How to use the Internet in work with young people

What exactly is the Internet?

The Internet is a global network of computers connected together in some way (phone lines, Ethernet, ISDN) so that they can share information. Some of these computers provide the main trunks and branches of the system, some (like the one on my desk) simply connect into the system when required. The main backbone system is permanently connected up and working and operates on a world wide basis.

Networks

The Internet is a network of computers that are permanently connected to each other. The computers are connected through telephone lines, ISDN lines (which enable high speed transmission of data) and other forms of electronic data exchange (such as fibre optic cable).

The Internet links millions of computers together but each computer has its own unique address so that any of the other computers can find it on the network. This address called an Internet Protocol address (IP address) and its purpose is to allow any one computer to send information to any other computer. There are many types of computer in the network but one very important type is known as Servers. Server computers store information and provide web pages or manage other types of function such as electronic mail. Other machines act as routers, handling the electronic traffic as it races round the network. Information is sent round the network in packets and the routers ensure that all the packets arrive at the correct destination.

Internet Services

The Internet provides users with a number of services, such as the World Wide Web, electronic mail, news groups, bulletin boards, file transfer or audio streaming. The whole network can operate at very high speeds even though there are times when it appears to slow down. It is possible for an e-mail message to be sent from London and to arrive in Sydney, Australia in a few seconds. When the system is really busy the same message could take a few hours to arrive.

The key services on the Internet include:

The World Wide Web

Most people now have heard of the WWW - a global library of documents which can provide text, images, photographs, sounds and moving images and all in colour.

Electronic mail (e-mail)

E-mail is a convenient way for two computers to send 'letters' to each other. Most e-mail is limited to simple text although e-mail software is now developing to allow graphics and formatting just as you get with a word processor. Nearly all types of computer files can be attached to an e-mail and sent over the Internet.

News groups/Usenet groups

There are many thousands of news groups but the name is a little deceptive. They are not necessarily about news but are more like bulletin boards where people can post messages. These messages can be threaded together by subject. Messages are posted by e-mail and stay there for some time until they are eventually removed by the organisers of the news group or are automatically deleted. In order to read the messages on a news group you have to subscribe to it and download the messages to browse through them off line.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

allows users to copy (technical jargon is download) files from another computer. FTP also allows people to send files to a host computer (uploads).

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