From the June 9th Daily Report Card:
-> *3   SAILING INTO THE FUTURE:  TOPSAIL H.S.'S INTERNET CONNECTION
-> Students attending Topsail (N.C.) High School this fall will
-> embark on a new academic journey led by a district technology
-> plan to tie the Internet to the curriculum.  Pender County School
-> District's partnership with IBM has enabled the high school to
-> provide an Internet connection in every classroom and to install five
-> IBM personal computers and an IBM ThinkPad mobile computer in each of
-> the school's 13 classrooms.
->    Pender County Schools selected IBM for the $300,000 project
-> because of the computer company's wide array of products services and
-> capabilities, according to an IBM press release (5/28).  "We have a
-> vision for what we want to provide for students and
-> teachers in terms of this technology, and by working with IBM
-> we're able to make that vision a reality," said Dr. Marc Sosne,
-> superintendent of schools for Pender County.  "The company is
-> more than just a supplier -- they are working with us every step of
-> the way as a partner, bringing in their experts and tremendous
-> resources to help us plan this project to the smallest detail to
-> ensure its success.  That's no small task, considering that we're
-> starting with very little technology in the schools now."
->    IBM also is working with a local firm, Teachers for
-> Technology, to implement the technology plan.  IBM is supplying all
-> hardware and is serving as systems integrator for the project by
-> planning and overseeing installation of all equipment,
-> software and cabling.
->    According to the release, the school will use IBM NetVista
-> Internet software, which includes desktop connectivity to the
-> Internet service provider of a school's choice, a Netscape
-> browser customized for a school environment, Web Site filtering
-> through Cyber Patrol, a newsreader, a mail service, Usenet and
-> file transfer protocol.  The release points out the ease of using
-> NetVista, which will allow teacher to make specific web sites and
-> send notes to students with assignments on those sites via e-
-> mail. Students then can link directly to the sites from e-mail
-> notes, keeping them focused on the subject material and reducing
-> search time.
->    For more information, contact IBM K-12 Education at 800/IBM-
-> 4EDU.  Visit the firm's Web Site at www.solutions.ibm.com/k-12.
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