Hi, I would like to get some input from this group on K-12 programs. My desire is to get some feel on the role of the regionals in provisioning K-12, and how they go about it, and what the issues of extending the Internet into the K-12 community are. I think of extending the Internet in terms of through direct IP connectivity, or some application level connectivity (telnet, mail, etc.), other protocols (uucp,, fred ...), etc. here is a partial list of issues that be of interest to discuss or hear about: Barriers to connectivity: cost, adequate service, appropriate technology, who pays?, can a regional's NOC handle a couple hundred schools in a major urban area, etc. What technology issues need to be addressed: is IP the right way to go, do telnet, ftp and email provide sufficient value added, are user interfaces the barrier everyone says they are? What have been, or what will be good matches of technology with programmatic elements inside the schools. Which communities with the schools really benefit, and why: teachers, science students, english students, seniors, 3rd graders? Where can the regionals have the greatest impact wrt K-12 network access and in which areas are they ill suited to make a difference. What do you figure for costs: equipment, line costs, ramp-up time for both sides (network provider and schools), continuing costs over time, etc. what stuff do you use? Cisco terminal servers? NAT routers, PCs, Macs? What software? training material? anything else?... I am asking this for several reasons. I am getting asked these questions on a regular basis and I would like to know more about what people are doing so I can tell people: "go talk to ..., they did something interesting in that area ...". Also, Los Alamos has run a supercomputing program with schools in NM for the last two years, and last year over 100 schools signed up, which is fantastic given how small a population is in this state. Most schools use terminals to access LANL via 2400 baud modems into New Mexico Technet. We are looking at what it might take to get many of the schools up on the Internet and would like to learn what others have done. The students are especially interested and we would like to make it possible for them to "build the network from scratch". I would really like to hear from people about what things they think have made their efforts a success, and from efforts that did not work out with a good post mortem analysis. Thanks, Peter Ford Los Alamos National LAboratory peter@goshawk.lanl.gov