The Internet Weather Explorer (IWE) allows cost- and time-effective use of Internet-based, NASA-derived information and image sources in a computer lab environment using a networked group of low-end Macintosh computers.
IWE is a client-server system in which a Macintosh with a modem is designated as the server and collects databases and weather images (during off hours) for the connected clients. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) allows different levels of interaction to students, educators, and the system administrators. In the GUI, educators can build lessons and students can create projects or scrapbooks with text, graphics, and questions.
The Internet Weather Explorer is online now at http://www.erols.com/tascfes/fife/iwe/iwe.htm
IWE offers an easy way to use the most powerful part of the Internet, the World Wide Web. With any commercial browser, the user can apply the many available search tools to find data and images, save the place as a bookmark, and have IWE add the reference to its growing list of sites. IWE will then automatically dial one's Internet provider after regular business hours, download images, and convert them for distribution. Once downloaded, the images and data can be tailored and used in unique ways by students and educators. Students can create scrapbooks for review or sharing, and educators can build lessons that many students can use simultaneously.
Within IWE, images may be zoomed and panned to highlight land areas or weather phenomena. Different types of support data, such as boundaries, cities, currents, and historical rainfall patterns can be overlaid with a click of the toolbar below the image. Students can then clip the image, with the exact pan and zoom, into the student's personal scrapbook, then add text and put text annotations over the exact image. Teachers can clip the image, with the exact pan and zoom, into a lesson, then add explanatory text or pop-up questions. An automatic suggestion feature is available for educators who would like guidance in creating text or questions for preset image types.
From the IWE homepage, visitors can:
- Download ready-to-use lesson plans
- Explore IWE's software library
- Link to the National Weather Service and other weather sites
- Be heard in the community center, through its discussion forum and e-mail contacts list
IWE has been written in Macromedia Director, with extensive use of its programming language and compiled external X-Objects. It is a Macintosh-only system. Complete use of IWE functional range requires system 7.1 or later, with AppleShare, MacTCP, AppleScript (on the server), and a few shareware extensions (such as PPP) to allow for dial-up connections.
Curator: Randolph Kim
Responsible NASA Official: Mark
Leon
Last Updated: 07/02/2002
