Warren Township District Adopts EtherneTV Video System
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01.23.2007—The Metropolitan School District of Warren Township (MSDWT) in Indiana has deployed EtherneTV from VBrick Systems. EtherneTV is a video system deigned for teaching and training applications. It's being deployed in 19 of the district's buildings.
EtherneTV provides streaming, recording and video on demand capabilities, including point and click access to multimedia resources for instruction. MSDWT is using the system to build on its existing video production and broadcast capabilities. (The district already had television video production and broadcast system capabilities, which provided closed-circuit television to 15 school buildings.) This will allow students to see live and recorded events from other district schools and allow teachers to access a centralized digital video library via classroom televisions or computers. The district will also use the system to digitize and store its library of approximately 2,000 videos on a single server.
"Technology's prominent role in today's economy makes it essential that we provide students with the resources required to succeed in the digital environment," said Brian Woods, director of network operations, Metropolitan School District of Warren Township. "VBrick is providing the flexibility and ease-of-use that enables teachers and students to focus on education, without worrying about the underlying technology."
Included in the implementation are 19 VBrick MPEG-4 encoder appliances and 19 VBrick EtherneTV-STB set top boxes, with one of each placed into the district's 19 buildings and media center. The high school also uses one VBrick 4300 dual encoder, which provides both MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 encoding capabilities. Live video signals are transferred between buildings via gigabit a 1 gigabit fiber optic network. Within each school, signals are routed via an existing coaxial closed circuit television network to the television sets located in each classroom. Telecommunications services are being handled by AT&T and IDSolutions.
The school district also plans to use the system as a professional development tool, broadcasting new teacher training and professional development training classes. Archives of teacher training sessions will also be available via VOD.
The 36-square-mile Metropolitan School District of Warren Township serves more than 12,000 students in eastern Marion County in Indiana. It includes 11 elementary schools, three middle school, three high schools, an alternative education center, and an early childhood center. Funding for the district's technology initiatives is coming through grants, with additional funding from the Lilly Endowment.
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