LESSONS
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Intermediate InternetSo, what is the World Wide Web (www) and when did it start? Who came up with the idea of the Internet? Haven't you ever wondered? The World Wide Web was officially introduced to the world on August 6, 1991 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. He develop this program that aimed at linking information and other resources to the rest of the world--hence, the name "World Wide Web". What Is The World Wide Web?Simply put, the World Wide Web is basically a lot of different files (all over the world) that are linked to each other, so that you can look at a file that has a link to another file and then follow that link to read the next file. (These days, it's not just files but useful programs, too.)
What makes this so powerful is that these files can contain graphics, or clips of animation or music, and they can contain information that you normally would have to find with special programs. Or they can let you use statistical programs, user surveys, games, and so on. These days all this is taken for granted, but pre-1994, things were rather different! How Does the World Wide Web Work?
So just what is this miraculous creation? On the simplest level, the Web physically consists of your personal computer, web browser software, a connection to an Internet service provider, computers called servers that host digital data, and routers and switches to direct the flow of information. Let's say you want to visit the Louvre museum website. First you enter the address or URL of the website in your web browser (more about this shortly). Then your browser requests the all the data files that comprise the web page from the web server that host the Louvre's site. The server sends the data over the Internet to your computer. Your web browser assembles and interprets the data, displaying it on your computer screen. The Louvre's website also has links to the sites of other museums, such as the Vatican Museum. If you click on that link, you will access the web server for the Vatican Museum. In this way, information scattered all across the globe is linked together. To access the Web you need a web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Netscape Navigator. How does your web browser distinguish between web pages and other types of data on the Internet? Web pages are written in a computer language called Hypertext Markup Language or HTML. Taken from http://www.learnthenet.com/english/html/13wworks.htm Areas of Interaction:
International Standards for Technology Education:ISTE #1: Creativity and Innovation ISTE #2: Communication and Collaboration ISTE #3: Research and Information Fluency ISTE #4: Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making ISTE #6: Technology Operations and ConceptsUnit Question:“What more can I learn about and from the Internet to be useful and successful in High School, College and beyond?”
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The World Wide Web is the most popular part of the Internet by far. Once you spend time on the Web you will begin to feel like there is no limit to what you can discover. The Web allows rich and diverse communication by enabling you to access and interact with text, graphics, animation, photos, audio and video.
The Web is known as a client-server system. Your computer is the client; the remote computers that store electronic files are the 
The "glue" that holds the Web together is called hypertext and hyperlinks. This feature allows electronic files on the Web to be linked so you can jump easily between them. On the Web, you navigate--commonly known as browsing or surfing--through pages of information based on what interests you at that particular moment.