NBOR: NBOR Corp.www.nbor.com, Software, $129-$299 per copy (volume discounts available) NBOR, which stands for No Boundaries or Rules, enables individual students or entire classrooms to collaborate in real time over the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the . Instead of using separate applications, users stay in Blackspace, where a single set of intuitive graphical "universal tools" are used to perform tasks like word processing word processing, use of a computer program or a dedicated hardware and software package to write, edit, format, and print a document. Text is most commonly entered using a keyboard similar to a typewriter's, although handwritten input (see pen-based computer) and , desktop publishing desktop publishing, system for producing printed materials that consists of a personal computer or computer workstation, a high-resolution printer (usually a laser printer), and a computer program that allows the user to select from a variety of type fonts and sizes, , photo editing See photo editor. and producing slide show presentations and animation. Users have unlimited peer-to-peer access to the program's communications protocols Hardware and software standards that govern data transmission between computers. The term "protocol" is very generic and is used for hundreds of different communications methods. A protocol may define the packet structure of the data transmitted or the control commands that manage the to collaborate, exchange information or transfer media and files while sharing the same Blackspace environment. The universal tools are designed to help people perform tasks in much less time than with traditional tools. For example, during the time it takes to draw an arrow using a conventional program, students can outline an entire document, or create a slide show or an animated film. Two online protocols--NBOR Talk and YCAAT--are included with the software. With NBOR Talk, documents become interactive and one user controls the mouse at a time, but control can be passed to anyone in the session. YCAAT enables people to use the same Blackspace environment to simultaneously draw on the same picture, work on the same design or type in the same document. CIRCLE #512 FOR INFORMATION |
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