Internet

=DESCRIPTION=

By today’s standards the Internet is the interconnected network of computer networks from around the world that people use to communicate various types and forms of information. Accessible by computer and other electronic devices, it is a communication tool that combines various technologies which enable users to disseminate information, converse, share ideas, and transfer digitized files across it whether it be short or great physical distances.

Early on the term “Internet” referred to the physical connection of networks, their cables, and wiring. However, today the Internet is seen as both the connection and the information that passes across the network.

=HISTORY=


 * 1962 ::** J.C.R. Licklider envisions a “Galactic Network” of computers around the world in which people could access information and programs. He begins to explore the possibilities of data transfer.
 * 1965 ::** Lawrence Roberts and Thomas Merrill are the first to connect two computers across the country by phone lines.
 * 1969 ::** The first true computer network across great distances([|ARPANET]) is created when researchers at UCLA and SRI International in Menlo, California connect their networks and begin sending messages. Other universities in the region are soon added to the network.
 * 1978 ::** Basic network structures based on ARPANET cover Europe. Canada, Australia, and Hong Kong are covered by 1981.
 * 1983 ::** The first wide area network to use [|TCP/IP] protocols(standards used today) is implemented when the ARPANET is converted to use TCP/IP.
 * 1988 ::** Networks become open to commercial interests.
 * 1990 ::** The European research lab [|CERN] begins the Worldwide Web project and develops a lot of the tools and guidelines that are Internet standards today for web servers, web browsers, html, http, etc.
 * 1991 ::** The Web is made available as a public service on the Internet
 * 1993 ::** Introduction of [|Mosaic], the first popular graphic web browser.
 * 1996 ::** Usage of the term “Internet” becomes commonplace.

=IMPACT ON TEACHING AND LEARNING=

Educators are realizing that learners should be taught and assessed in a number of different ways and the Internet provides opportunities to do this.

It encourages new interactivity between students and the instructor by having coursework managed and accessible online. Discussion of ideas and concepts can happen through online chats or bulletin board discussions. Class meetings can be held online over great distances in a virtual classroom or asynchronously through assigned tasks, readings, and postings through a course management system/learning management system such as Moodle or Sakai.

The Internet is the gateway for both teachers and students to access a number of different resources for learning. Journals, articles, videos, podcasts, images, and other information and exercises are available over the Internet. With a wide range of resources available to students they are free to discover and learn on their own or at their own pace.

=PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS=


 * Email ::** Text messages send across the Internet much like regular mail, only in electronic format. Sent messages are delivered quickly and may even contain other files such as images, documents, and audio.


 * The World Wide Web ::** One of the most common usages of the Internet is to view the myriad amounts of information in the form of interlinked documents otherwise known as web pages. People, companies, schools, almost anyone can publish or express their ideas over the Internet by publishing a web page (using online tools such as .Mac) for others to see.


 * Access to Media ::** Many media formats can now be found online in the digital age. A lot of music, movies, video, images, books, radio broadcasts, TV shows, and much more can either purchased legally for a price through online stores or downloaded illegally.


 * Real Time Communication ::** With the faster and faster speeds at which users are accessing the Internet, real time communication between users in the form of instant messaging(text messages), [|VoIP] (//Voice over Internet Protocol// speaking/audio), and video conferencing(video & audio) are becoming more acceptable forms of communication.

=EXAMPLES=

The physical structure of the Internet can be likened to a group of computers connected to one another across a network. The computers, the information they host, the equipment that enables the computers to communicate, and the wires that connect everything compose the network. On a larger scale the Internet can be viewed the same way. Instead of linking computers together, the Internet links networks of computers together from around the world. //<< A visual representation of networked paths across the Internet.//