June 20, 2005

The workshop started with Simon introducing himself, and then introducing the interns who were assisting him and the week's agenda. Among other things, the students will be learning about HTML, and engage in hands on activity with the servers.

After getting the students excited about the rest of the week, Simon started teaching them about the different layers (physical, data link, network, transport, session, presentation and application) of hardware/software. As he was talking about these different layers, the students were asked to give examples. One student's example of a physical layer was wires, voltage, and bit bashing.

Then, Simon went into more detail over their project for tomorrow. The students learned that they will be helping to move Shodor's servers from their present, temporary location to the new server room. The students also looked at different webpages, and their sources. Next, the students went outside for a fifteen-minute break.

When they came back upstairs, they talked about servers and networks. After the students learned how a network works, they were asked to demonstrate what they had learned. Each student picked an envelope, as well as a sheet of paper from the pile in the center of their table. Each student had to pick one of his colleagues, and address the letter to him/her. Then, they each had to wait for their turn to pass their letter to the right person. This is how a network works.

After the students demonstrated how networks work, they were asked to complete their reflections for the day.