The Internet: One Piece of the Puzzle

SCASL Conference
Greenville, South Carolina
May 8, 1997

Word processing, databases, spreadsheets, multimedia,...and now the Internet. Come see how the Internet constitutes one more puzzle piece for creating a full mosaic of information processing capabilities, with which students become explorers, experimenters, and extendors of knowledge using information as a "raw material."

Outline

The big picture

• Raw Material in the Post-Industrial Age

  	Resources	Processing	Distribution
  Agricultural Age	Field	Kitchen	Plate
  Industrial Age	Quarry	Factory	Store
  Information Age	Internet	Information Processing Tools	Internet

   

• Raw Materials for the Computer Skills Curriculum
  • Word Processing
  • Databases
  • Spreadsheets
  • Graphics
• Types of Resources
  • Text (prose) Example
  • Tables of data Example
  • Graphics Example
  • Video and Audio Example
• Guidelines for moving Internet-based information into
  • Moving text (Paragraph) from the Internet into MicroSoft Works
    The best way to move text from the Internet into MSWorks word processing file is to access the page from the Internet using Netscape or some other web browser. Then, using the mouse, highlight the text you want to import and copy it. This moves the text into the clipboard for tempory storage.
    Next, load MicroSoft Works and open a new word processing file. Now you can Paste your text into your file and work with it
    Why?
    • Research
    • Searching for terms or topics in long documents
  • Moving text (tables) of data into a MicroSoft Works Spreadsheet
    This can be amazingly simple to do. Again, access the page with the columnar information using Netscape or some other web browser. Use the mouse to highlight the portion of the table you want to import into a MSWorks Spreadsheet. Then copy the text into theclipboard
    Next, load MSWorks and open a new spreadsheet file. Move the highlighter to the cell that should be the upper left corner of the table you are importing, and paste the contents of the clipboard. MicroSoft works will find columns of data with two or more spaces between them and seperate them into distince spreadsheet columns.
    If any of the columns in the spreadsheet have only one space seperating them, then paste the data into a new word processing file and manually add a space between the data. Then copy and paste the date from the word processing file to the spreadsheet.
    Why?
    • Perform calculations using the data
    • Conduct statistical analysis
    • Chart the data
  • Moving text (tables) into a MicroSoft Works database file
    Once again, access the desired page with Netscape or other web browser. Count the number of columns in the table -- this information will be necessary later. Highlight the table of data that you want to import into MicroSoft Works database file. Copy this text into the Clipboard. Then load MicroSoft Works and open a new database file.
    You will see a dialog box asking you to describe the first field of data in the new database. Just press [Return] (or [Enter]), and continue pressing this key until you have created the number of fields as there are columns in the table of data.
    The datebase file will look much like like a spreadsheet. Move the highlighter to the upper left corner of the file and paste the contents of the clipboard. To top row of data will be the field (column) names. For each one, highlight the name,copy it, then double click on the column header. The field description dialog box will reappear. Paste the column name into the field name box and click on the appropriate discriptors. Why?
    • To product reports
    • Searc for specific data
    • Analize the data
  • Moving Graphics into MicroSoft Works
    This is the easiest one of all. To perform this function, you must be using Netscape Navigator version 1.1 or above. After access the page with the desired graphic, place the pointer on the graphic image and hold down the mouse button (rather than click in the image). If you are using a PC, click the right mouse button. A small menu will pop up. Select "Copy This Image". This will copy the image into your clipboard. Next move to the file in MicroSoft Works in which you want to include the picture and paste it.
    Why?
    • To add graphic representation to text reports
  • Moving Video and Audio Files

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  Terms:

  Text or ASCII:	A type of computer file that includes on letters and numbers. All special codes used by specific computer programs have been removed.
  Columns:	Vertical arrangements of related data in a computer spreadsheet.
  Rows:	Horizontal arrangements of related data in a computer spreadsheet.
  Import	The act of moving a file generated by one computer program into another program. Today, many programs have conversion utilities that strip out special codes from other files and replace them to new ones.
  Spreadsheet	A computer program that arranges information in a columnar format (columns and rows) and can perform repeatitive complex calculations on numbers very quickly.
  Database	A computer program that store information in an organized way so that the information can be filtered using specific criteria.
  Word Processing	A computer program for composing and editing text, and for searching for specific topics in large text environments.
  Multimedia	Any computer file that displays information in more than one format such as text, graphics, animation, video, sound, etc.
  Copy	The act of selecting a portion (text or graphic) of a computer file and making a copy of it into the computer clipboard. The Copy function is usually found under the Edit menu.
  Clipboard	The clipboard is a reserved portion of the computer memory where information can be stored temporarily, usually for the purpose of moving it some place else.
  Paste	The act of moving the contents of the Clipboard to a determined spot in a computer file. The Paste function is usually found under the Edit menu.

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