Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh

Informational Newsletter
Volume 95, Number 7
/projects/ckp/newsletter/v95n7.html

Using Newsgroups in the Classroom

There are over 3,000 Internet (Usenet) newsgroups that are accessible by Pittsburgh Public School teachers and students. Since each newsgroup has a specific focus and a unique following, they are a valuable Internet forum for teachers and students to reach experts. Here are a few examples of how teachers and students have used newsgroups.

At Westinghouse High School, students in the SAM (Science and Mathematics) program use Science newsgroups to post questions about their individual research projects. For example, last year Rashidah Campbell posted messages to a number of groups [sci.chem, sci.environment, environment.talk] to obtain answers to questions about the experiments she was conducting for her project "Acid Mine Drainage". Within a few days, Rashidah received responses from chemists around the world. Not only did she obtain answers to her questions, but a number of people offered to mentor her during the research project.

The following anecdote was provided by a mother of a PPS student.
"In the past we posted in the K12 newsgroups to seek out email pals for Margo, my daughter who was home-bound due to her rounds of chemotherapy. The response was absolutely phenomenal. She had email pals from all over the world. She became the class assignments - Learn to Use Email by Writing to Margo. It turned out that the kids enjoyed it so much they kept writing after the assignment was over. During the summer, when they did not have Internet access, the kids wrote Margo via snail mail. Pictures were sent and friendships made. Margo is now back in school the number of letters is smaller but the friendships are just as strong."

The students and faculty of Liberty International Studies Academy are using an internal newsgroup [pps.school.liberty] to begin communicating about what is happening in their school. Specifically, teachers are working with students to post project descriptions, news reports about what is happening in the various classrooms, and student writing for others to read and respond to. They welcome anyone interested to read, post, and respond to messages on their newsgroup.

Fourth grade students at Woolslair Gifted Center were doing independent research on a variety of topics. Two students wanted to obtain specific information about the equipment that hockey goalies wear - price, weight, manufacturer ... They went out on a newsgroup [rec.sport.hockey] and posted their questions. The next day they received responses from actual hockey goalies at universities and leagues around the world.

This last anecdote tells a user's experience with newsgroups. "As a true trivia fan, newsgroups can give you wonderful bits and pieces of information. Who would believe you can get literally hundreds of recipes from medieval times. Why you might want hundreds of recipes from the medieval period is a topic for another discussion. Some newsgroups are extremely active, and others border on boring because of the lack of postings. Last year, I subscribed to the [sci.classics] newsgroup. This group is amazingly active, and it was not unusual to log in Monday morning and find over a hundred new postings. Many of the arguments were indeed extremely specialized, and could seem overly picky to a non-specialist like myself, but they were still fun to glance at. A thread that continued for a long period on this newsgroup was the topic of "Achilles in Vietnam". This led to some unique discussions. Reluctantly, I forced myself to unsubscribe because I do have other responsibilities like a job and was just too busy to spend a great deal of time reading all the postings."

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: When I login to the newsgroups, I have only 10-15 groups listed. How do I get the rest of the groups?
Answer: The initial list you see are the groups you are subscribed to. Using the [y] command, for yank, will bring in all of the newsgroups.

Question: How do I reply to a posting on a newsgroup?
Answer: There are two ways to reply to a posting. If you want to reply so that everyone in the group can read your contribution, use the [f] command, for follow-up. If you want to reply with personal email to the individual who posted a message, use the [r] command, for reply.

Workshops and Support

We are beginning a second set of workshops for anyone interested in learning more about using the Internet. Each workshop will be two hours long and can 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, November 27	Windows 3.11, System 7.5
Wednesday, November 29	Windows 3.11, System 7.5
Monday, December 4	Beginning Email
Tuesday, December 5	Newsgroups
Monday, December 11	Beginning Email
Wednesday, December 13	Newsgroups

To register for one of the workshops, please call Kathy Mingone, our secretary, at 622-5930.

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)

If you are a PPS employee and would like an Internet account, call us at 622-5930.