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Last Updated: Nov 11, 1991


  MEMORANDUM
  
  28 October 1991
  
  
  
  TO:		Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) Board
                Members
  
  FROM:	        John Clement, K-12 Networking Project
  
  SUBJECT:	K-12 Developments at/around EDUCOM '91
  
  

  Note:   I've written this as a memo to the COSNDISC list, in the interest
  of killing  two  birds  with  one  and  one-half  stones.   Some  of  the
  paragraphs  below  will  be  excised  before  this  goes  to  the general
  discussion forum.

  A lot of K-12 business went on at the San Diego conference.  There were a
  number of excellent sessions, and large numbers of  participants  in  two
  Special Interest Group (SIG) sessions for K-12.

  This  initial  memo gives an overview for those of you who were unable to
  attend.  Following memos will give more details in each area.

  Consortium for School Networking (CoSN).  We made substantial progress in
  defining the Consortium for School Networking, and in setting a structure
  for the organization and a mission  statement  at  least  for  discussion
  purposes.  A slate of officers of the organization and a preliminary list
  of activities are included in this document.  The draft  bylaws  will  be
  posted  shortly;  slightly  later  on,  we  will  post  some  ideas about
  membership categories and financing  the  Consortium.   A  draft  mission
  statement has been posted and has already received some discussion.

  We held a business planning meeting of the Consortium on Wednesday 10/16.
  Some 20 people attended.   A  draft  set  of  bylaws  was  presented  for
  discussion,  as  was  an  initial  slate  of  officers.   Most discussion
  centered on membership classes and fees.  It  was  agreed  to  post  most
  items  up  for further discussion on the COSNDISC list.  Later during the
  conference a draft  mission  statement  was  prepared  and  went  through
  several revisions.

  I  hope  to  set up a discussion list for the officers of CoSN quickly; a
  business plan will be  developed  as  soon  as  the  list  of  activities
  stabilizes.

  K-12  special  interest  group  and  other  sessions.  Attendance at both
  sessions was very good.  The Thursday 10/17 p.m. session, in a room  with
  60+  seats,  had  people in the aisles, along all the walls, and crowding
  out the rear door.  The Friday 10/18  p.m.  session,  on  K-12/University
  networking links, had even more people, but it was in one of the ballroom
  partitions and everyone had a seat.

  In addition, we  held  four  informal  gatherings  on  expanding  network
  access,  user  interfaces,  LAN-to-WAN  links  in schools, and supporting
  "virtual communities." We had 15 to 25 people at each of the first  three
  of these; I will admit that scheduling the fourth for Friday from 7:30 to
  9 p.m. was probably a mistake, since we got only a few fanatics,  who  we
  immediately dubbed the "lonely guys." But the discussions were great, all
  of them.

  Thanks  are  due here to all of those individuals who spent a lot of time
  in the halls, rooms, dining areas and at poolside debating  K-12  issues.
  Although  I can't mention everyone, I do want to single out the team that
  volunteered to tackle  the  draft  mission  statement:   Andy  Barker  of
  Lakeside   School,  Fred  Brigham  of  the  National  Catholic  Education
  Association, Sandy Sprafka of North Dakota SEND-IT, and Nancy  Wilson  of
  Project  NETIE  at  the  University  of West Virginia.  They littered the
  floor with crumpled drafts, and thought and argued much  more  than  they
  wrote;  they  gave us an excellent starting point, and deserve a hand for
  their efforts.  Let's give them a hand, folks, perhaps to help pull those
  arrows out...

  A  slate  of officers for the Consortium.  And now, here is a list of the
  people we dragooned into volunteering for a stint as officers and members
  of the Board of CoSN.
  
  Executive Director:     Connie Stout, TENET  <connie.stout@tenet.edu>
  Secretary and Treasurer:     Art St.George, University of New Mexico
                              <stgeorge@unmb.bitnet>
  Chair of the Board of Directors:     Gwen Solomon, The School of the
                               Future <k2112@applelink.apple.com>
  Vice-chair of the Board:     John Clement, EDUCOM K-12 Networking
                               Project <jrc@bitnic.bitnet> 
  
  Members of the Board:
  
  Bob Carlitz, KIDSNET/University of Pittsburgh <rdc@pittvms.bitnet>
  Joan Fenwick, AT&T Learning Network (accepted pending discussions
         with AT&T)  <jfenwick@attmail.com> 
  Jim Luckett, NYSERNet <luckett@nisc.nyser.net>
  Jan Meizel, Davis High School, Davis CA <jemeizel@ucdavis.edu>
  Frank Odasz, Big Sky Telegraph <bigsky!franko@csn.org>
  Paul Reese, Ralph Bunche School, New York             
        <cg0174@applelink.apple.com>
  Bob Tinker, TERC <tinkerro@hugse1.harvard.edu> 
  Gary Watts, National Education Association <fax, 202-822-7987>
  
  Committees of the Consortium -- ones we've thought of so far:

  Executive Committee -- Chair:  Connie Stout, ex officio.  This  committee
  is  composed  of  the  officers  of the Consortium and two board members,
  elected by the board.
  
