GoalTell the web from the internet and compare a closed network (intranet) with an open one.
New words
World Wide Web · the part of the internet made of web pagesintranet · a private network that only chosen people can useinternet · an open network that anyone can reachhotspot · a phone that shares its connection with other devices
Explanation
Imagine a huge library building with roads leading to it. The internet is the whole building and the roads: all the connected networks. The World Wide Web is the books and pages inside it, which you read with a browser. So the web is a part of the internet, not the same thing. Some networks are open and some are closed. A school may have an intranet: a private network inside the school. Only teachers and pupils with permission can use it, so it is safer for school files. The internet is open: anyone can reach it, so we must be careful what we put there. In Egypt there is also a free online library for people in Egypt, called the Egyptian Knowledge Bank. A teacher can show you how to use it.
Intranet
Internet
Who can use it?
chosen people only
anyone
Kind of network
closed
open
Example
a school’s private file network
pages for the whole world
Privacy
more private
less private
Worked examples
A school computer lab is linked by cables. Mina saves his drawing on the school file space and his friend opens it from another computer. Nobody outside the school can open it.
Jana’s grandmother lives in another country. They talk by video over the internet, which is open to everyone, so Jana only says things that are safe to say.
Farida’s father uses his phone as a hotspot. The phone shares its connection, so the tablet in the car can reach the internet too.
Class activity
Open or closed? Make a two-column table on paper: intranet and internet. Write six things and put each in the right column or in both: ‘a pupils-only file space’, ‘a video call with a far-away aunt’, ‘pages anyone can read’, ‘the school’s timetable files’, and two of your own. Explain one choice to a partner.
Practice
1
Is the web the same as the internet? Explain.
No. The web is the part of the internet made of pages. The internet is the whole network of networks.
2
Which network is private and closed: an intranet or the internet?
An intranet.
3
Why is the school file space safer on an intranet?
Only chosen people can use it.
4
What is a hotspot?
A phone that shares its connection with other devices.
