High Bandwidth Education:
I2 Features and Issues for K12 & Higher Education
by Robert S. Houghton, Western Carolina University
"What if there was almost unlimited Internet bandwidth?"
How could learning
and teaching change if anyone on the globe could share any form of
information at any time? As the Net forges a global idea processor that
can support all forms of media, it also sets the stage for new levels
of network and economic activity. Such
developments raise a number of questions about acting regionally and
thinking globally. Clicking the links and images amidst these thoughts
provides more detailed views and examples. The ideas begin with the
global tools of Internet2 (I2) and then turn to the needs of
educational systems and a 21st century model for application of a
regional network to a regional education system.
The premier exploration of global computer-networked opportunities
is Internet2 (I2). This experimental network is under the management
and control of universities and government agencies, just as the
original Internet was until 1994. Internet2 focuses on research and
experimentation with speeds hundreds of times faster than the current
system used by commercial traffic. Part one below addresses I2 itself.
What is I2? What isn't it? Part two
looks at future educational factors. What other elements beyond I2
itself are necessary for such a system to be educationally effective?
What are the strategic models for K12 participation? Are those models
adequate preparation for this future?
Clicking links and many of the pictures in
the left frame will cause related references to appear in the right
frame. The camcorder icon below highlights the dozen videoclips that
are also part of this composition.
Part One. I2 Networking Technology
|
What is Internet2 (I2)? What is possible with different levels of
bandwidth within the public school buildings and the national I2
network? What issues does this bandwidth create? The answers here are
relatively well known.
Long before Internet2 emerged, a national computer network began in
the late 1960's, which led to the current Internet and the everyday
activities of email and web pages. This network shifted from an
educational and government project to public and commercial access in
1994.
In the decade since 1994, the
Internet has emerged as a colossal force transforming cultural,
educational and economic thinking. However, once the Internet became
commercial, network traffic slow-downs raised questions as to whether
and how a significantly better network could be created. The concept of
Internet2 began to emerge among university network engineers
responsible for moving massive amounts of between universities that
were dissatisfied with the commercial service. (See/click nearby map of
the U.S. for a larger view.) Over the last decade this has led to the
building and connecting of a grid of major high-speed trunk lines.
Gradually the features of this high-speed network have been extended
to BK-12 schools. An overview of the major developments will be
discussed next. More details about the nature of this development can
be found at the Internet2
K-20 Initiative web site.
Technology Application Features
To those with sufficient bandwidth to work with I2
resources and applications, a number of rich possibilities exist.
The number of Internet2 participants continues to grow. Though new
areas will surely be invented as research continues, the current set of
I2 possibilities can be divided into five basic areas of technology
applications:
-
I. Video (live video shows and conferencing; video
archiving);
-
II. Remote control of scientific instruments and
sensors that provide high quantities of data;
-
III. Tele-immersion or immersive VR;
-
IV. Haptics or digital touch and pressure;
-
V. Simulations of social and scientific
considerations.
I. Video and Videoconferencing
High bandwidth networks have
enabled implementation of a long-standing vision for a digital
school hallway that spans the globe. Such a virtual educational
community can provide seamless video connection
between the
auditoriums, lecture halls and classrooms and video libraries of
post-secondary and regional K12 schools. One such example is the annual
Megaconference
Jr, which connects students from around the world. Clicking the
camcorder icon or either picture will display a 3 minute videoclip from
the 2004 event (20 MB file). (Email houghton@email.wcu.edu for
the access codes if you cannot see this video.) There are many forms of
videoconferencing, and Ozkan has provided a review of advantages and
disadvantages to consider for those interested using Internet2 (Ozkan,
2005).
Music and other performance oriented educators will find Internet2 a
natural extension of their activities. For example, in North Carolina,
the NC School of Music at the NC School of the Arts has begun offering
a
"live video" schedule of I2 events of interest to a wide range of
music educators.
Sometimes, both Internet2 live
events and archived video are mixed with a variety of other media
including interactive web sites and printed material, such as
the
material covering the Bi-Centennial Celebration of the Lewis &
Clark Expedition which led to further reexamination of its role in
history. Live interviews and videoconferences with classrooms occurred
along the journey of reenactment. Clicking the camcorder or the picture
with display a videoclip of the Lewis & Clark event (2:47 min/sec,
6.2 MB file).
Other video intensive activities could include specialized courses
and events offered by post-secondary campuses to local schools, master
teacher presentations from the school to teaching methods classes,
1-to-1 tutoring from college classrooms to school students in their
classrooms, collaborative workshops, and student intern supervision.
Though many events
are live, I2 provides access to vast holdings of archived video often
integrated with other media content and interactivity. For example,
clicking the
eSkeletons picture on the right brings up their web site. Make
choices from the various plug down menus which will lead to displays
and further choices. If a videoclip appears, click the play icon. The
video clip animations are used to show the range of motion of a joint
and to rotate the bone showing it from several angles. Few anatomy labs
of the world can as readily provide the 2D and 3D full color
comparisons of human skulls with those of a gorilla, a baboon, and a
spider monkey. In addition, there is considerable supplemental
information. This interactive web site is an excellent resource for the
study of human and primate comparative anatomy.
I2 also opens the
school door to a much larger global community of specialists and
educators.
Clicking
the picture on the left jumps to the extensive resources of the
Research Channel in general and to the specific example which is of a
multimedia lecture series by faculty at the University of Washington.
In addition to archived resources, a variety of videoconferencing and
multimedia options are available through the videoconference hubs
called
Internet2
Commons and
Access Grid.
Video and videoconferencing applications are a prime example of the
"curb cut" value of I2. Using I2 as a set of high-fidelity specialized
television channels and telephone systems is easy for all educators to
understand and use. It requires little if any further training to
integrate such events into classroom practice. This makes video the
easiest place to start in introducing I2 applications to educators at
all grade levels and content areas. The challenge is to move beyond
using video for just for disconnected events and to see it playing in
central role in fostering Communities of Practice (CoP) (Wenger, 1998).
