The Techno-Pedagogical Context of Distance Learning: Conceptual Roots - Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments - page 45

nected to an FTP site, and your computer and the
server use FTP to send you the file.
Finger: This command lets you get information
about someone on the net. It is a UNIX command,
(but finger utilities exist for other OS's) and will
tell you if someone else is logged on, if they have
unread mail, etc.
Gateway: The old name for the middleman
between networks that can't communicate with-
out them (i.e. a LAN and the Internet). The new
name is router. Your ISP uses a router or routers
to connect your dialup call to the Internet:
Gopher: A pre-Yahoo and Lycos informa-
tion search and tool. Search with Gopher (using
Veronica or Jughead) and you are crawling “go-
pherspace”.
Host: Usually refers to a server machine that
allows client machines to visit, access, and share
files.
Hypertext: All those blue underlined words
all over the Web are Hypertext. When you click
on them they take you somewhere else (to a new
document, somewhere else in the current docu-
ment, etc..).
HyperText Markup Language (HTML): The
language of the World Wide Web. Web sites and
pages are created or “marked up” using HTML.
HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP):
HTTP is the protocol that the servers and the
clients of the Internet use to transfer those great
looking HyperText documents all over the Web.
Internet Protocol (IP): The Internet Protocol
is what allows the many computers on the Inter-
net to communicate across the various networks
and different operating systems. It is the com-
mon denominator in a very unstandardized and
diverse world.
IP Address: This is the equivalent of the
telephone number of your favorite Internet des-
tination. Fortunately, most sites and servers also
have a domain name, which is usually easier to
remember. For example, when you type http://
www.MacintoshOS.com you are using Hyper-
Text Transfer Protocol to “dial” the IP address

(204.250.196.100) of MacintoshOS.com by typing
in its domain name. Every IP address is unique.
Internet Service Provider (ISP): Subscrip-
tion-based internet access providers.
InterNIC: The Internet Information Center is
divided into three groups, Information Services,
Directory Services, and Registration Services.
Originally, one would have to contact InterNIC
Registration Services directly, however, now there
are many services that can handle this for you, at
very reasonable cost.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC): IRC allows you
to communicate in chat rooms with other users.
Everything is in real time and only limited by
your typing skills and the rules of the room. The
room usually has an operator with administrative
capabilities.
LAN: Local Area Networks are common in
most all businesses and universities. They allow
users to easily send email, access large company
databases, and share files and printers. Most LANs
also have an Internet onramp so users can access
resources outside the LAN.
Listserv: A type of automated mail distribu-
tion system, Listservs allow you to automatically
subscribe to a mailing list and receive email about
specific topics. To subscribe to these groups, you
typically send email to the Listserver and say
something like “SUBSCRIBE....” in the body or
subject of the message. A computer will interpret
your email, and add you to the periodic mailing list.
Mosaic: The original graphical Internet
browser. The National Super Computer Asso-
ciation (NCSA) invented Mosaic, and it was the
Web's early standard. Netscape then came along
and gave away its now famous browser, Navigator,
in an effort to become the new standard.
Newsgroup: The name for discussion groups
on Usenet. Newsgroups are basically distributed
bulletin boards about particular topics and in-
terests.
NIC: An acronym for Networked Informa-
tion Center that applies to any office that handles
info for a network. The big and famous one that