Projects underway or proposed
for Virginia's participation
in the Internet2 K20 Initiative
ThinkQuestLIVE
My Teacher's an Avatar!
Project Leaders: Dr. John Wenrich and Dr. Ron Kriz
You'll experience instruction from a remote teacher interacting with you
as an Avatar. You'll communicate with other participants in a virtual
environment. Then you'll provide insight into possible future uses of
both the CAVE environment and Internet2 capabilities for a K-12 audience.
This exhibit will bring participants into the CAVE environment where they
will have a chance to interact with teachers live across the Internet2
network in a virtual classroom.
The initial project used EVL's LIMBO together with the PACI Collaborative
CAVE Console (CCC) to create a collaborative learning environment between
the VT-CAVE and two remote high schools in Virginia. Participants will
link to the Virginia Tech CAVE from an IDesk located at the University
of Washington. Experiencing the CAVEapps as developed by high school teachers
will allow participants an opportunity to interact with individuals in
the virtual environment and experience the teaching capability.
Download the session handout as a PDF document
(black & White)
Color version of the session handout in
PDF
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OTHER resources:
" Extending the Use of Collaborative Virtual
Environments for Instruction to K-12 Schools," Morgan, R., Kriz,
R.D., Howard, S., Das-Neves F., and Kelso, J., Submitted for publication
in the inaugural issue of In>>sight", a journal published by
the Institute for the Advancement of Emerging Technologies in Education,
2000.
"Visualization
of AutoCAD Model FCell Structures in CAVE Immersive Environments",
Chavali, Arvind. Student class assignment research paper, Spring 2002. |
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The Jason Project:
This project took the Jason project's existing program [satellite
delivered video conference] and moved that to the I2/Abilene network. The
K-12 locations and the community college system then had access to the program
components through the Abilene- Net.Work.Virginia gateway. The intent [for
the pilot year 2002]was to deliver the Jason Project's capstone video conference
with the project's principle researchers to select sites in the Commonwealth.
We used 6 sites where teachers and students that have participated in the
programs during the semester gathered to discuss the program and view the
video conference [this was a one way conference due to the large number
of sites already currently receiving the broadcast]. This allowed students
in rural/remote locations to view the video conference and interact with
other students [locally] who have been participating. Additionally, there
was then an interactive follow-up session with the Virginia participants.
Virginia researchers engaged students in an interactive session on the Jason
program and applied the learning experiences locally. |
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Project's target audience and goals:
The target audience was the existing registered Jason Project participants
[the existing K-12 students and teachers who have been trained by the
Jason team and are already participating in this year's program]. A limited
number of additional teachers/students were also invited to participate
to give them an understanding of the program and its content.
Describe K-12, higher education, museum involvement:
Virginia Tech handled the technical [delivery] components and the Virginia
Community College System hosted the event at several locations. The Science
Museum of Virginia coordinated training in central Virginia, was a receive
site, and is coordinating the follow up programs. WBRA [a PBS station]
is a partner and receive site and K-12 students will be the primary audience.
Describe the role of advanced networks, applications,
or services in the project:
The I2 backbone, satellite services, and associated multipoint video conferencing
services were utilized.
SEE -
press release for this item . . . . . .
Download a one page PDF document on the Jason
Project
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VCCS courses to WVa
The Virginia Community College
System and several institutions in W.Va. worked to implement delivery of VCCS
curriculum to WVa community colleges. This was on a fast track and was tested
during December. The current plan is to do H.323 transport (plus other IP tools)
via Internet2. VCCS is working to fast-connect 4 of their originating campuses
to I2 and perform tests via the I2 Studio as an interim measure. On the WVa
side, WVU will provide I2 connectivity via WVnet. Participants actively working
on bringing this together include VCCS (lead), WVa system of higher ed (co-lead),
Virginia Tech (represent the NWVng gigaPOP), the Internet2 Studio in Richmond,
WVnet (supplying bridging and distribution on the WVA side), and Verizon (very
actvively engaged on the WVa side).