Though the video archives are useable to those with just Internet
bandwidth levels, I2 videoconferencing requires at least 5 mb of
bandwidth and the host site must have an additional 5 mb for each
additional school that is served. Other forms of videoconferencing can
require much less or much more.
Other Internet2 projects for video include:
II. Remote Control of Scientific Devices
Enhancing and
accelerating science and mathematics curriculum has become a major
educational topic at the national level.
Numerous opportunities exist with I2 speeds for high interest and high
relevance activities
using remote data collection and
study in science and math classes.
This includes control of telescopes such as those in Hawaii at
using models such at the Mauna Kea Observatories (see picture on left).
The Jason Projects
teach from remote locations around the world, teaching that science is
about doing science, not just reading about it. For example, students
have been in control of submersible craft collecting scientific data in
oceans around the world as scientists demonstrate the value of the data
they retrieve. (See picture on the right.) Just as important, students
are also in direct contact with the scientists themselves.
Jason scientists typically
communicate directly from the locations of where they are doing
science. See this
eight
minute videoclip (61 MB file) of a live conversation with
a
diver
deep underwater in Monterey Bay off the coast of California, talking
live with students from across the country over the Internet2 network.
Listen for audience questions and the voice of the scientist between
the heavy breathing sounds of his use of the SCUBA equipment. Observe
the many species of marine animals that come under the gaze of the
underwater camera and lights. This live video event was
the result of a partnership between Mystic Aquarium, the
Institute for Exploration, and the JASON project. These
images and this videoclip are made available courtesy of Heather
Boyles, a Director in the Internet2 organization.
Many scientists and organizations have explored ways to provide
public access
to microscopes. The
Imaging
Stations at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, CA has developed
procedures for quick and easy access to focusing and specimen
placement. The Exploratorium's web site leads to many images taken from
these microscopes as well as further information and resources. These
and even more advanced electron microscopes can become available
through high-speed I2 networks.
The
videoclip
about Lehigh University's Internet2 access to their electronic
microscopes discusses how it was used raise the interest level
and motivation of Middle School students in science. (Email
houghton@email.wcu.edu for
the access codes to see this video.) By focusing on the West Nile virus
and its transmission, they involved students in real community
activities to reduce its spread in addition to their research and study
of the science of the disease. As part of their study and research, the
highly detailed images and control of the electron microscope could be
easily shared over the net using the high speeds of I2 bandwidth.
Many
remote sensing projects are in
planning and development. The
NEPTUNE
project is one of the most extensive and most remote sensing
projects yet conceived. It will have as much to offer K-12 students as
it will to the world's scientists. NEPTUNE will provide
significant shore-based command, control and observations systems of an
earthquake active undersea area directly off the northwest coast of the
United States and Canada. This information network will include robotic
submarines, current meters, manned and unmanned rovers, camera and
light display areas, sound listening devices (acoustic Doppler),
nutrient monitors and wave sensors.
The symbols below can be seen in the
network and sensor map found on the right. This project provides a
detailed model for how other regions might plan their own remote
sensing grids for the needs for their area.
The first
camcorder icon on the left displays a video of an autonomous
underwater vehicle moving across
a sensor grid just above the ocean bed. Though a surface view of the
map would imply that the ocean bed is flat, it is in fact a rugged
mountain range with many changes of elevation which is better
understood through the video. The second camcorder on the right
displays video from the point of view of a rover that can collect
samples. The devices pointing out the front of the rover are the
collecting hands.
As other remote control events are discovered, they will be added to
these examples.
III. Tele-Immersion (immersive VR) & Telepresence
I2 brings
teleimmersion to
classrooms, enabling students to feel embedded inside a
three-dimensional (3D) space. Students in distant locations share the
simulated environment as 3D characters that
collaborate on projects as if they each were physically in the same
room. Click the camcorder icon or the picture to see an example
videoclip. The goggles contain small television screen that create a
vision of three-dimensional space whether fiction or fact. Such skills
and tools become increasing important to events as basic as large
committees and small teams distributed globally. It also serves as a
research tool within the disciplines of medicine, advanced science and
mathematics research, and product creation and design. It has also
become important to game and entertainment systems.
http://www.advanced.org/teleimmersion.html.
Teleimmersion is closely related to the
term
telerobotics in which
a remote operator controls the actions of a distant robot or device.
See the
short
telerobotics video page with links to related videos. In these
example photos from NASA, a remote operator would control the assembly
work done by a robot in space.
Teleimmersion is also related to telepresence in which a
person at a remote location appears as a high quality 2D or 3D image to
others. Research has shown that traditional meeting-based teacher
professional
development has not effectively supported transfer of new skills into
classroom
practice. The concepts of teleimmersion and telepresence may have an
important role to play in
teacher
coaching (Edmundson, 2005) to help address needs for change in
actual practice. However, as these examples of Internet features
indicate, beyond physically being on site, there are multiple other
ways to create the sense of presence necessary for the modeling,
observation and feedback that are essential elements of effective adult
learning for teachers.
IV. Haptics
Haptics
brings a unique new expansion of
digital technology through digital touch and pressure. Though there are
numerous techniques for sharing ideas over the Internet, there are very
few for transmitting the force of physical movement (Saga et al, 2005).
As most
have little experience with such devices, it is helpful to see a
haptic
demonstration video for a series of examples. The machine can
simulate pen movement, a brushstroke, chiseling, dissection cutting and
other activities that would enable users to coordinate and emulate
physical activity across the Internet.
Clicking
the picture displays the company's web site which provides more detail.
