Connection to Student Lives

Think about the different groups you're in. You're in a family group, and being a student is a group. You might also be in clubs, sports teams, band, or other groups. Within the groups you are in, many are set up where some people have different duties or responsibilities than others. On a football team there are different players as well as coaches, all of whom are able to do some things when it comes to playing football, but there are some that are given unique responsibilities, like calling plays, determining who gets to play at any given time, and even who should be on the team (or in the group).

And the people in your groups have access to different resources, but maybe not the same access to every resource. Students in the band have access to the band room and possibly a field to practice marching on, and some may share music or chairs, but rarely do people share their instrument or especially their mouthpiece.

Groups are like networks. No, they don't use them to get online, but depending on who you are in a group that accesses a network, you have access to different resources. Think about the network you use at school. Probably all of the students and faculty can log on to the network, use a web browser, and maybe even put folders and files on a shared drive. But usually you have to give permission to people to view or edit a file you've created, even if it's online. And there are some network resources that are only available to some people, like gradebook programs for teachers, or even the network management tools that only IT staff have access to.