Submitted by Craig Rice, Cristi Nicolae and Martyn Miller
Shortly after arrival in Athens, Greece, Craig Rice and Cristi Nicolae began working with George Dariotis to make the initial connections with the phone company for the INTERNET connection that had been established with a local INTERNET provider, CompuLin k. They also unpacked and set up one dozen Hewlett-Packard CD-ROM-equipped 486 computers, monitors, keyboards, and mice, all of which were donated to the conference by the local Hewlett-Packard office.
The PCs came with built-in twisted-pair Ethernet cards. Since we did not have a 10bT Ethernet hub, we built a Thinnet (coaxial cable) running around the conference computing lab. This time consuming process required building more than a dozen cables and i nstalling Thinnet-capable ethernet cards in each PC. Thinnet (as we experienced during the conference) is not the most reliable way to network a lab.
COMPULINK
During the afternoon on the second setup day, five representatives from CompuLink arrived with a router, the unit that connected the lab to the Internet. They configured the router and installed the network software on one of the PCs (we installed the sof tware on the rest).
CompuLink service was excellent; the software they provided installed easily and was more complete than we could ever have expected. The software included NetScape, a Telnet client, a Gopher client, and an FTP client. We used NetScape for INTERNET and Wor ld Wide Web access and the Telnet client for sending e-mail. CompuLink was especially helpful when they learned about the type of workshops we were presenting. Since many of our resources were stored abroad, they recognized that it would be useful to set up a WWW proxy server for us. This meant that that once some piece of Internet information was retrieved from abroad, a copy was kept in Greece so that the next time it was accessed, it would appear immediately. Given the busyness of the INTERNET connecti on in Greece, this proxy service (set up overnight by a CompuLink staff member) was essential. CompuLink staff were professional and responsive; when the power to their office failed, taking with it our INTERNET access only a few minutes before one of the scheduled presentations, they responded quickly and efficiently to restore service in time for the presentation.
THE NETWORK
Not surprisingly, as with any type of World Wide Web demonstration, the demands placed on the INTERNET and Greece's link to the rest of the world were very heavy. Fortunately, the first couple of days of the conference were on the weekend when the INTERNE T connection was not being heavily used. INTERNET response time was much slower during the remaining days of the conference.
THE TRAINING
Use of the computer learning lab focused on access via the World Wide Web to Overseas Advising resources. Many of the participants did or were soon to have access to USIA- or USIS-funded systems and access to the INTERNET -- many cases even better than wh at is available in international studies offices in the U.S. Because of high congestion on the INTERNET connection, interactive tasks (particularly e-mail) were not usable. We were able to provide participants with a means of sending e-mail from the confe rence learning lab, and we also collected and posted on a bulletin board any mail sent to conference participants.
The strong support of the Conference Organizing Committee was instrumental in the success of the room. All members of the Conference Organizing Committee visited the room several times throughout the conference and volunteered their help as it was needed. Moreover, the location and hours of the room were widely publicized throughout the conference. In times when we needed emergency services (such as when lines went down), members of the Conference Organizing Committee were readily available to assist; thi s was instrumental in ensuring that the down-times were neither lengthy nor overly troublesome.
Of special note is the fact that the success of the computer learning lab was made possible due to the extensive cooperation and support of the local arrangements coordinator George Dariotis and George Gavathas.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORKSHOPS
1. Extensive and early communication between local organizers and the computer learning lab team is critical.
2. Limit use of room for learning rather than for e-mail access, particularly for access to one's own e-mail system to complete daily job tasks. To allow all conferees access to their own e-mail systems both is slow and precludes some machines from being
used for demonstration and teaching purposes. (Providing access to conference accounts for conferees to send e-mail and posting received e-mail messages provided a viable compromise at this conference.)
3. Provide full INTERNET connection to the computer learning lab location. (This will avoid the difficulties, inconvenience, and additional expense of setting up multiple telephone lines to multiple modems; and allows participants to use standard INTERNET
tools such as NetScape.)
4. Staff the lab with volunteers from both the United States and the local area, particularly members of NAFSA-OSEAS. (The technical skills available from United States members is indispensable, but equally important are the "content" knowledge base and t
he familiarity with local resources that comes from participation of "local" OSEAS members.)
5. Coordinate volunteer sign-up to staff the room throughout the conference. (Rice and Nicolae's "mission" was to run the lab; Miller also volunteered a great deal of time to work with participants. However, with all twelve machines active simultaneously
and with non-stop activity, having additional volunteers would have been helpful.)
6. Pursue corporate sponsorship of the room, equipment, and INTERNET connection. (Hewlett Packard's sponsorship of the computers and printers in the computer learning lab was critical; computers were modern and worked without problems.)
7. Connect machines and peripherals with a system such as 10bT Ethernet hub. This will avoid difficulties with making cables and installing additional cards inside machines, and will minimize the network problems.
8. Establish a local WWW proxy to speed up (or even to make usable) many WWW resources.
9. Lab sessions could be more structured; instead of being completely
open, sessions could consist of an introductory discussion to answer
common questions followed by the individually-paced exploration and
tutorials.
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