ThinkQuest and Internet2
Imagining the Future

by D.W. Hyatt

Accessing the ThinkQuest Site

In order to participate in the ThinkQuest project called Imagining the Future, students will need an account on the ThinkQuest server at:

www.thinkquest.org


It is probably best to do this from home since we have some awkward problems with the Internet filter here at school. Working around the problems associated with the filter will be described in more detail below but all students who will be participating in this experiment will need to get accounts on My ThinkQuest.

From a web browser, go to the ThinkQuest server and create an account for yourself by clicking on the the navigation tag called My ThinkQuest. Mr. Hyatt's account on the ThinkQuest server is dhyatt and Mr. Latimer's is rlatimer. Using a familiar name on the TQ server is recommended so that other people can easily recognize when you when online. You will need to choose an appropriate login name and fill out additional information, and there is also a place to have your parents approve, so ask them if you can participate too. Participation is not required for this course, but there will be some exciting opportunities for those that do.

Once you have selected an ID on My ThinkQuest, let your teacher know so we can send those ID's to the staff at ThinkQuest so they can give you additional access to the Internet2 activities and conferences that will be available to the participants in this project.


Gaining Access to the ThinkQuest Page for Our Class

It will be easier to do much of the interaction on the ThinkQuest site in the evenings or on weekends from home. The schools involved are in many different time zones, and thier students are not in class when we are. When logging in here from school, it will be necessary to change the proxy configuration which is described in the next section. To connect to the ThinkQuest site, use the following URL:

www.thinkquest.org/future


Go to the bottom of that page and select the link for Students. The type in the student account name "ITFfuture" and password. See your teacher for that password. This will allow you to see the first level of the online ThinkQuest information including a time line for project development, useful links, glossary of terms, and more. Check it out.

To get to some of the special capabilities of the ThinkQuest site, you will also need to login using your individual My ThinkQuest account name.

Changing the Old Proxy Configuration at TJ

Since TJHSST has been experiencing problems with the new FCPS proxy called "bigbrother.tjhsst.edu", we need to go through the previous proxy server we had which will allow cookies to pass through to your computer here at TJ. The reason for this is that the ThinkQuest site sees only one person at TJ because the cookie identifying the user is stored on the proxy server and not on our local machines.

The procedure is not difficult. On the Netscape browser, select Edit and then Preferences, followed by Advanced and then Proxies. View the Manual Proxy Configuration, and change the HTTP Proxy entry to "extranet.tjhsst.edu" and port "8080" instead of "bigbrother" and port "8002". After that, you should be able to logon the ThinkQuest server and continue with registration and server access.

When first accessing a site via the new proxy, it will require that you authenticate through the LAN. Be prepared to click through a few screens and enter your password before getting out to the Internet. If you follow all of these steps, then you can make the ThinkQuest server see you as a separate entity.

Important Things to Do