Such technology enables students to understand and think about physical
issues such as those faced by engineers for production creation and
design, medical personnel remotely treating patients and carrying out
surgical operations requiring specialists during emergency situations
with telerobotics. It might also be used designers in discussion with a
global community for creating textures in clothing and furniture design
where the feel of a fabric is important to communicate. Other
demonstrations and examples are also available in the Internet2 project
catalog.
http://apps.internet2.edu/rsna2004-demos.html
V. Simulations
Experience
with advanced simulation software is a requirement of the national
secondary education computer literacy standards. The map on the right
shows the broad distribution of players in GlobalEd Simulation. High
bandwidth enables large sets of students to participate in a variety of
existing simulation programs which also includes: USUHS Web-Based
Patient Simulation, United Nations World Food Program Educational Game
and the Virtual Marine World Exploration.
New applications are continually emerging in these five areas of I2
technology. A technical common core for all of these five areas is
massive movement of data which yields rich media display and in-depth
interaction. Together they support and provide a number of important
educational values. Fox and Werle (2004) summarize Internet2 as
enabling educators to: explore rich multimedia libraries; build
experience and connect with expertise; create new knowledge; invent new
opportunities; and participate in international learning communities.
Bandwidth Issues for Education
Internet2 was conceived in the late 1990's to explore high bandwidth
applications at speeds far beyond the existing public Internet. A fall
meeting in 1996 by university network engineers eventually led to a
board
of directors drawn from the
university presidents of 34 research universities, a group that has
since grown to include U.S. government agencies and corporate and
international partners. Just as our transportation system went from
walking to cars to space travel, our information systems have gone from
a few bits of information per second to the standard
broadband
speeds
of the Internet as practiced today to the rocket leap of Internet2,
running at 600 megabits per second and faster. Within I2, full length
videos currently transmit in 30 seconds. The clickable map on the right
is of the two I2 research and education networks that have emerged:
Abilene and National Lambda Rail. Some 240 institutions, 34 state
education networks, 70 international networks and 70 corporations of I2
researchers connect to this net. The I2 system has become the next
significant technical and cultural achievement in networking. Issues in
educational integration follow from this development.
Ongoing
land-speed-distance competition
continues to set new records. A mark of around 8.8 gigabits per seconds
was set on April 26, 2006, close the theoretical 10 GB limit of
existing single fiber technology systems. That technology itself is
changing.
In April 2006, researchers also announced that I2 would shift from a
single color laser for
transmitting data to using 10 laser colors, or wavelengths, of light
over a single cable. This 100 Gbps capacity will be implemented segment
by segment finishing in mid-2007. The next bump in speed will occur
when I2 transmits
on 80 wavelengths or 800 GB. The technology startup Infinera has
reported that it is well along in developing a 1.6 terabit photonic
integrated circuit chip for ever faster speeds (Greene, 2007).
The idea of high speed networks used by major research universities
creates an ironic misperception that Internet2 use requires even more
knowledgeable and higher skilled educators than the "commodity
Internet" that is in common use today. In fact, with many of its
features, the opposite is the case. As is true of powerful computers as
well, networks use their power to do highly complex steps very quickly
so that
people can concentrate on what they do best, think. The first personal
computers could handle text, but it took more powerful computers to do
something simple for people like allowing a user to draw a picture. The
first networks could send text as email, but neither computers nor the
original network could handle an audio or video conference, activities
that are much simpler for people than email. As technological power
increases, it can also make things simpler and easier. In other words,
Internet2 may be a better place for many educators who are novices to
digital power to begin to apply that power to their classrooms.
However, before they can do this, certain technical problems must be
solved.
The K12 and post-secondary educators are being asked to try these
new applications as they acquire the minimum bandwidth for
participation. This raises a number of questions and problems to work
through in the years ahead. How much bandwidth must an individual
computer or a school have to take advantage of Internet2 speeds? The
minimum school system or school building speed for acceptable for the
use of some Internet2 applications appears to be 5-10 mbps (megabits
per second) speed to the school building. Within the school building,
the future goal is to reach every desktop computer with a speed of 100
mbps, but most schools run a 10 mbps internal network. That is, high
speed access could reach a school that could not distribute the data to
classrooms fast enough to be useful within the school network.
Which schools are ready for which high bandwidth applications? The
"digital divide" issue looms large in contemplating Internet2 use,
creating a contrast between rural digital ghettos and digital
country-club schools. The national build-out of fiber networks has the
goal of someday ending this distinction among our public schools.
So, how are schools doing in literally "getting up to speed" for
Internet2? K12 details from the most recent Internet2 survey can be
found at:
http://k20.internet2.edu/survey/results/organization_survey_results.cfm?type=K12%20School
K12 Data
Data from
other institutions is also available.
These figures show that in 2004 only 8.33% had adequate bandwidth to
make use of Internet2 features at greater than 10 mb. Two years later,
even with a doubling of connected systems some 12% had better than 10
mbps. This is just a snapshot of a rapidly changing situation. Since
that time, certain I2 applications have been shown to work well at 5
mbps, but bandwidth is just one critical piece of the puzzle. As will
be discussed later, even if the bandwidth is made available, teachers
may still not be effective in the instructional use of I2 applications
in their classrooms.
A number of interesting bandwidth questions remain. What Internet2
applications require what bandwidth to even experience them in any form
and what bandwidth is considered optimal for each application? Which
Internet2 applications are satisfactory at <10 mb or >10 to 100
mb? Unanswered is what bandwidth those schools have that are >10 mb?
What % of them have 155 mb? Further, which Internet2 applications if
any require 155 mb or 600 mb speed? Is there a simple speed test that
the Internet2 team can provide to determine throughput, that is access
speed?
There are other important questions that were not asked nor reported
during the survey. What percentage of a school's bandwidth, on average,
is not being used? It is not how much bandwidth a K20 school building
has, but how much bandwidth is not being utilized on average during
school hours that enables classrooms to add I2 applications and events.
