it is impossible for a robot to catalog every new page on the Web. There are, however, some tricks to finding the information that you want.
Boolean Searches
A Boolean expression is an expression that can have only one of two values,
true OR false. All simple searches are <Boolean>=<true>. If
you search for <cow>, the search engine will return all references
where <cow>=<true>. It will NOT tell you where <cow>
isn't.
Simple Boolean expressions can be expanded by using and, or and not. Using these operators makes your search more specific, and therefore more useful. For example: If you search for "cows and brown and three-legged," you will get all references to three-legged brown cows. (These references are called "hits.") If you search for "cows and three-legged not brown" you will get all references to three-legged cows that are not brown. A search of "cows or dogs not brown" will get all references of all cows and dogs that aren't brown.
Before you begin any search, it is important to prepare your search "map" (keywords combined with boolean search expressions), carefully. Three common search engines are: YAHOO ( http://www.yahoo.com ); EXCITE ( http://www.excite.com/ ); and LYCOS ( http://www.lycos.com/ ). To specify boolean expressions:
...in YAHOO, "advanced search" right beside the Search button.
...in LYCOS, "Advanced Search" right beside the Search button.
...in EXCITE, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click "Advanced
Search"
Practice:
Use one of the engines to perform the two searches shown: (1) your last name and your first name and your middle name; (2) your last name or your first name or your middle name. NOTE the different number of "hits."
Other search engines you can use are listed at http://www.searchenginewatch.com/links/Major_Search_Engines/The_Major_Search_Engines/index.html
This site describes the different search engines and what they are good for.
Assignment:
Use at least three different search engines to find information on a subject of your choice.
- Compare the first 5 sites listed by each engine.
- how many sites come up for each search engine?
- how relevant are the sites found?
- how can you refine your search using a boolian seach?
- Format your finding in a written paragraph or a table.
- Save the file as search-yourname and drop into the drop box.
Task 6: Digital Communication System
Each day, possibly each minute, there is an advance within the technological
market. Within this lesson, you will be required to take a look at a few
of the advancements, after looking at a few, choose one and provide your
teacher a brief description of that device.
There are many types of communications technologies that you may choose
from. Here are some examples:.
|
Digital video device for computer |
Internet Phone |
|
MP3 player |
Palm device |
Source of graphics: http://www.streettech.com/
Assignment:
Choose any new communications technology. In two to three paragraphs, provide a brief description of the technology. The description must include
- a physical description of features,
- benefits of this technology over other existing technologies.
- price and the availability of the technology.
- include a graphic with your description.
- Remember that you must include the proper Internet reference of the information you found... go back to the previous lesson if you forgot how to cite an Internet reference ;-)
- save the file as gagets-yourname and drop into the drop box
This is your final assignment for this module; take some time to reflect on what you have done so far. What have you learned? Being in a virtual environment, much of the information within this course could be review for you. This final assignment may or may not be something different to you...it is a summary of the history of the internet.
Since the information is already available on several websites, you are
sent on the Internet to read the about the creation of the Internet and
how it developed to its current state.
Review the following sites to learn more:
After reading the content of these websites you may want to look at http://www.webopedia.com/
to look at key word definitions to have a better understanding of the
material you read. :-)
Assignment:
In either a
- typed, double-spaced, one or two page report (in correct, standard format using headers and page numbers) OR
- a table OR
- a time line OR
- a PowerPoint presentation
complete a history of the Internet that includes:
- who started it
- how, when and why it was started
- a definition and description of the Internet
- what is the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web
- various uses of the Internet for personal, educational and business uses.
- remember to cite your sources.
Save the file as internethistory-yourname and drop in the drop box.