-tictech message:
Thank you, Lesley for posting the minutes. I was particularly interested
in the bandwidth issue that was a problem last week and John Rowlands'
description of the problem copied below.
> Seattle Public Schools
> Technology Forum
> February 28, 2002
>
> Minutes
-------------->stuff cut<----------------------------------
> Bandwidth
> John Rowlands discussed the Internet bandwidth for the District. He
> explained that the bottleneck has moved to the four T1 lines leaving the
> District to the University of Washington, which is slowing Internet
> connectivity. He has requested that the Seattle Schools be allowed to use
> the Internet 2 capabilities through the University of Washington. There
has
> been no formal response from the UW.
>
> The good news is the Bess Proxy is no longer slowing down Internet access
> speeds.
It would appear from this statement that the bandwidth issue is not due
to, as Judy McName stated in a forwarded e-mail to this list, "Streaming
media (things like RealAudio, Windows Media, etc.)[that] account for over
10% of our total bandwidth use -- and sometimes more than 20%", but
instead is due to a "bottleneck" at the University.
Does the source of the problem originate at the University, as John
Rowlands alludes to above (a technical problem) or does the problem
originate, as Judy McName states above, at the classroom/office level
where streaming media are blamed (a social problem)? I ask these
questions because it would seem that if Internet II is the answer to the
problem, then the University is to blame. However, if the answer is "too
many streaming media connections", then the problem lies at the
classroom/office level which, of consequence, raises a number of issues.
What are the sanctions, then, for the "overuse" of the Web and what type
of enforcement is in place to effectively ensure that the Web is used in a
manner that is deemed to be in accordance with appropriate practices? What
constitutes appropriate practices in this context? How can individuals
who are "overusing" the Web learn how to use it in a manner that is
commensurate with expectations for appropriate use?
[Enter BESS, stage left.] According to the February minutes, BESS is now
free from incrimination as a "bottleneck" source. Again, from Judy
McName's e-mail:
> Please help to conserve our very limited bandwidth and keep it
> available for instructional use by:
> - not using streaming audio/video - don't listen to radio stations
> online
> - not playing online games from your district computer
> - not downloading or uploading MP3 (music) files
> - stopping all Internet file-sharing activity (Gnutella, KaZaa,
> Morpheus, etc).
> In addition to being bandwidth hogs, these last two activities are
> frequently illegal because of copyright violations. They can result in
> district disciplinary action, and the user may be prosecuted by the
> copyright owner.
This list of inappropriate uses conjures up notions of what BESS *can* be
good for in the absence of a clear understanding of what the Web is
supposed to be good for. It is quite possible that in the foreseeable
future, BESS will be used to block these types of file transfers. The
rationale typically used to justify these types of action fall under the
rubric of the "few who spoil it for everyone else". It is easy to see how
the power of the Web for learning purposes can be rendered inert by
administrative intervention. The Web may never get a real chance to
"show its stuff" because too many people were experimenting--yes, and even
wasting time--trying to figure how the blasted technology worked AS WELL
AS how it can be used in a classroom setting.
I would think that the overuse of the Web is a good thing. Students,
teachers, staff all have access to digital "stuff" that has been made
available to them via taxpayer money. Accessing information should not be
a crime. We are at a liminal moment with respect to using technology in
schools. How can we say with certainty what people ought to be doing
when they are using computers? Teachers certainly can guide student
use. But who guides teachers' use? It is very hard for me to use a
computer and not learn something new in the process. It might be
something about the software itself, it might be something I've read on
the Web, and it might be something that I have created in a written
document. And, it just might be in an ah-ha moment of watching a
streaming video that I have a new idea. This process is all very new to
us as human beings and we have got to cut each other some slack if we are
to grow and develop into intellectual people.
Kurt Sahl
bluesky@scn.org
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