What is the Internet and how does it work?
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Task One (10 minutes):
Go to "What is the Internet" in OneNote. Give your best explanation about what the Internet is in 100 words. Important: do not worry about being right or wrong, the purpose is to make yourself aware of what you think the Internet is. Once everyone has written their best attempt we will discuss what we have written as a class. |
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The Internet vs the World Wide Web
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Read this:
One of the most common misconceptions that people have about computers is that the World Wide Web (WWW) is the same thing as the Internet. These are actually two different things. To explain, let's consider train lines. We build train tracks in order for trains to transport things (people, livestock, wood, etc.) from place to place. Trains run as a service on these tracks. Without tracks, a train would be useless and wouldn't be able to carry out its purpose. The Internet is actually very similar to trains and tracks. If we continue with the comparison, the Internet is the train tracks and the world wide web is the trains. The WWW is a service that uses the Internet. The websites themselves which we visit are only a part of the world wide web, they are not actually the Internet! So what is the Internet then??? The Internet is actually a massive network of computers that are all connected together, just like train stations connected by tracks. The WWW uses these connected computers to transport its cargo (the websites that we go to!). Example: Google has massive computers which we call servers. These computers serve you the data that your website needs. This might be video data on YouTube, or it might be search results that you have asked for. When you search for a video on YouTube, the WWW "Internet protocols" to transport its information across lots of other computers, all the way to you at your computer so that you can watch it. Just like if you ordered something from Auckland and it came by train, it would first stop at a few stations along the way, before reaching us here in Palmerston North. Task Two: Using trains as an analogy, describe what is happening at each of the stops along the way (the train stations/servers). (100 words) |
Task Three:
a) Using the information above, create yourself a new definition of what the Internet is.
b) Using Instagram as an example, in 150 words do your best to describe how photos get to your phone when using it.
a) Using the information above, create yourself a new definition of what the Internet is.
b) Using Instagram as an example, in 150 words do your best to describe how photos get to your phone when using it.
