APPROPRIATE AND DISTRIBUTED NETWORKS - A MODEL FOR K-12 EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS

One low-cost model for K-12 educational networking of the 83,000 public U.S. schools is based on linking local computer bulletin boards at the school level, not only with each other, but also with the Internet through store and forward communications protocols, as well as intermittent full TCP/IP Internet connections. This model will work economically for the smallest schools in the most remote areas, running from $3,750 to $10,000 a year per school. The biggest cost of this model is not the hardware, software, or network costs, but the learning demanded of teachers, administrators, and the public. What is needed is the strategy of progressive empowerment by telecommunications, rather than jumping in at the top level of Internet service where a lot of network power will be wasted for a long time. Together with the support and introduction costs, all public schools in the entire nation can be networked for $550 to $1,200 million.