That is, what is headroom or the available bandwidth above the daily
average for a given school? Many K12 schools have sufficient bandwidth
if the school network is used exclusively for an I2 application but
have otherwise maximized their bandwidth utilization charts, leaving no
room left over for running current Internet applications along with I2
applications such as videoconferencing, tele-immersion or other high
bandwidth applications. Where bandwidth is tight, it is possible for
school districts to buy and use packet shaping software that controls
how much bandwidth a given school has. With such network software, a
given building can be given 5-10 mbps speeds for a certain period of
time by reducing and slowing the access of other school buildings in
the district. The obvious conclusion here is that there is a
bottleneck at the local level that will only be resolved as schools
find the funding to obtain higher bandwidth access.
This data also takes only a national perspective. It is just as easy
technically to connect with the other side of the world as it is to
connect with the other side a county or state. Where are other nations
and their school systems in the build out of high speed networks? What
systems and organizations enable educators to find and connect with
each other internationally in educational beneficial ways? Where
bandwidth information is still emerging, some systems for
educator-to-educators contact have been developed. 
One
place to start iEarn,
a nonprofit organization that helps teachers and students collaborate
on global projects that can make a difference in the world. Others
include: Global SchoolNet; Kidlink; and IECC (Intercultural Email Classroom Connections).
Yet another is ePals
which is now managed by the Scholastic company and is being rebranded
as Scholastic's Global Classport. As Internet use continues its
explosive growth, other organizations and systems for creating
collaborations are bound to emerge.
Though the Net makes asynchronous communication quite feasible, live
communication is highly valued for many reasons. A fundamental aspect
of live international communication is time zone thinking. Much of the
world is sleeping whenever someone is teaching so one cannot connect
with any culture at any time. Exploring the Earthview site with its ever changing day/night
shadow helps to conceptualize the issue. The needed details for time
zone differences in hours can be found at the Time Zone site.
Where time zones can be made to match, the discussion again must focus
on collaborative teaching content and systems for making contact.
What I2 is Not
To clarify a new concept, considering what I2 is not helps further
refine the idea. This next generation Internet is not open to the
commercial traffic of what is now being called the "commodity
Internet". The rocket speeds of I2 are not universally available in the
United States or in other countries, though many are engaged in similar
efforts and in collaboratively connecting their efforts. Finally, I2 as
a term is not related to the widely used phrase of Web 2.0, though this
is another important Internet concept.
Though I2 is not open to commercial traffic, many for-profit
corporations participate in its development and are heavily invested in
developing I2 technology precisely because their goal is to help a
create a commercial system that can use I2 or a similar network. There
is no timeline for commercialization. In the meantime, Corporations can
use the technologies to create their own proprietary rocket speed
network for their own private purposes. The WNC EdNet development that
will be described later is an example of a regional collaboration of
public schools creating just such a network.
Higher education and K12 schools are in migration through different
levels of Internet bandwidth accessibility, making a long journey in
the direction of I2's rocket speed networks. This situation has made it
difficult to determine which schools can connect using different
applications. The network applications, such as videoconferencing, also
can be used at widely different speeds. This adds further to the
complexity as collaborator must weigh the speed needed for different
events, sometimes referred to as determining the "quality of service"
though lower speeds may be perfectly acceptable quality for certain
situations.
Internet2 should also not be confused with the phrase "Web 2.0".
Though Web 2.0 is just as important a development as I2, the concept of
Web 2.0 is about the transformation of the commodity Internet from PC
desktop driven software applications to web server driven applications.
Web 2.0 is an idea and a practice, not network hardware (O'Reilly,
2005). It seeks an answer to a simple question. How does one build
and support Internet activity that is driven bottom up by users instead
of top down by organizations? It is about heterarchy instead of
hierarchy. Web 2.0 is also about the stampede to user-generated content
created by web server driven applications instead of the corporate and
centrally managed delivery of information to users.
Comparing the long
list of applications running from the Internet (Houghton, 2006)
with applications running from computer desktops gives some indication
of the radical flip that is underway. However, Web 2.0 is not a
concept that is currently being applied to I2's transformed high-speed
infrastructure. Whether it will be or should be is a topic open for
debate.
I2 also seeks answers to a simple question, but a different
question. What becomes possible if there was almost unlimited
bandwidth? Each new higher level of bandwidth available to educators
provides new options, with access to higher quality free content and
free applications, but the promise that this technology will drive new
curriculum which informs regional economics is the real underlying
vision that drives the funding for radical jumps in bandwidth. Economic
growth and development increasingly depends on knowledge workers and
their creativity. Knowledge creation and management is increasingly
based on digital systems. Bandwidth defines the quality and range of
the digital products and systems that can be created, shared and sold.
Our educational systems in turn are challenged to develop educators and
curriculum that prepare students to succeed and lead in this digital
arena. The greatest competitive and collaborative development will be
possible among regions
that can work with the highest levels of bandwidth.
There are three broad but intertwined issues
that are being addressed here. The implications of I2 networking
technology have now been discussed in some detail. The next two legs of
the stool needing attention are educational infrastructure, and
economic leadership. That is, Internet2 is just 1/3 of the solution for
regional growth and revitalization.
Though these pages focus on what high speed networks are capable of
doing, the issues of educational infrastructure and economic leadership
also need attention. Educational infrastructure refers not only to the
facilities and technology in the classroom but to the presence of
informed and trained educators. Economic leadership refers to the
curriculum of entrepreneurship and its community interconnection which
sufficiently informs students in school so they can use their digital
knowledge to generate economic activity before and after they become
adults. By economic activity, we refer to the formation of both profit
and nonprofit organizations. The technical issues of building high
speed networks are reasonably well worked out by national groups.