There were some connection
glitches, mostly related to hardware, but overall the technology worked well.
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Ongoing:
CAVEapps
Project @ CVGS:
The Central Virginia Governors School has worked with the Laboratory for
Scientific Visual Analysis for the last four years on developing a web
based K-12 educational project called DIGSTATS.
Recently, Dr. Tom Morgan, Director of CVGS, and Dr. Ron Kriz, VT-CAVE
Director, submitted a proposal, "Extending
the Use of Collaborative Virtual Environments for Instruction to K-12
Schools", to SiliconGraphics Inc and Virginia Tech's Institute
for Connecting Science Research to the Classroom. This proposal was accepted
and used EVL's LIMBO together with the PACI
Collaborative CAVE Console (CCC) project to create a collaborative
learning environment between Governors Schools in Virignia. First
VRML and CCC Training
Session was on June 17 and 18, 1999. Progress
Report for November 17, 1999 presentation at NCSA Access Center. Position
Paper on CCC. Presentation
at the TILT 2000 Conference, February 29, 2000 by Leonard Klein and Steve
Howard. DIGSTATS, TILT, and K12 CAVE related projects are support by the
Institute for Connecting Research and Science
to the Classroom.
This project was conducted prior to Internet2, but is an excellent application
which will demonstrate the integration of I2 in the K12 setting. This
project is currently undergoing development for experimentation on Internet2.
Morgan, R., Kriz, R.D., Howard, S., Das-Neves F., and Kelso, J., "
Extending the Use of Collaborative Virtual Environments for Instruction
to K-12 Schools," Submitted for publication in the inaugural
issue of In>>sight", a journal published by the Institute for
the Advancement of Emerging Technologies in Education, Charleston, West
Virginia 25301, 2000
"My Teacher's an Avatar" - Internet2 - K20 Initiative CAVE
demonstration at
THINKQUEST LIVE - July 2002
Download a one page PDF document on the CAVEapps project
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Proposed:
George Mason Nursing Project
- IMEDLink
The Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Charity Foundation, supported by His Royal
Highness Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, is the sole source of funding
for the educational initiative with George Mason University College of Nursing.
Since the its inception on January 21, 1995, the Foundation has strived to promote
humanitarian, medical and educational, services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
and around the world. The International Medical and Data Link Corporation. (IMED
Link) was established as a U.S. based company to manage and operate the satellite
connection to Saudi Arabia for the purpose of bringing telemedicine to the Kingdom.
IMED Link is totally supported by the Charity Foundation, and to date has not
received any revenue from business sales common in the "for-profit"
sector. It was formulated as a "for-profit" corporation, since it
was foreseen that the telecommunication's design and implementation capabilities
might be utilized by other entities, besides the Foundation, who would have
the ability to pay for their access to the satellite connection. IMED Link's
President, Dr. Jerold Principato, is a personal physician to the royal family
and was asked to assist them in bringing the finest educational and medical
support available to the Kingdom. Together they have formed the Sultan Bin Abdulaziz
Medical and Educational Telecommunications Program (MeduNet) in Saudi Arabia,
which will be the avenue for dissemination of the George Mason University Nursing
Program.
The application for Internet2 is for IMED Link since it is the U.S. based corporation
who is developing the multimedia classes for George Mason,
disseminating them via their satellite capabilities, and consequently the interface
with the I2 Consortium.
For additional details, contact: Cheryl
Mason
Background:
In 2001, the NWVng gigaPOP was one of the first five Connectors to apply for
and receive status as an Internet2 Sponsored Educational Group Participant (SEGP) extending
access to the national Internet2 infrastructure to many additional institutions
in Virginia. SEGP status enables virtually any educational institution
in the state including K-12 schools, museums, libraries, community colleges,
and others to gain affordable access to Internet2 via NetworkVirginia.
Virginia's SEGP Internet2 Participants include:
Have an idea for an I2 K20 project? OR want
to involve your school in an I2 K20 project?
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