Common Knowledge Pittsburgh

Informational Newsletter
Volume 95, Number 1
/projects/ckp/newsletter/v95n1.html

Join the Information Revolution

Each new day brings another news headline about the Information Superhighway, the awesome information resources of the Internet, or the amazing ways in which network communications are transforming peoples lives. The stories are endless: students corresponding with other students all around the world, parents using email to keep in touch with children away at college, librarians using the Internet for research, teachers posting messages on bulletin boards that are read by thousands of other educators, students publishing their portfolios on the World Wide Web, schools creating home pages that reach out to the local community and beyond. This interactive medium is forcing educators to reconsider how people learn.

Through a grant from the National Science Foundation, Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh (CK:P) has the opportunity to provide access to this information revolution to all teachers and staff in the Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS). This newsletter is the first of many you will receive this year that will help provide you with information pertaining to the power of the Internet. We would like to invite you to join us in this information revolution. Feel free to call us and discuss the possibilities.

Getting an Account

Any staff member in the PPS can have a free Internet account. Using a computer, modem and phone line, either at home or at school, you can reach the Internet for the price of a local phone call. The computer can be either a Macintosh or a PC, the modem can be slow (2400 baud) or fast (28,800 baud) and the phone is the same dedicated line that you use for regular phone calls. CK:P will be happy to provide you with the technical support necessary to get on the Internet. If you are interested and have the equipment available give us a call at 622-5930.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Does it cost extra money when I connect to Internet sites around the world?
Answer: The only cost associated with Internet use for PPS staff is the phone call to the Oakland area of Pittsburgh. Once you are connected to the Internet, everything else is free.

Workshops and Support

We are offering a number of workshops this fall for anyone interested in learning more about the possibilities of the Internet. Each workshop will be two hours long and will only accommodate 15 people. Participants will have the opportunity to use a computer for two hours and learn about a particular aspect of the Internet. All the workshops are from 4:00 - 6:00 in Room G-8 at the Woolslair Gifted Center.

Monday, October 9	Internet Newsgroups
Wednesday, October 11	Beginning Email
Monday, October 16	SLIP Clients (FTP, Netscape, Telnet)
Wednesday, October 18	Beginning Email
Monday, October 23	Basic Unix Commands
Wednesday, October 25	Advanced Email
Monday, October 30	Advanced Unix Commands
Wednesday, November 1	Lynx

If you are interested in attending the workshop, please call our secretary, Kathy Mingone at 622-5930 and sign up. Sign up will be on a first-come first-serve basis. Individuals will be allowed to sign up for two sessions.

Obtaining Help

Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh maintains a number of email addresses that provide users with online help. If you have an account on the system and would like to obtain answers to common questions, send email to:

trouble@pps.pgh.pa.us (technical assistance)

resources@pps.pgh.pa.us (curricular assistance)

info@ckp.edu (information pertaining to Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh)

sliplube@pps.pgh.pa.us (setting up a slip account on a PC)

macslip@pps.pgh.pa.us (setting up a slip account on a MAC)