Though the funding for I2 networks has been largely worked out in
higher education, K12 education has found that drawing such funding
from legislatures has been a long and difficult process. New strategies
are needed. Research is underway to determine if a better solution to
the problem of sufficient funding is to form a consortium of schools
and higher education partners that seeks grants and other support.
In addition, to these three issues, WNC EdNet will also be described
which is an emerging national model of a regional network, and an
alternative approach to funding. All three elements, networking
technology, educational infrastructure, and economic leadership, must
come together to successfully impact the viability of our communities.
Educational Infrastructure
A wide menu of I2 options exists for the K12 and post-secondary
educator. What does a given classroom need to begin to effectively
participate in Internet2 activity? What percentage of school classrooms
already have this? What is needed for utilizing the full range of I2
applications?
Building Bandwidth
Bandwidth needs have already been discussed in some detail. Peak
levels of network activity that consume all bandwidth available to a
school makes Internet information display too slow for the usual pace
of instruction. I2 adds significantly to a schools bandwidth needs.
Bandwidth needs for selected I2 applications can begin at 5 mbps,
speeds often many times the total bandwidth available to most K12
schools. In summary, teachers need adequate bandwidth that is not
continually plagued by peak activity use of the school network.
The Needs of a 21st Century Teaching Classroom
Once bandwidth is in place, teachers and students need access to the
resources of the computer and its network. In most classrooms, most
students, most of the time, do not have this accessibility. That is,
most classrooms have one computer designed for use by one person, not
by a large group of learners. Change is underway with computer
projection systems and 1-to-1 initiatives, but the distance to go is
still far.
The "red zone" areas of this typical classroom (see classroom layout
diagram) 
represents the areas of
the room in which the teacher stands during concentrated periods of
teaching, a zone that does not include the "green zone" of the room's
one personal computer that is connected to the school computer network.
Why does the red zone not overlap with the green zone? The all too
common reason is that displaying computer information on a 17" monitor
is dysfunctional for the whole class activity in which a teacher spends
most of her teaching time. Text on the screen cannot be adequately seen
by more than handful of students. The reason that many teachers do not
regularly incorporate the rich possibility of computer activities and
the multimedia presence of the Internet in their classroom is that they
have not been given the rest of the tools to make it work in a large
group setting, notably a digital whiteboard or computer projection
system and screen.
Even if I2 bandwidth exists, without whole class display capacity,
the single computer and its network is not useable in application to a
teacher's regular classroom lessons. This relegates most computer
activities to isolated trips to a computer lab down the hallway, and
dis-integrates computing and Internet power from the vast majority of a
teacher's lessons. The most expensive technology in a teacher's
classroom, the personal computer, is most often used for isolated
individual student and teacher activities that occur when regular
teaching activity is not taking place, a very small percentage of a
teaching day. Many of these activities are for teacher administrative
needs, not the immediate hourly needs of student learning.
As an
example of a current setting, research in the WNC EdNet region
indicates less than 10% of K-12 classrooms have a permanently placed
projection system of any type. State and national figure are not
available for comparison. By working with small groups of 5-7 students,
the single standard monitor computer can be used in instructionally
effective ways, but most teachers teach their lessons as whole class
activity; many seldom use small group instruction if at all. If
computing activity is to become educationally significant to the
learning process either every student needs a computer or every
classroom needs computer projection. In the future, both will be
required. The latter, computer display and interaction for a whole
class, is a significantly less expensive place to begin. (See
picture-link of SmartBoard on the left, “Copyright 2001–2006
SMART Technologies Inc. All rights reserved.”) Related products include
ActivBoards,
InterWrite tablets,
ActivSlates,
ActiVote and
many
others. Many web sites are designing their presentations
specifically for web-based whiteboard
display.
This could be thought of as a 1-to-1 (1:1) classroom strategy, one
whole-class I2 networked computer display per classroom. Such systems
provide a very wide range of approaches to engaging whole class student
learning (Levin-Epstein,
2005) and have generated considerable research on their
implementation and value. For more information, see the interactive
whiteboard bibliography below from the National Clearinghouse for
Educational Facilities. Their engaging potential is important to
teacher motivation as well.
For the fortunate few, 1-to-1
computer initiatives in the public schools have also put laptops
in the hands of every student at selected grade levels. With best-price
laptop projects beginning around $800 per computer and climbing, these
projects impact a tiny percentage of schools (Apple,
Gateway).
The current best hope for significantly more affordable student
computing is MIT's $100
One-Laptop-Per-Child (OLPC) project whose first manufactured
prototypes appeared around December, 2006 (Houghton,
January 2, 2006). The first shipments went to Mongolia and Urgaguay in late 2007 and other countries have followed in 2008 (Beer, 2008). Their availability will be subject to a number of
institutional funding challenges for some years to come if the product proves viable. Of
equal importance is preparatory discussion that educates funding
agencies, including elected representatiaves in state legislatures,
about the critical importance of one-to-one computing and the budgeting
needs and timelimes for even $100 laptops.
The Digitally Empowered Teacher
The
digitally empowered teacher will require a digitally empowered
classroom. Acquiring such in itself is worthwhile achievement. Of
greater long term importance however, the invisible network will bring
an end to what has been a fundamental characteristic of the vast
majority of teaching. A teacher teaches alone.
Visualizing what is needed for the digital empowered classroom
requires the ability to see what is not. Observing the average
classroom is a visually rich experience. Note the picture on the left
or click to view a 360 degree
panorama that can be made visible in a separate display on the
right, spinning the space by tapping the left and right arrow keys or
click-dragging the mouse. A quick glance or spin of the panorama shows
that the average classroom is a busy, complex, and organized place that
would require great talent to administer well. However, there is one
element of the 21st century that it does not have and that is a center
of any kind for group digital activity. Even more rare is the
engagement of an entire class of students engaged in digital activity
in the regular class space. Once standard projection and networking
tools are in place, the universe opens up. The global nature of the
Internet provides endless opportunities for the cultural mediation
(Vygotsky, 1978) that leads to preservice and professional growth and
curriculum resource sharing.
