Learning in the fast lane: what emerging technologies mean for K-12 education.

Stop for a minute and dream. Picture rich media Internet applications and what they could mean to education. Image lessons that come alive with streaming video and audio, data presentations that include narration, real-time digital interactions between your students and classrooms in other countries.

Now come back to reality.

It's not that these scenarios are impossible, just not probable yet. They will be, though. Some adventurous schools and districts are already installing technology that allows for better online connections, creating the possibility for multiple students to view streaming video at the same time. A school district in Spokane, Wash., installed its own gigabit ethernet network, allowing for increased Internet use in the classroom. Some are initiating projects with a new educational tool: Internet 2.

The Promise of Internet 2

In the early 1990s, a group of technology experts at large research universities in the U.S. started talking about a high-speed Internet dedicated only to the education community.

They wanted to take online applications beyond the commercial Internet, which was slowing down and becoming too unpredictable.

A group of research universities formed a non-profit group, the University Corporation for the Advanced Internet Development. Their project was developing Internet 2.

Their Abilene Network gives Internet 2 users a way to get online. Until recently, only member research universities had access to the Abilene Network. Internet 2 members changed the rules earlier this year to allow access to community colleges, libraries and K-12 schools.

"The question every one is asking is: What will Internet 2 mean for schools?" says Bill Mitchell, executive director of MOREnet. This is a state education network in Missouri that is linking the state university, which is a member of Internet 2, with K-12 schools. This K-20 initiative will bring online, collaborative learning to the K-12 environment, he explains. "This won't be the herky-jerky stuff you see now, but full-motion video and simulations."

A telescope in northern Missouri is already connected to Internet 2. Data recording and adjustments are being made online in real time. "We could have kids in the country work with this telescope and open new learning experiences," Mitchell says.

The Jennings School District, located on the outskirts of St. Louis, is starting an Internet 2 initiative with an interstate project that connects it with the school district in Lawrence, Kan. The two districts have similar student demographics and academic standards. Joint learning may benefit both districts. Terry Stewart, superintendent for the Jennings School District, says his students are largely from low income households. "Seventy percent of our students receive free or reduced-price lunch," he says.

The Lawrence Project--still in the pilot stages--will start with the elementary grades. While the cameras are already in place in the classrooms, and the teachers from the two districts have met to form curricula, a full scale project won't begin until the next academic year.

Stewart is also at work on an international Internet project, which would link the St. Louis, classrooms with Taiwan. Through video broadcasts over the Internet, students in his district can have ongoing cultural exchanges with Taiwanese students and they, in turn, can practice conversational English.

So far, projects like the ones Stewart describes are out of reach for most educators. K-12 schools are going to need faster connections to realize the full potential of Internet 2, advises Jim Hirsch, assistant superintendent for technology for the Plano (Texas) Independent School District. His is one of seven that make up the Western States Benchmarking Consortium. These high-performing school districts throughout various states compare their technological advancements and scholastic achievements against each other, to help raise the bar for themselves and others.

If there were school districts studying the potential of Internet 2, it would be the members of the consortium. For now, Hirsch says that Internet 2 is virtually a road going nowhere. Slow connection speeds are the problem. "Typically networks are at T1 speed," he says. The average connection speed for a T1 line is 1.5 megabits per second. Internet 2 works at a faster speed: 2 gigabits per second. Schools are going to need T3 lines, which offer 30 times the capacity of T1 lines, to fully use Internet 2.

The price will be a problem. The average commercial cost for T3 lines are out of reach for most school districts, insists Hirsch. While T3 lines operate at 30 times the capacity of T1 lines, educators are reluctant to get too excited just yet. The price for a T3 connection can be $10,000 per month, says Hirsch.

Technology professionals, like Hirsch, are waiting to see if the funding in the E-rate program can be applied to T3 installation.

Gigabit Ethernet Networks

For unsurpassed network speed in schools, there is the gigabit ethernet. Spokane, Wash.'s School District No. 81 was the first to install one. Up and running since last year, the gigabit ethernet offers increased network and Internet speed and more capability. The network serves 53 school sites that span 12.5 miles. All classrooms in the district are now connected.

Dennis Schweikhardt, manager of technology infrastructure in the Spokane district is thrilled with the gigabit ethernet. "This provides services we never had before," he says. There is no more need to pull the reigns in on teachers who embrace technology. Whereas in the past Schweikhardt had to admonish teachers that they were using too much bandwidth, today they can ask all students in a class to go online at the same time and visit pertinent Web sites. A class can pay a virtual visit to the Louvre or see the latest activities posted on NASA's Web site.

There is now a telephone in every classroom, he adds. Because the gigabit ethernet can handle voice, data and other digital information, there is no painful choice between phone service and Internet access. The school district has both, with each teacher assigned a voice mailbox, as well. Schweikhardt sees telephone access as the single most important factor in parental involvement. They are free to check in with teachers before and after school. Phones in classrooms are also a safety measure. "Typically schools have three phones in the front office," he says. Yet, during the Columbine catastrophe, some of the most useful information came from students with cellphones.

The gigabit ethernet also gives the district more bang for the buck. "We get more value," says Schweikhardt. Annual costs for voice and data transmission had risen to $800,000 annually, he says. Basically, those costs were increasing by $100,000 per year. While the initial cost of running voice and data on the gigabit ethernet will be $800,000 annually for the first few years, the district expects to reduce telecommunications costs once the implementation costs have been covered. Eventually, running the network will cost $400,000 per year.

The district issued a bond to pay for this technology. Initial funds of $27 million were augmented by other local funds. The gigabit ethernet was viewed as a long-term solution. "We had never gotten a technology bond before and it isn't something we plan to do every three years. We were looking for something with longevity," says Schweikhardt.

Now that new technologies are available and there are some pilot programs in place, can superintendents expect to see a slew of new educational applications? Not yet, say sources. "Just because schools are getting bigger broadband doesn't mean there are developed applications for it,' says Keith Krueger, executive director of the Consortium for School Networking in Washington, D.C. "This is a chicken-and-egg problem." There is little incentive to harness the possibilities of Internet 2. "Few in the commercial or cultural sectors are leading the charge," he laments.

His mission will be getting educators to use their imaginations. "We are asking them: If you had all the broadband you wanted, what would you do with it?" It may be the educators who have to jump-start the industry. "Some blue-sky vision has to happen."

Jean Marie Angelo, jangelo@ edmediagroup.com, is senior editor.