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IP
Videoconferencing: An Implementation Model
These are simply a few reasons we chose to investigate videoconferencing as a tool to facilitate learning in Imperial County.
We began exploring videoconferencing in 1995 as a tool to increase opportunities for students, teachers, and administrators. We discovered, as many before us had, that videoconferencing was very costly, complicated, and anything but “user-friendly.” Therefore, we decided to sit back and allow the new developments in IP video to mature. Then, in 1999 we were awarded a Technology Innovation Challenge Grant (TICG) from the US Department of Education. The timing could not have been better for us. The Borderlink Project (www.borderlink.org) was born and provided the initial momentum for our efforts in videoconferencing. Through Borderlink, we were able to seed what would grow into the enterprise IP videoconferencing system we have today. In
this article, we describe our implementation by focusing on a few
significant areas: Partnerships, Connectivity, Equipment, and
Application. Partnerships: We think we need them, but how important are they?Extremely.
We had a vision and a lot of desire. With the award of our grant,
we even had a sudden infusion of money. Yet without a few very
strategic partnerships we would not have had the success we enjoy.
Our community partnerships were nurtured from the beginning. Some
of our existing partnerships were expanded and new partnerships
were formed to allow collaboration in innovative and exciting
ways. Having
support of the 17 independent school districts in the county was
crucial. Getting schools to understand the potential and, to a
certain degree, to take a leap of faith as we moved into new areas
was something that required tremendous communication and
sensitivity. A
significant partnership was formed with our locally owned public
utility company, the Imperial Irrigation District (IID). The IID
granted us access to dark (unused) fiber cable from their network
infrastructure and allowed us the privilege of using their utility
poles to install cable from site to site. This “pole contact”
agreement is a critical element in our plan, as it allows us to
build our network as needed without the complications of
right-of-way issues. It
was also important for us to include city and county governments,
as well as other public agencies as we worked toward our vision of
a “high-tech community”. Many of the relationships created
with these agencies and schools have resulted in significant
returns. The
most significant result of this collaboration was the formation of
a countywide joint powers authority for telecommunications, the
Imperial Valley Telecommunications Authority (IVTA). IVTA was
created in response to the need for clear agreements between and
support from public agencies as we built our private fiber-optic
network described below. This group serves as the oversight board
for the network, with the Imperial County Office of Education as
the Network Administrator. Having
a strong consortium of agencies has allowed us to leverage
previously disparate resources, such as cable franchise agreements
and our own ITFS agreement. It has also served as a vehicle for
leveraging resources from communication carriers laying fiber in
the ground or erecting communication towers. A new countywide
ordinance requires these carriers to negotiate public benefits for
the IVTA in order to be issued permits. This has resulted in a
variety of resources being brought to the table for shared
benefit, such as supplying spools of fiber cable, installing dark
fiber in the ground for our use, and providing tower space for
wireless applications. Lastly,
we have found vendor partnerships to be instrumental. While most
“partnerships” with vendors equate to sales and projected
revenues, we have selected vendors who understand our vision and
are genuinely interested in playing a significant role. Connectivity: Building a single network for data and videoThe
two primary reasons we chose to implement IP-based
videoconferencing are 1) cost, and 2) ability to utilize the
existing network infrastructure in our schools.
In
order to utilize the system the way we envisioned, we needed to
offer schools a way to use it as a daily tool in the classroom.
This required the ability of placing and using videoconferencing
equipment in all schools and any classroom. IP video
was the only way to meet this requirement. Having separate
videoconferencing lines, such as ISDN, in every classroom was
cost-prohibitive. Additionally, building a separate video LAN was
not an option since many of our schools were having a difficult
time maintaining one network. As
if this was not enough, the issue of reoccurring costs each time a
unit was to be used in a classroom was a significant reason to
look toward an IP implementation. We required the ability for
teachers and students to utilize the technology whenever and as
often as needed. Having schools incur line charges each and every
time they used the system would present a major barrier to
videoconferencing’s adoption into classroom instruction. With IP
videoconferencing, this issue was eliminated for all usage on our
network. Any of our 59 schools can use the system between sites
without any reoccurring charges. Our
schools can also connect at any time with other videoconferencing
sites across the globe. If schools need to connect with sites that
are not on our network (e.g. San Diego Zoo, Camden Children’s
Garden), they can be connected with units via ISDN. Schools simply
go to our gateway device over IP, which then connects them to
other units using ISDN. (see Network Graphic) For this, we incur
line charges. However, we are finding an increasing number of
sites that are connecting to high-speed Internet connections and
are becoming capable of IP videoconferencing. Efforts such as the
Digital California Project (www.cenic.org/DCP.html)
will begin to eliminate this issue for interaction across
California schools and educational agencies. Network
security issues became a major obstacle for us in the
implementation of IP videoconferencing. We found few solutions for
getting across security measures, known as Firewall and NAT
transversal. This posed a huge challenge for us. After a
tremendous amount of research and testing, we decided on a
solution from Ridgeway Systems and continue to work in partnership
with the company on our implementation.
Equipment: Videoconferencing for every roomOur
goal was not to create videoconferencing rooms or to force a
technology without a purpose, but rather make every room capable
of videoconferencing and develop meaningful uses. In order to
reach this goal, our equipment needed to meet several criteria:
Asking
schools to purchase a $9,000 unit for each classroom was not going
to work for us. We had a requirement to place affordable units in
classrooms that would integrate seamlessly with the higher-end
units on the network. For us, that narrowed our choice to a single
vendor at the time, which was Polycom. Their $599 ViaVideo unit
was a perfect match for our needs. More importantly, Polycom had
various levels of products to meet our criteria outlined above.
For all equipment (desktop or room systems) we’ve standardized
on a minimum of 384K conferences, but can increase to 2Mbps if
needed. We’ve integrated data collaboration and several distance
learning tools to complete the package. During the past two years, we have developed a close partnership with Polycom that has had significant benefits for us as we’ve moved forward. With nearly 200 end points (active videoconferencing units) currently on our network, we need to ensure seamless integration of various systems and require advanced management features to keep costs down as much as possible. Polycom has provided an end-to-end solution for these needs. Application:
Putting it all together Implementing any new system of this magnitude requires a tremendous amount of support. We are currently training site leaders through a new program designed to build capacity at sites. The program will provide technical support through student tech teams, training support for teachers and administrators, and application development through collaboration between schools.
While
numerous videoconferencing activities are currently being
supported in the areas of tutoring, coaching, professional
development and general meetings, we will be offering several
videoconferencing courses for high school students during Spring
2003. Some of these courses will be community college courses
offered as concurrent enrollment, giving our students a head start
on college! In
addition to support and training, putting it all together takes
commitment and a shared vision among all stakeholders. We have
been fortunate to have these from the beginning and look to the
future with much anticipation.
Have lessons learned, will share…If
you’re interested in learning more about our implementation or
want to discuss what we’ve learned, feel free to contact us. We
can schedule a hosted tour and demonstration of our
implementation, or we can arrange a videoconference to discuss how
IP videoconferencing is changing the way we work in Imperial
County. Imperial
County Office of Education Download
a PDF of our story 539KB |
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