In addition to the cost of computing, practical foundational
elements stand in the way. Unlike any desktop in the adult working
world, and more like life in many third world countries, student
desktops do not have electricity. Some solutions are available. For
example, innovative and energetic teachers push large heavy carts down
long hallways to wheel into their classroom a shipload full of wireless
laptop technology, when they can schedule it. Such intermediate steps
will be needed for I2 integration as well.
Online Team Teaching - Transforming Education
Perhaps buried in the excitement of an avalanche of Internet
information and media that a networked digital classroom provides, is
the capacity for teachers to teach directly into each other's
classrooms and thereby learn teaching from each other while students
learn content and skills. Connecting interactive whiteboard to
interactive whiteboard, via network collaboration software such as
Elluminate and Centra and other products can be easily done once
bandwidth settings reach a certain level. this can happen long
before Internet2 capacity arrives. This is not videoconferencing in the
traditional sense, and in many ways this is better for many educational
needs. Further, while the previously discussed features that are added
by Internet2 add significantly to the resources available to teachers
and students, they are additive. Online team teaching live into a
partner or a larger team's set of classrooms transforms the teaching
experience.
For a math-based example, click the image or
SwainWest
Smartboard math lesson 
(2.2 mb)
for a 3 minute videoclip taken from tail end of an hour long
presentation. The teacher doing the lesson is in a 4th grade classroom
in a school with only moderate Internet bandwidth (11/30/06 9:30 a.m.).
Those watching the lesson on a computer projection screen and on the
computer monitors of student's workstations in a computer lab are an
hour's drive away. The audience is some 20 preservice teacher education
students in a computers in education methods class at a university. As
the teacher finishes her lesson, a discussion begins to emerge between
the 4th grade teacher, the university professor and the university
students.
The videoclip will open over the top of the web page and may require
some resizing and scrolling for best display. The left and right
columns in the image shows tools for that are used to manage the audio,
video and text communication of the session. The large center display
area displays what the 4th grade students are seeing and doing on the
Smartboard in their classroom.
The next 
screen movie example is a language arts
writing lesson about 8 minutes long (3.6 mb). The Smartboard image
of the 4 sections of ideas is the same classroom but later during a
language arts lesson. This time the university methods class students
interact directly with the lesson by typing on their computer screens,
text which appears in a lighter blue, while the student ideas are
handwritten. Audio and video worked quite well between the two sites
but text-typing only by university participants was used as a less
disruptive form of interaction. As network bandwidth improves, the
audio and video will only get better. The collaborative network
software is also technically capable of adding a videocamcorder view of
either or both classrooms at the same time if bandwidth is sufficient.
Models for sharing interests in connecting classrooms have long been
managed through student mail and email partner programs as mentioned
earlier. Expanded bandwidth moves the experience from intermittent
student contact, to live concentrated interaction between not only
students but between teachers. With the Internet not only can teachers
easily teach to each other's classrooms across a school building or
school district, but they can connect at any distance with diverse
classrooms in cultures around the globe. The experience of teaching
within such networked classrooms will be further enhanced by the
multimedia rich nature of what Internet2 will provide.
Online teaching teaching from interactive whiteboard to interactive
whiteboard will address a number of important issues. The
experience provides a chance to end the professional isolation of
teaching time. It will allow educators to share in teaching
responsibilities that lightens each other's load while adding some fun
to the process and that will impact teacher retention. The observation
of others teaching will inevitably lead to feedback to the teachers
involved that will improve the teaching of all. Further, as noted by
Sawyer (2007), collaboration is central if not critical to the creative
process. Such collaborative team teaching holds the potential for
further solutions to the daily and long term problems encountered by
educators. Such value is too significant an opportunity to pass up.
Such design ideas highlight the disruptive power of new
technologies. Educators are invited to participate in the Western
Teacher Network research project to receive training, software
access and other support for such collaborative activity.
New Technology Standards for Teachers
Standards for what a teacher should know have been widely available
for decades, standards that continually update and upgrade. The
ISTE's
NETS standards predominate. NETS stands for National Educational
Technology Standards for Teachers. What teachers know is that when
their classroom's computer system finally becomes adequate, they need
more time. They need more time to prepare lessons which incorporate
computer activity. Their textbooks and prepared materials often do not
provide integrating activities which means creative thinking needs to
occur. Even if publishers do provide integrating activities this means
that applications and web site features also need to be learned. Once
email is encouraged, they need more time to respond to email from
parents and administrators. They need more time to take the workshops
and courses that keep them current with a rapidly evolving technology.
Once networking technology is in place, computer systems are often used
to increase the detail reported on student assessment. Teachers need
more time or assistance in entering that data.
As a first step in preparing teachers to understand and use
Internet2 access in their classrooms, setting up an Internet2 computer
and participation area in the library or media center is a practical
way to begin. There are many events available in the I2 catalogs of
resources. Media specialists and librarians are key players in helping
teachers become aware of new resources and materials, so sharing I2
opportunities is a natural progression for these staff members (Mutch &
Ventura, 2003). Such a school center provides a role model for
transitioning such experiences to the previously discussed 1:1
classroom computer projection strategies and 1:1 laptop computer
strategies as they develop.
Teachers also need adequate technical help and assistance to get
their computer and network problems solved in a reasonable period of
time. At minimum, a technology facilitator needs to be on-site in every
school building, a person supported by other members of a technology
team based in the central office. More importantly, computer and
network maintainance needs to be of such quality that the technology
facilitators have additional time to give direct leadership and help to
teachers while they are teaching in their classrooms.
The work on the first leg of the stool will continue to advance.
