Glossary

Jennie Bickmore-Brand Lecturer in Education at Edith Cowan University. She developed the seven principles of literacy and learning in 1990.
cache The slowest part of using the Internet is the actual tranmission of data. Commonly or recently accessed files can be stored in a cache on the local machine, and retrieved almost instantaneously. The browser you're using to read this is probably doing just that. Some modem sharing software allows for caching on a larger scale, whereby the machine that is physically connected to the modem stores data for its client machines. The result is an apparent increase in speed of access.
CD rom changer Unlike most personal computers which have a CD rom installed internally, networked machines can access a shared device on the network. A "7-stack" means it has space for 7 CD roms at any one time. They work quite well - unless the CD being accessed contains video. Ethernet networks tend to be too slow, and the video gets very jerky. Newer network technologies, such as ATM (asynchronous transfer mode), are fast enough to overcome this limitation, but are still prohibitively expensive for most schools.
collaborative, learner-centered classroom Means different things to different people, but in this case, it is a classroom where the students use each other as their prime learning resource, and the development of skills happens through a "cascading" of information. Obviously, group-work is essential here. The "learner-centred" idea involves the student taking responsibility for what they choose to study - as long as they demonstrate suitable outcomes.
CGI scripting A language used for advanced Web publishing, allowing pages to be interactive. CGI is often used when data has to be returned to the Web by the viewer - filling out a guestbook, for example.
critical literacy Almost self-explanatory. The step beyond being able to use the language, whereby the critically literate person can make selective, reasoned judgements on how they use the language.
Curriculum Framework The education system in Western Australia, comprising state and private schools, is currently in the throes of introducing a new curriculum, based on an outcomes approach. The framework document covers K-12, includes 8 learning areas, and incorporates "values" education.
dial-up access There's lots of ways of connecting a computer to the Internet. Dial-up is the domestic method, whereby a modem is used to ring an Internet service provider, and the two computers talk via telephone lines. It's a bit primitive in concept, but most users would know that a fastish modem and a reasonable Internet service provider means access that is quite acceptable. We'd all like everything to be instant, but that's a long way off. The Internet will always be as fast as its slowest component.
directory structures Just like the "filing cabinet" metaphor attached to so many operating systems for computers, a Web site works on cascading files to organise data.
email Electronic mail. It's just so darn convenient - and powerful in a classroom. Remember the "write a letter to the editor of the local paper" exercise that is staple in so many English classes? How about "write a letter to the editor of the New York Times and send it now? And pen-pals... The possibilities are endless.
file transfer Moving Web pages, images etc. from the local computers (the ones the students are using in the classroom) to the server, where Web pages can be accessed by those browsing the Web. There's been a few attempts to automate this part of Web publishing, but it still requires a degree of specialist knowledge which might be beyond many students (and teachers!)
Bill Gates I refuse to believe you don't know who Bill Gates is.
GIF Graphics Interchange Format. A file format for storing pictures as data on a computer. It compresses the information so that the smallest possible time is taken to transmit the file. It's one of the two main formats supported by Web browsers, along with JPEG. Windows computers use a native format called BMP, and there are numerous others. Conversion between formats (and an understanding of the technicalities) is a key skill in Web publishing.
home page Central or "root" page of a web site. Click here to see one.
HTML Hypertext Mark-up Language. It's a page-description language that allows a variety of browsers running on a variety of computers to display Web pages as intended (we wish). It's very simple, and a good exercise in logic. To see the HTML code for this page, choose "view frame source" or "view source" from the menu at the top.
Hypertext. You're using it now. The form of of written communication made possible by computers - although it's been argued that such luminaries as Milton dabbled in a form of it. You click on a link, and it takes you somewhere else. Hence, the end of a document is difficult to define.
inquiry-based In this case, much the same as learner-centred. Student curiosity is the impetus for content.
IRC Internet Relay Chat. The "live" (usually text based) system whereby two or more users on any computers attached to the Internet can type messages to each other in real time. Imagine a group of students in New Zealand interviewing an author in New York. Or a class in Germany debating a class in Botswana. It happens.
I.S.P. Internet service provider. The provider allows you to connect (in the case of dial-up access via a modem and telephone line) to his or her computer which is permanently on the Internet. We use Vianet.
JPEG Joint photographic experts group. Another file format for images used by Web browsers. It is particularly good for photographic images, and allows a variable ratio of compression to loss of quality. See GIF.
Local Area Planning The Education Department of Western Australia has instituted an ongoing devolution program, whereby neighbouring schools are expected to rationalise staff and facilities.