  Membership Committee -- Chair:  Bobbi Kurshan, Educorp Consultants
        <kurshan@vtvm1.bitnet> 
  
  Policy Activities Committee -- Chair:  John Clement.
  
  Technical Activities Committee -- Chair:  Art St.George, University of New
  Mexico.

  Program and Publications Committee  --  Chair:   Tom  Grundner,  National
  Public Telecommunications Network <aa001@cleveland.freenet.edu

  Some  notes  about  the  above.   As  you  will  see from the bylaws, the
  Executive Director is our CEO.  The Board of  Directors  functions  as  a
  policy  and  oversight  mechanism.   Committee  chairs  do not have to be
  members of the board.  Finally, this is a temporary board, assembled with
  the intention of getting us started.  One of its first activities will be
  to develop a participatory process for electing Board members, and a  way
  of starting that process so that we can stagger membership on the Board.

  Note  to  Board  members:   there  was a good deal of confusion about the
  difference  between  the  roles  of  Chair  and  Executive  Director   in
  discussions  at  and  after  our  business  meeting.  Perhaps we can help
  clarify the distinction after you look over the bylaws.  My understanding
  is  that  the  Executive Director runs the Consortium, while the Chair of
  the Board of Directors manages the meetings and discussions of the Board,
  which include oversight and general setting of policy for the Consortium.

  Preliminary  list  of  activities  and  deliverables.   This list is much
  larger than a purely volunteer group should undertake; it is offered as a
  starter  for  discussion  and  prioritization,  so  that  we  can come to
  agreement on a basic set of activities we will undertake and then develop
  a  business plan and put together the funding to support it.  Suggestions
  for additions to the list will also be welcomed for a while,  but  we  do
  need to narrow things down.

  Neither  the  activities  listed nor the categories they are listed under
  are in an particular order.  Some of the activities are already at  least
  partly   under   way   already;   almost   all   will  involve  joint  or
  coalition-based efforts.  Please use this list as a way  to  think  about
  what  a Consortium for School Networking should do.  It is hoped you will
  disagree  vehemently  with  at  least  some  of  the  suggestions.    All
  assignments  of  names to task are fairly arbitrary (someone said "I'd do
  that!") and subject to change.

  Activity Area 1:  understanding what is  going  on  with  networking  and
  K-12,  and  communicating that understanding broadly.  This activity area
  would  generally  be  under  the  Policy  Activities  and   Program   and
  Publications commitees.
  
  a)  Develop  a set of position papers on networking and K-12.  J.Clement,
  coordinator.

  b) Building and maintaining a bibliography of studies and guides to  K-12
  networking.  M.Riel, coordinator.

  c)  Organizing  and  producing a peer-reviewed electronic journal on K-12
  networking.  C.Blurton, coordinator.

  d) Updating the K-12 resource survey. J.Clement, coordinator.

  e) Examining student access and usage policy guidelines.

  f) Publishing a periodical newsletter.

  g) Developing information packets aimed at universities and  corporations
  - -- with EDUCOM, CNI.  J.Clement, coordinator.

  h) Participating in policy discussions on Internet/NREN use.

  i)   Stimulating  the  use  of  Internet-wide  licenses  for  information
  resources.

  j) Working to put telephones in school classrooms.

  k)  Funding  released-time  grants,  travel  funds  and   sabbatical-year
  fellowships  for  educators  to  enable  workers  "in  the  trenches"  to
  participate in CoSN activities.


  Activity  Area  2:  stimulating development of better user interfaces and
  improved access to information.  This  is  the  arena  of  the  Technical
  Activities committee.

  a)  Coordinating  the  operations  of the Internet Engineering Task Force
  Working Group on K-12 User Interfaces.  A.St.George, coordinator.

  b)  Developing  interface  demonstration  packets  and  holding  periodic
  meetings.  This is related to task 2.a.

  c)  Establishing  online  directories  of  K-12 people and resources, and
  supporting  their  growth  and  usage.  In  collaboration   with   MERIT.
  J.Clement, coordinator.

  d)  Supporting  the  development of resource bases on K-12 networking and
  related topics.

  e) Developing a formal liaison to the vendor community.

  f) Supporting the  development  and  improvement  of  user  services  and
  training resources.


  Activity Area 3:  stimulating network-using collaborations and curriculum
  implementation pilot projects.

  a)   Getting   funding   for  released-time  grants  and  sabbatical-year
  fellowships, to get more working  teachers  and  administrators  actively
  involved in Consortium activities.

  b) Participating in collaborative pilot study (ies).

  c)   Supporting   formal   liaison  to  curriculum  groups,  disciplinary
  professional associations and other communities with interest in K- 12.


  Activity Area 4:  increasing connectivity and lowering connection costs.

  a) Supporting direct provision of Internet access in underserved areas.

  b) Developing cost/service models for K-12 networking -- in collaboration
  with  network  providers,  telecommunications  vendors,  and   networking
  experts.