Clearly Internet2 will serve as incentive to build similar high speed
networks for public and business use in the years ahead. Many I2
developments can also be used with varying degrees of success by
schools with standard Internet connections. A central resource for
Internet2 ideas and K12 schools can be found at k20.internet2.edu.
More details on these areas of educational application
are provided below. Where schools discover they have sufficient
bandwidth, there are numerous applications that provide solid
integration with K20 curriculum goals and objectives, as well as K12.
Two quick locations for long lists of applications provide a large set
of possibilities.
Today's Internet
Whether high speed networks are available sooner or later,
discussion about a faster future should not cause educators to delay in
using what exists today, current network or no network. The issues of
classroom isolation, diversity and international understanding were
being addressed long before high speed networks were available. Many
networking projects with solid educational credentials have been
underway for years. In addition to the web address of the educational
exchange sites mentioned earlier, there is the North Carolina based
Center for International Understanding connects teachers in North
Carolina schools with several targeted countries. http://ciu.northcarolina.edu/content.php/system/index.htm
Strong agendas for what students and teacher preservice programs
should be doing with digital technology and the Internet can be found
in different places.
Educators will find that it is not necessary to wait for high
bandwidth networks in their schools to begin using the networking
capacity that is present today.
If a common core for Internet2 applications is massive data movement
yielding rich media and interaction, then this also sets a direction
for composition curriculum. This is sometimes termed multimedia and
when synthesized into unified composition is sometimes referred to as
unimedia. As writing-across-the-curriculum subject areas is a
widespread curriculum guideline, then something similar should be
indicated for language arts curriculum and its distribution across all
content areas. This also suggests areas of opportunity for
entrepreneurial development.
Though small in percentage, there are still are many
schools providing vibrant models of 1:1 computing. As the digital
educational infrastructure comes into place, there will be many with
the leadership knowledge to guide others along the path.
Economic Leadership and 21st Century Economies
One of the major reasons that
foundations and legislatures provide funding for new ventures is the
promise of an eventual impact on jobs and the economy. Educational
systems must weave these ideas into their own proposals. What are the
characteristics of economically vibrant and growing communities and
regions and can these characteristics inform school curriculum and its
development?
The work of Richard Florida, author of Rise of the Creative Class
(2002), and others has summarized the key characteristics of healthy
21st century economies as having Technology, Talent and Tolerance. The
graphic above or on the left explores these factors (Järvinen
& Laitinen, 2004). Each deserves further consideration.
Assuming that the educational infrastructure needs of bandwidth and
classroom can be met, how does this investment in digital technology
lead to impact in local and regional economies? What is needed to apply
digital knowledge and digital networks to growing a local or regional
economy? How does a market economy based on creativity bring forth
school curriculum that accents creativity and innovation from students?
With North Carolina's June 2006 first-in-the-nation
school curriculum commitment
to the "21st century skills" conceptual framework, leadership is
emerging to find the answers to those questions. Click the rainbow
graphic for more detail on this agenda. Noticeably absent from this
formula though is the concept of entrepreneurship. Information
technology conceptualizations have focused on learning and tools, but
in turn miss one of the major applications of networking technology,
the invention and formation of profit and non-profit organizations.
Computer networking makes regional and global organizational structures
possible. This indicates the need for new levels of curriculum
development and teaching practices as organizational structures which
work across school classrooms instead of within them are a very novel
and challenging educational concept for teachers. Whole new
conceptualizations of teaching and network practices in schools are
needed.
21st Century Technology
The technology of the 21st century is characterized by its digital
computing base that makes extensive use of computers and computer
networks. As users of an invention become steeped in its use, and have
mastered its major features, thoughts emerge around how to make it
different and potentially better. A major characteristic of such an
economy is its accessibility to the widest range of possible users.
Healthy economies on the leading edge of creativity and social and
business entrepreneurship come from local economies that make
significant use of the invention. Such invention cannot be locked in
the educational system but must be widely available to the entire
population.
21st Century Tolerance
A key characteristic of thriving economies is not just their tolerance
for a wide range of cultures and lifestyles, but their active seeking
of such diversity. The global nature of the Internet accelerates those
economies with this characteristic and depresses those that are not. A
good idea is just as likely to emerge in one country as another and the
more knowledge is shared about different cultures and languages, the
easier it is for new business and social activity to contribute to
other businesses and social activity across those boundaries. The
Internet makes living and thinking across those boundaries take place
in real time with real impact, but the current result of this so far is
a
highly spiky map (Florida, 2005) with towering peaks of economic
and creative activity alongside many flat plains and sinking valleys.
The peaks represent the highest levels of production, noting tight
geographic areas of strong regional economies. Clicking the map reveals
a larger version of the picture. Seeming invisible yet to this data is
Friedman's conjecture (2006) that increasing global competition is
flattening the contrasts between the world's peaks and valleys.
One possibility is that the flattening occuring between the peaks of
different regions is so large that the impact between the valley and
the peaks of the graph is not yet visible in comparison.
21st Century Talent
The creation and growth of jobs depends on the talent, the knowledge
and skills, of the local population. The heart of a digital economy is
the talent that applies creativity to problem processing (both the
discovery and solution phases). This implies the need for curriculums
that use and teach a wide range knowledge using a wide range computing
applications in a global setting. More importantly it implies a
curriculum in which creative and inventive thinking is accented,
nourished and rewarded within a collaborative community.
The conceptual framework for curriculums that focus on creativity,
collaboration and problem solving come from variety of places with long
educational histories, including the study of independent learners,
gifted and talented education, 21st century skills and entrepreneurship
curriculum. A critical new concept is that significant features of such
curriculum need to be part of the knowledge that everyone learns, not
just specialized groups.
The opportunity and challenge to rural and other low growth areas and
any area seeking to grow economically is to use the Internet to create
the intense sets of base regional interactions and global contacts that
crowded diverse cities have almost by default of their size and
population density.
