FAQ Piece to Review

[Jennifer Sellers <[e-mail]>]

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All,

Still plugging away at the FAQ revision. The first question is revied and
the second question is new since the I-D came. Please review and comment. 

Thanks,
Jennifer

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4.5 What organizational structure needs to be in place in order for my 
school to have Internet access?   

Schools and school districts have devised structures that vary widely, 
depending on a school's particular requirements. In many schools, the 
librarians/media specialists guide the development of the network and 
policies on its use and serve as the top of the structure within the 
school. In other schools, an interested teacher becomes the driving force 
behind getting the Internet into the school and may be the most 
appropriate person to see the project through. The school administration, 
if not the guiding force, needs to be behind the plan to bring the 
Internet into the school. And all other parties who might have a stake in 
the development should be brought in as early as possible. These might 
include area businesses, community leaders, teachers with Internet access 
at home, the librarian or media specialist whether or not that person is 
knowledgeable about the Internet, parents, and anyone in the school who 
finds the idea of bringing the Internet into the school appealing. In 
short, any organizational structure will do as long as it is clear and 
simple and includes the people who might have a stake in the process of 
bringing the Internet into the school.   

One way to ensure that an organizational structure develops and that the 
right people become involved is to invite a wide variety of people to 
create a technology plan for the school. The by-product of technology 
planning can be the development of an organizational structure, but of 
course the planning is useful in itself to help your school define and 
meet goals for Internet and other technology use. The National Center for 
Technology Planning hosts a collection of technology plans and planning 
aids for people who need help, new ideas, or solutions as they tackle 
technology planning in their schools or districts. Information on the 
National Center for Technology Planning can be found in Section 9, 
"Resources and Contacts."   

No matter what the structure, there should be someone at the school who 
can take the lead in working with vendors and Internet Service Providers 
(ISPs). This person should be knowledgeable about - or willing to learn 
about - the technical aspects of connecting to the Internet, including 
knowledge about any networks the school already has in place. The lead 
person should have an alternate so that the school is not completely 
dependent on one person. If your school hires and independent consultant, 
someone at the school should be aware of everything the consultant does 
and ideally should receive training in everything the consultant does.

Another role that must be filled is that of in-house network 
administrator. Having an already busy teacher take on this role as an 
extra duty is a bad idea; a greater time commitment is needed.   

4.6 What questions do I need to ask people who are selling network services?

There are a number of questions you should ask. Anything you hear that 
you donUt understand must be questioned. If a vendor knows the product 
and the process well, he or she should be able to explain in terms you 
can understand.

You should also ask any kind of vendor how available they are and at what 
point they either stop helping you or begin charging by the hour. Get 
references from other customers, preferably including at least one school 
which has requirements similar to yours.

If the school has not yet purchased a Local Area Network (LAN), ask the 
LAN vendor how the product will interact with TCP/IP. (TCP/IP stands for 
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the technology which 
forms the basis of the Internet.). If necessary, arrange a meeting with 
the LAN vendor, the ISP, and any consultants that may be involved. Make a 
list of the schoolUs requirements, including security, the number of 
computers on the LAN which will have Internet access, and the Internet 
services you want students and teachers to be able to use. (See Section 
5, RQuestions About Using Internet Services,S for an introduction to the 
services.). Ask the vendors if they can provide services that will meet 
your requirements.   

Ask the ISP what services are included with your purchase of Internet 
connectivity. Will they terminate the circuit in a router and leave you 
to your own resources to take care of the RLAN sideS of the connection? 
Will they provide a primary domain name server for you? Will they 
register your domain name with the InterNIC? Are they providing you with 
all the IP addresses you need? Will they help you with security issues? 
Do they provide a newsfeed or a newsreading service? (Do you know the 
difference?) If they agree to do some work on the LAN side, what is the 
extent of that work? (Configure individual computers? Handle subnetting 
and routing issues?) Will they answer questions from your network 
administrator? Will a dedicated computer be needed as an Internet server 
for such things as domain name service, the World Wide Web, Gopher, and 
FTP? Do they provide any training sessions for your staff and are these 
sessions included in the connectivity price? Do they offer any other 
classes or seminars and are these included in the connectivity price? 
Does the ISP do their own training or do they contract to someone else, 
and if the latter, who is it? Check references on them.

There are some specific questions you should ask of an ISP who is 
providing dial-in connections. (See Question 4.8 for a further discussion 
on dialing in from home.) What is the charge per minute for connectivity? 
Is SLIP or PPP connectivity available? Will the ISP be providing software 
which allows you to use Internet services such as email and the World 
Wide Web or will they help you obtain it? Will they help you install it? 
When you check references, ask other customers if they encounter lots of 
busy signals.

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