Using Gopher as a Learning Resource Server

Presentation Notes from GopherCon 1994

Minneapolis, MN, April 22-23

Matthew J. Stuve

Office of Teaching TeleApprenticeships

Department of Educational Psychology

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

E-mail: mstuve@uiuc.edu

Topics:

• Our Concept of a Learning Resource Server

• Features of the UIUC Learning Resource Server

• How does the UIUC LRS serve and represent K-12 teachers and students

• Distributing server responsibilities and functionality on a "composite desktop server"

• Creating K-12 Gopher servers

What is a Learning Resource Server?

• A repository of information pertaining to teaching and learning.

• A collection of text, images, sounds, databases, and links to other relevant servers that are organized as resources for learning.

• A "window" on a community of teachers and learners and the Communities that support them.

• A suite of desktop server technologies dedicated to K-12 instructional needs that can also serve administrative needs.

Features of UIUC Learning Resource Server

• Organized as resources

• Organized by intended Community (sometimes overlapping)

• Alternative paths and representations

How does the UIUC LRS serve and represent K-12 teachers and students?

• Communities of teachers and educational researchers can set in motion powerful learning activities that make use of networked resources.

• Kids can share the artifacts of their learning with their peers from other countries and cultures.

• Datasets can be made available to a distributed community

The server joins together resource providers:

• teacher educators

• educational researchers

• in-service teachers

• pre-service teachers

• kids

The server is:

• Demand driven

• Community driven

• Technologically facilitated by University/College of Education personnel

Distributing server responsibilities on a "composite desktop server"

Existing or planned server technologies:

* Gopher

* AppleShare

* AppleSearch

* WWW (real soon)

* FTP

* ARA (real soon)

Access to server is via Internet and dial-up

Who's in charge of the server?

* Principle investigators of TTA project

* System administrator (lowly grad student)

but...

Who produces resources?

* College Faculty

* Teachers

* Graduate Students

* Kids

* Other researchers on the Internet

Who contributes resources?

* People with server accounts and who are knowledgeable of Internet and Gopher responsibilities

A look at the Learning Resource Server

A view of our main menu from a Macintosh Gopher client:

Finding the UIUC Learning Resource Server

* The UIUC Learning Resource Server is "linked to" from many other Gopher servers on the Internet. From those other servers, you can "jump" to our server.

* Or, you can connect directly to our server from your networked (TCP/IP protocol) computer. For example, from a UNIX machine with a Gopher client, simply type: gopher gopher.ed.uiuc.edu.

* Or, using TurboGopher, you can connect to our server by choosing "Another Gopher..." from the File menu. In the dialog box that follows, simply type in our Internet address, gopher.ed.uiuc.edu, and select the Gopher+ option:

Teacher Education Resources

* Includes resources or links to resources for:

- Job searching and placement

- Student teacher apprenticeship

- Internet-based distributed learning projects

- Professional organizations

- Sharing information with peers around the country

- In-service teacher support

- Curriculum design and lesson plans

* Research materials and educational databases, such as:

- ERIC archives

- UIUC Library

- Library of Congress

* Links to other teacher education programs around the country

K-12 Resources

* Links to educational information servers, such as:

- NASA - Argonne Lab

- The Smithsonian Institution - UIUC Weather Machine

- US Dept. of Education - The White House Papers

* Links to other Gopher servers operated by and

for the K-12 community

* Classroom teaching materials and resources

* Comprehensive curriculum guides and indexed lesson plans from Champaign-Urbana Schools

* On-going, distributed problem solving projects such as:

- Grand & Everyday Challenges

- Noon Observation Project

Higher Education Resources

* Official information of the College of Education, including:

- Course descriptions

- Departmental information

- Class documents and syllabi

- Software archives

* Links to the main UIUC campus Gopher server and

other universities

* Links to other information servers that server higher education, such as:

- Chronicle of Higher Education

- National Science Foundation

- EDUCOM

* Resources from local professional societies and journals