A Strategic Plan
Strategic planning is
best done with considerable interaction between a wide range of people
for a significant period of time.
To draw such groups together, it helps to have a possible if not
probable vision in mind. From the prior discussion it is possible to
see how a strategic sequence of planning activity could come into
being. Regions seeking to grow need the fastest most in-depth forms of
far-reaching interaction available at lowest cost short of the cost of
personal travel. That leaves only the building of high-speed Internet
connections as launch pads to the rest of the world.
Who does one connect with? This does not imply ignoring regional and
state connections, but implies that these more local points would best
be used as anchor points for
connections with people and organizations with
the tallest economic spikes on the global map, however one defines peak
activity. This requires determining where those global points are. It
means that the building of a rolodex of those at these points for
contact and interaction about various projects for different
educational and later business and social needs becomes a priority.
This thinking further suggests that entrepreneurial knowledge will
enable such interactions over time to build towards substantive
creations that will contribute to the rise of the local economy.
Curriculum and educational activity should build towards these
goals. That is, teachers need the previously discussed infrastructure
of hardware, software applications and training to teach such knowledge
and skills as part of the process of teaching their state mandated
competencies. Public school classrooms will need those projections
systems for whole class activities to experience the full range of I2
developments which can serve as a springboard to other more technical
activities on personal computers. As students need to master these
technical skills, they will sooner or need personal computers in each
of their hands for the growth of knowledge to continue at the personal
level.
Should such strategy prove effective in creating virtual peaks or
spikes of economic activity from within a more rural region, then the
observation that wealth and creativity continue to migrate to large
creative cities will become irrelevant. Given the dynamic nature of
global developments, with the right strategy "even the most modest
hills have the opportunity to become formidable peaks" (Hagel,
2005).
WNC EdNet
An early step in regional and global strategy is the creation of a
consortium and the acquisition of 
grants and other funds to build
a high speed computer network. In the case of Western North Carolina,
consortium of committees grew and met for months. What emerged from
these meetings came to be called WNC EdNet.
It sought and received the grants to build a 53 mile network that will
connect 7 school districts, 62 schools and some 20,000 students and
educators dispersed across a region of mountains and deep valleys. Now
four-fifths done, the gigabit speed network should be complete and
operational in the fall of 2007 as final funding is found.
Individuals wishing to contribute to this effort should contact one
of the committee chairs: Dea Cox (Macon County Schools); Regina Ash
(Swain County Schools), Bob Houghton (Western
Carolina University).
During the construction of the network, the other issues raised in
this discussion must be considered and addressed. For example, of
the 62 school buildings, 2000 teachers, staff and administrators and
17,000 students in the WNC EdNet Consortium, there are just 17
full-time information technology staff members which spend the majority
of their time in support of the network and maintaining technology, not
in direct support of teaching events. Schools need at least one
technology facilitator in every school building dedicated to classroom
support, not just technology maintenance.
To better understand the potential of networks for teaching,
learning, communication and group projects a Technology Applications
Committee is developing plans for future activity by sharing knowledge
of their use of different classroom applications and learning new
network based applications. Face-to-face meetings and online
meetings are held periodically using Centra's Synchronized Learning
Management software. Documents that facilitate the projects underway
are managed by a wiki-like server using Plone software:
http://ustream.wcu.edu:8300/university/wnc-ednet.
A regional conference releasing all 2,000 plus teachers and
instructional staff in this region for a WNC EdNet teacher work-day
conference at the Ramsey Center at Western Carolina University is set
for October 12, 2007. Those who would like to share a vision of how the
WNC EdNet system could further empower their educational projects and
assist regional goals should be in contact with the committee chairs
mentioned above. Presenter rooms and display spaces are currently
available.
Conclusion
Though computer networks have been under refinement for decades, the
world is still at the dawn of the application of the Internet for
educational goals. To conclude much about such a highly dynamic
development and setting would be overreaching. High speed networks and
I2 have enormous potential. Categories of applications for education
have emerged, but strategies for integrating I2's potential with K-20
education and future economic activity are just visible. School systems
wishing to proceed would seem to need their own long-term vision of how
the major elements of educational goals and infrastructure and economic
development will merge on a timeline that arrives with the advent of
high bandwidth computer networks. Forming those regional and community
teams to hash out such vision becomes the most immediate priority of
those that see the potential. WNC EdNet is an educational design that
should prove of interest to other regions planning for the future. A
design for the high bandwidth technical infrastructure down to the
classroom seats is largely in place. Creative designs for high
bandwidth social structures that build a complementary "high touch"
network of educators will form the next major goal for WNC EdNet. Such
a goal will be essential to the educational health of the enterprise.
Discussion/Interaction
There are no permanent conclusions, just evolution and revolution.
To leave text comment on this article, please use the blog or wiki
pages below. Look for the comments options and boxes.
To participate in a future live audio or videoconference on this
article, please send your email address and interest with the email
subject heading of
I2 videoconference to
houghton@email.wcu.edu. When sufficient interest accumulates, a
proposed date will be sent. The event will use Internet-based
conferencing software to draw the group together. Participants will
need a computer connected to the Internet and a headphone set with
microphone; video via webcams and camcorders is optional.
Bibliography
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Bibliography
on Interactive Whiteboards (National Clearing House for Educational
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Additional
bibliographies
In the decade since 1994, the
Internet has emerged as a colossal force transforming cultural,
educational and economic thinking. However, once the Internet became
commercial, network traffic slow-downs raised questions as to whether
and how a significantly better network could be created. The concept of
Internet2 began to emerge among university network engineers
responsible for moving massive amounts of between universities that
were dissatisfied with the commercial service. (See/click nearby map of
the U.S. for a larger view.) Over the last decade this has led to the
building and connecting of a grid of major high-speed trunk lines.