Last updated on 20-May-1997
Until now we have talked about what IRC is and how to get started. But what do we do with it, now that we have learned (hopefully) to connect to the IRC servers in Israel and around the world, join different channels, express ourselves with IRC shortcuts and emoticons. You may have be involved in a number of interesting conversations. You may have seen a lot of trash.
One thing many of you may have already discovered is that there is a lot of traffic on GLOBAL IRC which you would not want your students to see, especially your younger students.
This is one of the things that led the KIDLINK organization to set up its own IRC server and allow only "registered" users to enter and use the IRC.
In this lesson, I am going to focus upon the KIDLINK use of IRC in education. In the next lesson I will discuss other uses of IRC in education and potential areas in the future.
Membership in the KIDLINK organization (see - http://www.kidlink.org) is limited to kids aged 10 - 15. There are now approximated 80 countries with members in this organization. It costs nothing to join KIDLINK or participate in any of its activities. It is run completely on a voluntary basis by volunteers from all around the world. Hannah Sivan and I have managed the KIDLINK IRC in the past.
I would define the KIDLINK IRC server as a "local server". This terminology appears to have confused some of you in the past lessons. When I referred to the "lizard" server on the Ramat-Negev FREENET as a "local server", I was referring to the fact that it is not interconnected with the other IRC servers connected to Global IRC. But people can still connect to the lizard server from all around the world. So too, is the case, with the KIDLINK IRC server. But the KIDLINK IRC server has one added advantage. If you do not have an IRC client, you can telnet directly to the KIDLINK IRC server (see - http://www.kidlink.org/IRC/telnet.html) and use KIDLINK IRC all the same (it is much slower though than connecting through an IRC client).
In order to use KIDLINK IRC, a student must fulfill the following requirements:
After completing these steps, the student will have his/her own nickname and password.
- must be between the ages of 10-15
- answer the 4 KIDLINK questions (see - http://www.kidlink.org/RESPONSE/index.html)
- must subscribe to the KIDLINK list (see - http://www.kidlink.org/english/general.html#instructions)
- must fill out the required youth registration form for KIDLINK IRC (see - http://www.kidlink.org/IRC/register.html)
- agree to obey KIDLINK IRC rules of conduct (see - http://www.kidlink.org/IRC/rules.html)
Unlike global IRC, the student must use his/her nickname, which is based on his/her actual name. One of the reasons for this is so that the KIDLINK IRC moderators (from the KIDLINK IRC team - which is made up of kids and adults) know who each person is (especially if the student acts in an unacceptable manner). Another reason is that students should learn to take responsibility for their actions and words and not hide behind anonymous nicknames.
KIDLINK IRC rules are general rules of conduct. Foul language is forbidden as is any other annoying behavior (such as "beeping" others constantly). Students usually receive warnings concerning unacceptable behavior. If the repeated warnings do not suffice, their IRC access may be removed for a certain period of time and in some extreme cases - removed altogether. Since the students can only enter with their own password, this password can simply be removed or changed in order to deny them access. There is also an automatic "kill" command which will let them on, but "kick" them off the serverseconds after they arrive. Sometimes there is a need to block the access of a specific IP block of addresses (usually class or school) because of repeated problems with that group. In this case the IRC team will try and contact the teacher responsible for the class beforehand. The teacher is responsible for the conduct of his/her students when they are connecting to KIDLINK IRC from their school. The student is responsible for his/her own behaviour when connecting from home.
A few days after I took on the management of KIDLINK IRC, I received a complaint from a teacher in Texas who reported that her "virtual class" (communication between her class and a class in another part of the world) was disrupted by an unruly student from Iceland who used unacceptable language. I then contacted the Icelandic student through Email and conducted an "investigation" into his behaviour, warning him that his KIDLINK IRC access was in danger of being removed. After a short exchange of email, he promised to change his ways and no more complaints were received about him.
