Re: AUP agenda item

[Tracy LaQuey Parker <[e-mail]>]

Bill,

> Warning. Personal bias present.
>         --------------------------------------------------
> Connie argues a point that has been raised in the past.  Is IETF the
> right forum for a specific vertical segment?  It is not clear that
> any specific IETF rfcs have been published for a specific user segment
> except the recent document by Jennifer Sellers.  It can be argued that
> this group has no bearing on the IETF primary function, which is
> protocol standards development and general operational principles.

Here's my own personal bias.  Yes.  I think the IETF needs to be
sensitive to the needs of various communities. There are technical
and user solutions that the K-12 community may need that the banking
industry does not.

I don't have an IETF Primary Function Statement in front of me, but
the User Services Working Group has been a part of the IETF since
1989, so I think the primary function of the IETF goes beyond what you
describe.  USWG doesn't deal with operational issues, it deals
with the user issues.  And when push comes to shove, user needs
drive the technical solutions.

Unless there isn't anyone looking out for the user's interests.  Which
can differ from vertical market to vertical market.

> Documents that we produce (IETF) are not geared for the average teacher.
> Their job is to teach/guide my children in effective learning techniques,
> not the uderstanding of arcane protocols or network operations.
> I think the docuements we produce should be targeted to the district/school
> technical staff who will be building the networks and keeping them up.
> It is then up to these staff to advise the administration on appropriate
> policies/architectures that should be deployed so that the teachers can
> do their jobs.  I do not expect a teacher to write a school or district
> AUP or design a connection architecture in the absence of any input from
> either a technology committee, staff or consultant who is paid to understand
> the things we do.

Yes.  You are right.  We are not aiming this document at teachers who
intend to use the Internet in the classroom.  But
you are also wrong.  A large percentage of districts and schools
don't have a technical staff.  Many times, the computer instructor
doubles as the district technology staff.  And if schools and districts
do have a staff, they probably aren't familiar with an internetworking
environment.

They are used to desktop based solutions and their networking experience
is limited to shared file servers.  How can they possibly know the in's
and out's of peer-to-peer networking and global interactive communication?

You're assuming a background and level of experience that these people
just don't have -- yet.  We need to assist them in understanding a world we've
been dealing with for years.

> Specifically in regards to the AUP draft, I appreciate the comments
> made and a revised draft will be out on monday.  I reiterate that this
> item is larger than the K12 community and perhaps should be discussed
> in a different WG or perhaps tabled and the CoVIS AUP be published as
> an excellent AUP template to work from.

Yes, I agree with you about this.  I think perhaps you should publish
this document in another forum. You've done a lot of work that other
people will understand and will apply to other segments, so it shouldn't be
labeled specifically a K-12 document.  What should happen here is
some of the school technology directors on this list who have had personal
experience can customize what you've done or write another document
based on what they think is important.  How's that?

--Tracy

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