AISR Research Group at STG

Roger B. Blumberg
Scholarly Technology Group
Brown University - September 8, 1996

File transfer protocol, or ftp, designed for the rapid transfer of text files. Although ftp sites have been largely superseded by websites, they remain efficient resources for downloading and uploading documents (e.g. the MendelWeb ftp site is a fast way to get the primary texts at MendelWeb).
Gopher document retrieval systems, such as ERIC
The hypertext transfer protocol, or http, which is the primary protocol used on the World Wide Web. HTTP is the protocol used to access sites like AISR and STG.

2. A system of distributed hypermedia.

distributed because the "documents" reside on computers throughout the network.
hypermedia because the "documents" are often (though not always) in a variety of digital media formats, linked to one another, and accessible within a single "browse".

Much of the material on the Web is clearly publicity
Education Sites and Resources from Class IV
An Urban Middle School Reform Project, MiddleWeb
The Telecollaborative Learning Project at NickNacks
Materials for a short mathematics course, for students with access only to public (networked) terminals at Columbia University
Optical illusions at the Science Museum, London
A Selection of Search Engines (on the MendelWeb Reference page)

Before the Web, collaborative systems included listservs and internet newsgroups
HyperNews can be used for web-based "conferencing," and is currently used for an ongoing BBN/LAB discussion of standards as well as in-house discussions at STG
The Web allows for the construction of collaborative hypertexts and activities using the Common Gateway Interface and, most recently, the programming language Java
Integrated Web-Moo systems, like Diversity University, have begun to appear.

A website with recent publications and/or abstracts.
A variety of open and secured "conferences" using AISR drafts and/or technical reports as the basis for discussion of reform issues.
A peer-reviewed on-line journal devoted to issues of school reform, with an emphasis on the role of technology in reform efforts, that includes peer and general reader commentary (e.g. using HyperNews).