Mailing lists [Hardie and Neou 1994] and newsgroups are among the oldest mechanisms for promoting interactions among groups of people who communicate by means of wide-area computer networks. KIDSPHERE is an Internet-based mailing list which was organized to stimulate the development of computer networks for children and teachers worldwide. It functions in a manner similar to many of the hundreds of other such mailing lists:
The strength of the community generated by this mechanism is impressive, as are the personal ties that many people develop through their participation in these joint activities. Since Internet usage is currently expanding at an annual rate well in excess of 100%, it is of interest to consider in what way successful activities such as KIDSPHERE can be maintained on the network, and how they can be expanded to involve significantly larger numbers of people. This is quite a challenge, since a large part of the appeal of the Internet to educators has been its remarkable responsiveness to their own personal concerns and interests. If this responsiveness is significantly diluted as the network expands to serve the mass market, its relevance for education could be reduced. This need not happen, since the distributed architecture of the Internet allows for many mechanisms which scale smoothly with increasing traffic and expanded readership. But for services such as KIDSPHERE to maintain their vitality it will be necessary for them to possess adequate resources and to exist in an environment suited to their continued growth.
As with many activities on the Internet, the origins of KIDSPHERE lie in serendipitous interactions. I had been curious whether NSFnet regulations restricted the use of their research network to university-level researchers. I posted several messages to online discussion groups such as comp.edu and misc.education -- anything with "education" vaguely present in the title. These messages initiated correspondence from a handful of people with interests similar to mine, and in the spring of 1989 Patt Haring proposed to set up a private mailing list to facilitate a discussion of the use of computer networks for pre-college education. The initial emphasis was on such issues as educational equity and access for the handicapped, and the initial subscribers were people active in these areas.
During the summer of 1989 the existence of this mailing list was advertised in the same forums where I had originally sought advice on the propriety of using the NSFnet for a school audience, and the number of participants grew rapidly. By the end of the summer it was clear that the group required a larger computer and a more stable support structure. The Computing and Information Services group at the University of Pittsburgh agreed to let the mailing list, then known as KIDSNET, operate on their machines. In the fall of 1989 Pittsburgh operation commenced, with a subscriber list of about 100 people.
Technically, the list functions as follows. There are two accounts on the host machine. One is now known as kidsphere, and the other is known as kidsphere-request. Their full Internet addresses are kidsphere@vms.cis.pitt.edu and kidsphere-request@vms.cis.pitt.edu, respectively. Electronic mail to kidsphere-request can be used to request subscriptions, offer address changes, make cancellations or request information on the technical operation of the mailing list. Electronic mail to kidsphere is meant to be distributed to all subscribers to the mailing list.
An important feature of KIDSPHERE that has been maintained since the early days of its operation is that all discussions are moderated. Mail to the kidsphere account is first read by the moderator and then distributed to all subscribers. The moderator's role is largely clerical, occasionally editorial, and absolutely vital for the group's successful functioning. Mailing lists which cater to audiences which are technically mature and sophisticated often function with no moderator. But this requires that all subscribers understand the mechanisms which underlie the mailing list's operation and are facile with the network software required to access the list. Experience has shown that many new KIDSPHERE subscribers would find significant barriers to the use of an unmoderated list. They have troubles with local mailers, with Internet addressing and with the concept of an online community. A moderator can smooth out the problems that would be created if all subscribers were simply thrown together with no introduction and no assistance.
The moderator's editorial function is a factor of more subtle importance. KIDSPHERE exists to promote the development of networks for the use of students and their teachers. The mailing list's subscribers have a broad range of interests which they seek to promote and develop in using the network. The moderator helps to encourage broad discussion while helping the group to retain its fundamental identity. This is accomplished through occasional editorial comments and through the routing of some fraction of the submitted messages to private electronic mail.
The moderator acts neither as a censor nor an obstacle to wide-ranging discussion. When subscribers have felt that comments which the moderator has routed as private traffic should be aired more broadly, they are encouraged to resubmit them for distribution to the full mailing list. When individual readers have become angry over public criticisms they have received through the list, the moderator has tried to keep arguments from becoming disruptive and individuals from becoming unhappy with the group.
These tasks have proved remarkably easy to carry out. The reason for this is that the group has its own sense of identity. The moderator's constant presence is not necessary to retain this feeling; it is something that is in the air, permeating a large fraction of the messages that flow in the KIDSPHERE group. There are several reasons for this:
Need. Computer networks satisfy important educational needs for access to information and access to the community outside of the traditional classroom.
Immediacy. Responses to information requests on the network are rapid and relevant. People appreciate this resource, remember its value and are quick to reciprocate when others need help online.
Community. The shared interests of KIDSPHERE subscribers create a strong virtual community. Members of this community interact online via personal e-mail as well as the KIDSPHERE mailing list, seek each other out at professional conferences, and make a point of visiting other subscribers when they travel.
Subscribers discover these aspects of the group quickly -- often in responses to their first posting. Since the growth of Internet use is so rapid, it is really true that the majority of Internet users are neophytes. Hence a message that says "I'm new around here, and I'm not quite sure what I'm doing, but I have an interesting idea which I would like to share" generates a warm and sympathetic response. Beyond this, the responses often provide information not available from other sources and reflect a great deal of thought and time spent in preparing a reply. This never fails to create a strong impression. In fact, it typically creates a sense of obligation, so that when readers gain a bit of experience they, too, want to share what they have learned with other members of the community.
That this camaraderie is an excellent model for collaborative learning is something that does not escape the teachers who subscribe to KIDSPHERE. The ultimate success of this venture may perhaps be judged by the success these teachers have in applying this model to their own teaching and in facilitating the creation of a networked environment that serves their students as well as KIDSPHERE has served its subscribers. In the sections which follow we will describe some of KIDSPHERE's participants and some of the activities which they have undertaken together.