Running something like KIDLINK IRC is not a simple matter. On the one hand, we want to ensure that students can communicate in a secure environment and that innovative learning environments (involving distance learning) can take place without constant interruption. On the other hand, we want to maintain the Internet spirit of free expression and easy access. Because KIDLINK IRC is limited to KIDLINK members, and more specifically, to students who have also registered to KIDLINK IRC, you will find times when there are not many people there. The busy times are when the North American Community is online, which is usually in the late afternoon, evening and early morning hours in Israel. However, there has been a growing use of IRC in South America (although you will find the language to be either Portuguese or Spanish).
The biggest problem in carrying out activities in IRC is coordinating the times. Australia is something like seven hours ahead of us, and the Eastern Coast of the United States is seven hours behind. If you want to communicate in real time with both populations at the same time, someone is going to have to give up a good night's sleep. Kids, in the past, have had "IRC sleepovers", where they stay up all night and talk to kids from different parts of the world.
KIDLINK is a diverse organization with many different areas. Areas such as KIDPROJ and KIDFORUM, which deal with "virtual projects" have been making more and more use out of KIDLINK IRC in the past two years.
Here are a few examples of some of the educational activities which have taken place and are taking place on KIDLINK IRC.
KIDCLUB
Each Saturday at 17:00 GMT (19:00 June-August), KIDLINK youth join the KIDLINK IRC on channel #KIDCLUB to discuss prepared topics. The KIDCLUB Team (made up of kids) decides the topics together. At times a guest speaker will come to the IRC and lead the discussion.
Writers Corner
Once a month John Ost hold the "Writers' Corner" IRC on KIDCLUB where kids work with John in developing writing.
Shipwreck in a Bottle Experiment
(A part of the S.S. CENTRAL AMERICA SHIPWRECKS TO REMEMBER PROJECT) - see http://web.sunbelt.net/~wilkerson/EXPER.TXT in which students from around the world were taught - over IRC - how to perform the experiment.
Other examples (full descriptions can be found at - http://www.kidlink.org/IRC/lessons.html)
IRC Tour of Richmond-on-Thames
Lesson Prep. for IRC Tour of Richmond-on-Thames
Delmar Tours Richmond-on-Thames - 24/26 May 1993Simulated Space Shuttle Mission
Rock Hill Simulated Space Shuttle Mission
Space Shuttle STS-51 Pre-Launch (Cnx) 24-Jul-'93
Space Shuttle STS-51 Pre-Launch LIFTOFF 12-Sep-'93UNICEF Kidclub chats
Kids Interview UNICEF Rep - 11 Sep 93
Abbreviated Log - 25 Sep 93
UNICEF - 2 Oct 93
Water - 9 Oct 93
Keep Us Safe - 16 Oct 93
We Are What We Eat - 23 Oct 93
Street Kids - 30 Oct 93
Health and Education - 6 Nov 93
Children With Disabilities - 13 Nov 93
Developing Countries - 20 Nov 93
Global Environment - 27 Nov 93
Review - 4 Dec 93Other KIDCLUB Logs
Marine Biology - 26 Mar 94
M. Burleigh: EYC & Xanadu - 11 Dec 93
Much of the communication on KIDLINK IRC is spontaneous. I remember the day when Israel and Jordan signed the peace treaty. That morning, I saw an email message on one of the KIDLINK lists from a teacher in Florida stating that she was interested in helping her students understand the significance of this moment. She asked if her class could meet with another class on IRC later that day and discuss the event. I wrote her back that some of kids could meet them and that we lived not far away from where the actual ceremony was taking place. Within hours both our kids and her kids were online, discussing the event which both kids had just witnessed on television. Even though our students were in grades 10 and 11, and their students were in grade 7, they carried on an interesting conversation. The American kids learned first-hand how kids directly affected by the event felt about it all, and our students had a chance to come to terms with and "express" their own attitudes and refections.
KIDLINK IRC is one example of the use of IRC in education. I will talk about more examples in the next lesson.
Tonight (Tuesday, May 20 - at 22:00 Israeli time) we will hold an IRC chat on the - lizard.ramat-negev.org.il - server about the use of IRC in education. I hope to see you there. Bring your ideas with you. The channel will be #etni.