[approx. timing - Chuck Introduction 2 min., Chuck Overview & Search 7 min., Steve FTP 7 min.]

Introduction

[1. screen - start with HyperCard main graphic already on - globe encircled]

Hi, San Di - e - go! How are all of you doing today?

We are Team Internet. I’m Chuck Elliot. My team members are Steve Sprague and Vincent Sithole.

[2. Screen HC = sailboat/browser]

Our presentation today is about our course, "Internet Intro", which is geared to a special-needs audience, the 17% of the U.S. population which is diagnosed, or diagnosable, with a psychiatric illness, such as schizophrenia or bipolar.

First, a brief background on the need for the course. We all live in the age of the greatest flow of information in human history, culminating in the great network of networks, the Internet. However, as Vice President Al Gore has pointed out, we are a nation of "information have’s" and "information have-not’s". Our target audience is persons with psychiatric disabilities, or as they are usually known, Mental Health Clients, or Clients. Clients are "information have-not’s". Yes, they watch TV, go to 99-cent movies, listen to the radio, some read newspapers, some are taking college classes, but the computer age has largely passed them by.

[3. Screen - go to Netscape whacks - MindStar home page]

So, about 4 years ago, I founded a non-profit corporation, MindStar, Inc., to address the information needs of clients. MindStar is and will be developing courses, using the principles of Instructional Design, on needed topics, including:

Stigma busting

Medication Management

Financial management

Nutrition

Smoking Cessation, and

Computers

The focus of today’s presentation is on MindStar’s first course about the computer age, Internet Intro: a workshop for new Internet explorers.

[point to screen already up of Netscape/Web Whack of MindStar’s web page]

I created MindStar’s World Wide Web page last June, almost a year ago. A problem was that the people it was designed for probably won’t be able to see it unless they take a course on the basics of the Internet.

The Internet Intro course ties in with our web page because the course is about the web and will be distributed on the web page.

[4.@@when have new version of hp:]

[point to "Protégé" button on screen of MindStar homepage]

MindStar’s focus in 1996 is Team 96, or Computer Protégé, a project to empower 96 Mental Health Clients to use computers for whatever application they choose, hopefully including the Internet. Hopefully, this empowerment will contribute to each person’s going from mental illness to mental wellness, or what one of my board members calls "Mental Swellness".

[pause a beat]

Team Internet now will show portions of our Internet Intro course. First, I will talk about the overview and searching; then Steve will speak about file transferring and Internet origins; then Vincent will administer a quiz.

Overview

Does everyone have the packet of handouts? The course is divided into 4 weekly sessions of 2-hours each. Please note well that each student will receive these handouts one at a time to prevent information overload. I.e., first they get the course overview, and later the first week’s agenda. Then, other agendas will be given out at the start of each subsequent week. Job aids will be given out as appropriate.

Please look at the cover page. The course is sequenced intentionally to start with concrete, nitty-gritty topics first, such as logging on and searching, and to save the abstractions, such as historical origins and hardware considerations (Getting Internet-ready) for the 3^rd and 4^th weeks. The reasons for this sequencing is to relate to the learner needs for a non-complex approach to a complex topic. We use examples of relevant subject matters, movies, music, magazines, and mental health (the 4 M’s).

Please look at the "Week 1" agenda page. You can see our overall model of demonstration-explanation-practice. This gets the student into the concrete without being overloaded with abstractions. For example, I can show you logging on in a few seconds, but it takes about 10 minutes to explain the mouse, double-clicking, etc., to new users.

Search

Please look at your agenda for Week 1, Part 2. The context here is that the students have learned to log on. Now they are going to do what I feel is the most important area of the Internet, finding information. We call this Navigating the World Wide Web, Search Practice. This area uses 2 job aids. So far, we have developed 11 job aids for the course. Here’s the 1^st one on searching.

Remember our model is demonstration-explanation-practice. So at this point we have demonstrated and explained about doing an Alta Vista search. This is to be independent practice. Later they will have directed practice using Yahoo!

However, since we don’t have much time today, I’ll make this directed practice. Please follow along on the job aid as I do it.

Step 1. From Netscape, click on the Net Search button. [don’t!!]

When the search page appears, click on Alta Vista.

[5. screen of Web Whack - Netscape/Alta Vista: Main P.// blank search dialog]

Alta Vista is my favorite search service or search engine. It searches the entire text of the web, 30 million web pages & 8 billion words in less than a second!

I’ll give you a topic, narrowed down to a few keywords -

"Mrs. Winterbourne" & movies

Type your keywords into the small box and make corrections,

[type in on screen, but don’t submit!!]

Click on "Search" button.

[6.screen of Web Whack - Netscape/Alta Vista, "Simple Query", search results]

See the statistics on the page about the findings -

600 findings (hits) on Mrs. Winterbourne, almost 800k on movies

 

Read the descriptions of the findings and find one or more that is appropriate to your needs.

Click to hyperlink to a chosen web page…

[Whack of Mrs. Winterbourne]

(7 next batch, 8 refine terms)

Using the same procedures, we can find anything. Here’s another movie page, for Robin Williams’ BirdCage.

[whack of BirdCage]

 

That’s all for now on searching.

 

Now, Steve will talk about the topic of FTP. Please look at your agenda for Week 3, Part 2.

[Steve’s presentation]

[screen - Web Whack of Steve’s 1^st screen for FTP]

[then

self-test that will be on all of the audience’s screens, QuizenArt,

administered by Vincent.]

======

[Chuck - finale, if time allows - no graphics or screens or handouts]

We have given you a glimpse of the student materials. We have also developed a number of instructor resources, including:

Planalyst;

printouts of the screen presentations;

local contact persons for Mental Health and the Internet; and

the Internet Deck game.

Thank you for your attention.