Using Modems To Link the Entire District.

Many school districts are finding one important tool to support administrators, staff, and students in a financially responsible way is a school district electronic bulletin board/e-mail system, or BBS (bulletin board service).

Over the years, electronic bulletin boards have sprouted across many countries; thousands currently exist in the United States and Canada. Now school districts are discovering the possibilities of education-based bulletin board services and are establishing boards for their administrators, staff, and students. An important element in the success of these BBS's is that they are designed to provide electronic mail and group conferencing using a board's existing wiring. By providing a two-pronged access via computer networks and modems, the district BBS serves administrative and district needs.

Several school district bulletin board services have existed for years, but because the early boards were difficult to master, most districts found few staff members used them regularly.

In 1989 our school board in Scarborough, Ontario, commissioned two former students who had gone on to careers in telecommunications to create a more user-friendly graphic user interface based on the Macintosh and Windows environment, but also with an option for DOS users. The resulting product, given the name First Class, began to revolutionize the use of the BBS by the education community and the wider electronic world.

Administrators and staff now comfortably use this new medium and thousands make it part of their daily lives. School districts are finding in these times of growing accountability that a small investment in hardware and software provides dividends that could be matched in no other way.

All that is required to establish the basic BBS is a central desktop computer with a hard disk, along with a connection to the office network or to a few phone lines dedicated to this use. Individuals who wish to connect from home only need a modem to attach to their home computer.

Multiple Benefits

Administrative benefits we have found in implementing a central-office and school district BBS are:

* Central-office administrators use e-mail to exchange ideas, meeting agendas, and an array of information. They can communicate inexpensively with building-level administrators and staff. Messages can be delivered without interrupting principals, as phone calls do.

* Administrators use the group conferencing feature of the BBS to create discussion areas. These areas can be open to all users or only to specific individuals, committees, or administrative groupings. Discussions take place unfettered by time or distance. Each participant can see what everyone is saying and has the option of observing or becoming involved.

* Dissemination of written materials can be instantaneous and efficient. Documents can be made available to all or to targeted groups. This saves printing expenses since only some people will need printouts.

* The BBS serves as an Internet connection, one that allows for easier addressing and replies.

* The BBS links the use to outside resources, including other school districts, libraries, and local (or distant) museums.

* The same system also is being used for education purposes by staff and students, while retaining privacy for administrative purposes.

This emerging medium for effective and flexible communication is proving itself an invaluable tool for administrators--and we are just beginning to explore the potential of the bulletin board service.

Dave Graham retired recently as coordinator of music with the Scarborough, Ontario, Board of Education, where he also served as curriculum administrator for the board's bulletin board service.