Higher-quality, faster internet service unveiled to educators at statewide technology conference at The Center

Community News

By SUSAN WHEELDON, CJ Staff Writer

Those who attended the education technology conference at The Center for Rural Development last week were able to see a simultaneous blend of visual and performing arts spanning from Somerset, Philadelphia, Cleveland and New York City, all without leaving their seats.

The event was a demonstration of “Internet2” and how it could be used. The rollout at the statewide technology conference gave educators, librarians and technology support specialists at the two-day Kentucky Convergence 2008 conference a first-hand look at the cutting-edge possibilities of internet service delivered at a higher speed and higher quality than ever before.

At this event, it showed how Internet2 video conferencing technology can be used to collaborate on educational projects with partners at multiple locations without requiring travel between those sites.

As local painter Dan Dutton created art onstage at The Center in just 45 minutes, a jazz trio from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City was heard, and images of fine art at the Cleveland Museum of Art were simultaneously mixed with the live broadcast of another painter in action in Philadelphia.

The images were shown on a large theatre screen through a high-definition (HD) projector in real time.

Internet2 is a non-profit membership organization of 208 universities working in conjunction with government and industry to operate a private national Internet Protocol network reserved for the exclusive use of the U.S. research and education community. The network is an advanced high-performance network that supports advanced or complex applications that do not work on commercial Internet or do not work well.

Susan Lancaster, who is an Internet2 applications coordinator with the Council on Postsecondary Education, said they wanted to show those at the conference, Internet2, to develop an awareness of the resource.

“The idea is to provide a kaleidoscope of enriching events with participants who are not geographically located in the same place at the same time,” said Lancaster following Thursday’s performance. Lancaster, who is the Internet2 applications coordinator for the Kentucky Council on Post-secondary Education, facilitated the Internet2 project demonstration.

“What we tried to do is plant the seeds so that colleges and universities could go back to their campuses and apply what we demonstrated in different content areas,” she added.

Lancaster added that the service can be used in many different ways including or interactive collaborative conferences, virtual field trips and other partnerships to enhance distance learning or communication avenues.

Lancaster also noted that this program can be used to be environmentally friendly as well.

“It’s unlikely we would put our children on a bus to Cleveland,” said Lancaster, “but we can do things through video conferencing instead of traveling.”

Lancaster explained in one Kentucky county Internet2 was used last year, so students could communicate with those in Hong Kong in a learning exchange.

“What it does for kids is make the content real,” said Lancaster. “Students see there is a real audience ...”

And participants who were involved in the conference thought the technology was something that definitely could be used.

“I thought it was amazing,” said Mary Chestnut, from Northern Kentucky University. “I think it would be wonderful if I had a group of students studying about the Underground Railroad and we could go to an Underground Railroad site.”

Dutton’s work, two outstretched hands representing an act of kindness, which is symbolic of how “we use our hands to reach out and touch others,” will be donated to the Carnegie Art Center, which will open in December and will occupy the home of the former library which stood on the corner of Main and Columbia, for nearly 40 years.

Exhibits, classrooms, community rooms, concert space and more will be offered once the center is up and going, most likely by December of this year.

Dutton added that participating in the event also has given him another idea for a piece. He said the piece, which involves storytelling, will now involve having people in different places interacting.

The Internet2 project demonstration was presented by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education in partnership with The Center. It was part of the session “Wow, Can My Students Do That? Utilizing Internet2 Resources,” which spotlighted the innovative ways in which technology can be used in the classroom.

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