February 1999 — Features
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The Educational Enterprise Zone: Where Knowledge Comes From!
The philosophy of the EEZ is that teachers and learners exist in all places in our communities: home, libraries, workplaces, museums, government agencies, K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and that we all share the same mission: to facilitate the maximum learning experience for the student. The EEZ puts in place the technology infrastructure and management structure that allows the learners to connect to resources worldwide.
The enabling technologies that the EEZ is based upon are designed to ensure equitable access to the resources via voice, data and video. The connections that the EEZ designs are intended to be connections of learners to people and not simply to databases of information. To ensure that these connections are enablers and do not become barriers for equitable participation, the NYIT/Bell Atlantic Research Lab at NYIT has developed a series of strategies and technologies to ensure participation for all schools through the public switched network. Since connectivity represents a major barrier for participation, the EEZ utilizes a large number of communication technologies.
Facilitating Access
In
schools that have limited or no access to broadband connections, the
EEZ uses POTS (Plain Old Telephone) lines and POTS CODECS
(Compression Decompression e.g. Cphone, ViaPhone) units based on the
H.324 standards. These low cost units ($300-$1,000 including camera)
allow schools to establish content quality video conferences (6-12
frames/sec) even on low quality lines. The quality of the video
image, while not TV quality, is significantly faster than most
Internet-based connections and are at rates that allow for dynamic
interaction between the sites. The EEZ has used this type of
equipment to connect students and teachers to locations all over the
world including Kenya, China and the former Soviet Union. In a
connection utilizing this technology this past summer, students from
K-12 schools connected with Bill Nichols of USA Today as he
accompanied Vice President Gore on his visit to Chernobyl.
Schools with access to ISDN connections are utilizing H.320 CODECS ($800-$45,000) to connect with content resources. This type of connection provides superior quality (8-30 frame/second video) and also supports the sharing of software applications and whiteboarding amongst the connected sites. In working with the Smithsonian Natural Partners and PASCO Scientific, the EEZ is creating the ability for students and teachers to connect with scientists in active research sites, share data, manipulate scientific probes and interact via video with other schools and scientists.
Schools that have access to broadband connectivity (Cable TV, T3, ATM networks) have access to high quality video but often find themselves in closed loop environments. NYIT has developed at the NYIT/Bell Atlantic Research Lab the capability to open the loops and to allow the interconnection of POTS and ISDN-based delivery into their systems. This interconnection helps insure that all schools can participate in the learning activities. The NYIT/Bell Atlantic Research lab supports a Multipoint Video Conferencing Unit (MCU) for ISDN CODECS and has developed multipoint devices allowing for connections across all the various connection technologies including ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) connections, which support high speed connections via phone lines. Many of these combined and varied structures help insure access to information by all.
