ALLE Web Workshops: Fall 1998  
  
Katherine Guevara  
Eileen Lohka 
Dan Maher 
Laurie Meredith 
Lise Sinclair  
 
 
 Contents
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Applications pédagogiques de
l'Internet en FL
 
 
 
iques de
Internet en FLS 
How the Web Works
 
Overview  

In this part we will examine  

  • how the Web Works 
  • how to create and edit Web pages yourself  
    • your Editor HTML lets you create and edit Web pages
    • your pages are then Saved to disk 
Your Browser  

A Browser is a programme that enables you to look at a Web Page and to interact with it in various ways.  Any time you are "on the Web" you are using a browser.  The two browsers used today are Netscape and Explorer.   

We will be using Netscape, which has been adopted as standard by the University of Calgary, and many school jurisdictions.  However, almost everything that Netscape can do, you can do in Explorer with minor changes in terms and procedures.   

Both Netscape and Explorer are available free for educational use.  

To make good use of your browser, you should know about some of its buttons and files.  

Menu Choices at the very top  

  • Use File to open a Web page that's on your own computer.
  • Use Edit, then Copy to copy text to the Windows clipboard.  To copy text, you must mark it first by dragging the cursor over it with the mouse.  Any text that is covered by a blue box is marked. Once you have copied text to the clipboard, you can use the Edit menu on your wordprocessor or the Netscape Composer to paste the text into your own work.  This is also extremely useful for copying long complicated addresses such as http://195.221.249.115/bipsite/projet/projet.htm

    •  
  • Use Bookmarks to go to your list of bookmarks (more on bookmarks in the Bookmark section of this Workshop guide).  
Square buttons at the top  
  • The Back button (top left) takes you back to the previous Web page you were on. You can click back farther than your last visited page.
  • If you click back too far and pass the page you want to browse, use the Forward button to go "back" to it.
  • The Search button takes you to Search Engines that help you locate topics on the Web (more on Search Engines in the Search Engine section of this Workshop guide).
  • The Print button lets you print out the page you are on, including any pictures or graphics.  
Second Language Teaching with the Web: ALLE Project 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

How am I connected to the Web?   

There are two basic ways to connect to the Internet, the location of the Web.  

1. By Modem  

Microcomputer with Modem
 A modem can be external, as in the    diagram, but it is usually hidden inside the computer. All you see is the phone line that connects it to the jack.  
The modem knows how to dial other 
computers (called Web Servers) that are connected in the same way and talk to 
them.  
"Talk" means it can send and receive 
 messages and files.  
 
 2. Through a LAN  
  
A local area network (LAN) is two or more computers, connected by cables, that are able to share information.  
They do this through a central computer called a Server.  The server usually has a direct connection to the Internet or Web.  
So a LAN is a small network within the Internet. 
 

What is the Internet?  
 
The Internet is a "network of  networks" that connects computers across the world to send and receive information. Each network has a computer, called a Server, that is left on all the time.  All communication occurs through servers. Most connections, even to faraway places, take only  seconds.  But there can be delays...  
 

Second Language Teaching with the Web: ALLE Project 
 
 
  
Opening a page in your Browser  
To go to a Web page, you usually either click on a link, or type in the address in the white rectangle at the top of the page and then press Enter.  Addresses look like this: http://fis.ucalgary.ca   

To find pages on a particular topic, you use a Search Engine.  

You can also open a page that's on your own computer.  The Browser doesn't care where the page is as long as it has its address.  To open a page on your own computer, choose the File menu and Open File.  Then click Choose File to go to the folder where the page is and click on it to open it.  
 

Second Language Teaching with the Web: ALLE Project 
 
 

Editing Web Pages   

An Editor HTML is a program that allows you to create and edit your own Web pages.  It is similar to a Wordprocessor.  The Netscape Communicator, which we will use, is available on Netscape 4.X .  

     The latest versions can be downloaded from the Web using a previous version.  This means that if you have Netscape 2.2, you can use it to go to Netscape's site at http://www.netscape.com/download/  
and download  version 4.  You then follow instructions to substitute the new version for the old one and you are updated.  If you are not familiar with the process of downloading, get someone to help you or ask a techie to do it. 

When editing, you will need both the Composer and the Browser, one to edit in, the other to look at the results.  You go from one to the other by clicking on a special button.  

Second Language Teaching with the Web: ALLE Project 
 
 

Saving your work  

When you are editing a page, you save it in the same way as you do in a wordprocessing program, by choosing File in the menus at the top of the screen, then Save or Save As.  

When you do this, something called a dialogue box will pop up.  This is a way to dialogue with your computer, by telling it where you want to go to find a file or where you want to put a file you've just created or changed.  

In the Netscape Composer, select the drive (normally the a: or c: drive) by using the down pointing arrow to show all the drives on the computer. The 31/2 Floppy (a:) is the little disk you insert, and the c: is the hard drive of your computer. Then select the folder within that drive by double clicking on one of the yellow folders. If you have previously saved the file, verify its name; the file name should be highlighted in blue. You can also choose a file name by using the scroll bar and selecting that file. If it is your first time saving the file, enter a name in the file name box. If you are unable to find your file, check to see if you are looking for an html file type. 
 
 

In Netscape Communicator, use the little down pointing arrow (here circled in red) to show the hierarchy of folders on your computer.  

 
 

This will open a pull-down menu similar to this:  

 
 

Use the scroll bar on the right to see the different parts of the hierarchy.  You are normally only interested in the 31/2 Floppy (A:) and (C:).  The Floppy is the little disk you insert, and the C: is the hard drive of your computer.  Click on the one you want, then click on the yellow folders that appear to navigate to the folder where you want to save your file.  

You can also use the yellow folder with the up arrow (beside the red circle in the first image above) to move up one folder or directory in the hierarchy. 
 

Second Language Teaching with the Web: ALLE Project 
 
If you have any problems, don't hesitate to contact us: 
 
  • Laurie Meredith:  lcamered@acs.ucalgary.ca
  • Lise Sinclair: ltsincla@acs.ucalgary.ca
  • Daniel Maher: dmaher@acs.ucalgary.ca 
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