Microsoft Word '97 One of the features of the latest office suites is the capacity to produce documents in HTML format suitable for posting on the Web. They're not perfect - by a long way - but they do allow those with word processing skills to produce reasonable Web pages, even if there is a rather clumsy "sameness" to them. We'll resist the urge to put a link to Microsoft here.
modem It converts digital information into sounds. These sounds are transmitted via the telephone network, and when decoded into digital signals by another modem, the result is two computers "talking".
modem sharing software Tricks computers on a local area network into thinking that they're connected to the Internet when in actual fact they're connected to another computer that is connected to the Internet. It's probably an unnecessary distinction - the result is that many computers can share one modem and telephone connection. You'd be surprised how well it works. Greenwood S.H.S. uses 3 such arrangements. In our library, which has five computers online, the results are particularly good. The computing laboratory where The Fiction Factory took place has 11 machines sharing one modem. It can get a bit slow. We used a product called Wingate. You can find out more from the distributors, Deerfield. There's also a hardware alternative, the modem router, which does the same thing.
network An interconnection of computers, whereby data can be shared between any computer that is connected. The Internet itself is a network - although it is often called a "network of networks." Local area networks (LAN's) usually occupy a physical space in proximity to each other - wide area networks (WAN's) can have components that are geographically isolated. There are lots of networking systems, although Ethernet is by far the most common.
network printer Theoretically, any device (printers, disk drives, scanners etc) attached to a computer on a network can be shared by any other computer on the network. In practice, such shared devices slow things down, as they are dependant on the speed of the individual machine to which they are attached. Some devices, especially printers, can have their own place on the network, so that no single client computer is responsible for channelling data to and from them.
newspeak The condensation of language described by George Orwell in 1984. This incarnation of the concept isn't quite as sinister... we hope.
OSMIS Outcome Statements Monitoring Information Systems project - another Education Department of Western Australia intiative which was a precursor to the full implementation of an outcomes-based curriculum.
outcome statements A continuum of levels allowing the student to be assessed according to the outcomes achieved.
pedagogy Art or science of teaching. (Webster's Third New International Dictionary, 1966)
peer conferencing Talk about it amongst yourselves... Oral sharing of ideas and development of concepts. Also used for editing and reviewing work.
Performance Management System of employee monitoring involving review of performance currently being introduced by the Education Department of Western Australia.
reconciliation grid Like the old "marking grid" with every task listed, and outcome levels for each strand attached. It's a master summary of what outcomes the student achieved.
scanner Device to turn a printed image (e.g. a photograph) into a digital image that can be stored on a computer or transmitted on the Internet. They're ridiculously cheap at the moment, and essential if the web site is to have an original graphic component.
search engine As the name implies, it's an electronic catalogue of whatever is on the Internet... well, whatever is actually catalogued on that search engine. Reasonably experienced users would understand that they're all different, and no single search engine has all the answers. For our "top ten", click here.
server Networks usually have a central machine that is used as the "core" of the system. It "serves" the other machines ("clients") on the network, and provides a common place to store files, data, applications etc.
Seven principles of literacy and learning It sounds a bit Zen, but they are most sensible. The key ideas are explained in Literacy and Learning Strategies, Education Department of Western Australia, 1996. For a detailed reading see Bickmore-Brand (1993) in Stephens, Wayward, Clarke & Izard, Communicating Mathematics: Perspectives from Classroom Practice and Current Research, ACER/AAMT, Melbourne.
site maintenance Apart from the obvious connotations of keeping things working, it involves transfering files to and from the I.S.P's server. Although it's possible to use a web browser such as Netscape Gold, the most common way is to use a specific application such as Ws_ftp. The method used is via a protocol called File Transfer Protocol (FTP). An understanding of directory structures is critical here.
Stepping Out Project Cross-curricular language and learning program that targets teachers of Years 6 to 10. The program provides theoretically based and practical approaches to pedagogy. Many of the strategies are cognitively based. The program allows teachers with the understandings and strategies to develop student centred, outcomes-based learning. It was instituted as a large-scale professional development program in Western Australian state schools commencing in 1991.
Student Outcomes Demonstrated skill or behaviour as shown through student work. A curriculum based on a framework of Student Outcomes differs from past methods of determining coursework in that rather than the content of what is studied being the key variable, the demonstrated behaviour resulting from content becomes the focus.
Telnet Unfashionable but powerful Internet application that allows access to remote computers anywhere on the network. The World Wide Web has replaced it for the most part.
Unit Curriculum On the way out... it's a content/demonstrated skills driven curriculum, whereby students progress through stages according to succesful completion of pre-requisite units. In theory, the units are not age based - students from different years could be studying a particular unit according to ability and achievement. It didn't work out that way, and the syllabus became very repetitive.
Usenet Newsgroups, a public forum for discussion on a range of topics. Sadly, it's turning into a bit of a minefield with a massive amount of unsolicited advertising polluting what was not so long ago a brilliant way to find information and exchange ideas.
User accounts any networks allocate specific facilities and storage space to individual users. Each user has a user name and password, and a set directory on the server is allocated to them to store files and data. The alternative is "public" access, whereby every user can access any other user's material.
web publishing The process of putting information onto the World Wide Web - this page is "published" when it is accessable by anybody browsing the Web. The idea of publishing has overtones of content - using the Web as a direct alternative to paper based publishing of fiction, essays etc.