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Cyberware for your school

Kirk to Enterprise. So you've installed computer networks in every school building in the district. Now how do you link those networks to each other? If the schools are located miles apart, laying your own cable usually isn't possible, and leasing data lines from the phone company can get very expensive. Here's one solution: Take to the airwaves with the Arlan 640 Ethernet wireless bridge from Aironet Wireless Communications Inc. The Arlan 640 provides transparent wireless connectivity between multiple Ethernet segments over line-of-sight distances up to six miles. And with data rates up to 2 Mbps (faster than a T-1 line), your new wide-area network will zip along at high speed. Prices range between $2,495 and $2,695 per unit, depending on the type of radio used. Call (216) 665-7900 for more information.

Get flexible. Perched on the end of a sleek 20-inch gooseneck, VideoLabs' FlexCam desktop video camera is flexible in more ways than one. Connect the FlexCam to a computer or a television monitor, and you're set to do live presentations, videoconferencing, and high-quality scanning of objects and photographs for multimedia projects. Attach it to a microscope or telescope, and the whole class can watch the hidden life of cells and celestial bodies on the big screen. With sharp focus from infinity down to 1 inch, 16.7 million colors, and built-in stereo microphones, you'll be sure to catch all the action. The Flexcam Teaching Camera goes for $895 by itself or $1,165 bundled with a video capture board and video/image editing software for PCs. Call VideoLabs at (612) 988-0055 to find out more.

Speed surfer. Don't tell anyone we told you so, but analog modems are going the way of 8-track tapes. After languishing for years, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) technology finally has found its niche: high-speed Internet access. ISDN hardware allows data to flow over existing telephone wires at nearly five times the speed of today's fastest modems. With Farallon's Netopia ISDN Internet router, you can take advantage of that speed to connect your school's local area computer network to the Internet with a single ISDN line, providing Internet access to all networked computers in your school. At $1,599 for schools, the Netopia Model 440 includes all the ISDN hardware you'll need, as well as built-in interfaces for both Ethernet and LocalTalk networks. You can talk to Farallon by calling (510) 814-5000.

Teacher's web. Running a web site on a PC in your classroom is a pretty neat idea, and with O'Reilly & Associates' WebSite for Teachers, it's easier and less costly than you might think. The WebSite for Teachers bundle includes the complete commercial WebSite 1.1 software package, which turns any PC using the Windows 95 or Windows NT operating systems into an industrial-strength web server. Just add a full-time Internet connection, and your students can start publishing their home pages to the world, right from a computer in their own classroom. In addition to the award-winning WebSite software (list price $499), the WebSite for Teachers bundle includes a white paper on classroom use of the web and a copy of the best-selling book, The Whole Internet for Windows 95--all for just $99. O'Reilly & Associates even throw in a T-shirt for good measure. Find out more by calling (800) 998-9938.


Reproduced with permission from the March 1996 issue of Electronic School. Copyright 1996, National School Boards Association. This article may be saved to disk, downloaded, or printed for individual use, but may not be otherwise transmitted or reproduced without the consent of the Publisher. Send inquiries to electronic-school@nsba.org.
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