computer science

SchoolNet

SchoolNet is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand SchoolNet rather than just read about it. In short: Canada's SchoolNet was a federal educational technology project in partnership with provinces, school boards, non-profit organizations, and the private sector, funded primarily by Industry Canada and developed by Ingenia Communications Corporation to promote the effective use of information and communications technologies (ICT) in libraries and schools across the country. Many important early Canadian ICT programs f…

Key takeaways

SchoolNet belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SchoolNet to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SchoolNet from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Canada's SchoolNet was a federal educational technology project in partnership with provinces, school boards, non-profit organizations, and the private sector, funded primarily by Industry Canada and developed by Ingenia Communications Corporation to promote the effective use of information and communications technologies (ICT) in libraries and schools across the country. Many important early Canadian ICT programs fell under the SchoolNet umbrella, including Computers for Schools, LibraryNet, First Nations SchoolNet, and Canada's Digital Collections. By 1997, SchoolNet brought internet access to all 433 First Nations schools under federal jurisdiction. Microsoft founder Bill Gates praised the program in the Edmonton Journal on November 26. 1995, stating that "SchoolNet is the leading program in the world in terms of letting kids get out and use computers." Notable early projects included the SchoolNet MOO and the Special Needs Education (SNE) network. The MOO was abandoned by Industry Canada in 1998, but a non-profit corporation was set up to continue the site as MOO Canada Eh! From 1999-2001, SchoolNet funded Project Achieve MOO developed at the Knowledge Media Design Institute at the University of Toronto. Although acknowledged by executives at Industry Canada as "one of the most successful websites in terms of the level of interest" funding for the SNE was discontinued, and the project moved with its developer Keenan Wellar from Ingenia Communications Corporation to charitable organization LiveWorkPlay in 1997, before the site was discontinued when corporate sponsorship failed to materialize. The SchoolNet project was active from 1995 to the early 2000s, and the site was taken offline in 2008.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SchoolNet

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SchoolNet claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SchoolNet before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SchoolNet ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SchoolNet

In research: SchoolNet appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SchoolNet in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SchoolNet is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Computing stubs, Educational organizations based in Canada, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SchoolNet outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study SchoolNet in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SchoolNet means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SchoolNet out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SchoolNet in simple terms?

Why does SchoolNet matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SchoolNet?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SchoolNet.