The Value of High Performance Networking on International Distance Education - Team Building, Technology Selection, and Innovative Teaching Methodology

Abstract

The University of Pennsylvania in the United States and its affiliated GigaPoP, MAGPI, together with the University of Grenoble in France are in the planning stages of a collaborative effort to demonstrate the educational potential of utilizing the new, high performance research networks, Renater 2 and Internet 2. Through the creative use of interactive video, video archived material, and web tools such as "Blackboard," this project will open new areas of opportunity for distance education by combining the elements of networking and video technology with multimedia teaching skills. A pilot demonstration is proposed initially to bring two classes of students together to negotiate a business transaction. This will require a proficiency in the foreign language and the ability to transact business across time zones and cultural obstacles. Both aspects of the lesson are very real requirements in the commercial world we live in today. The use of live, high quality video, and the reference to hypothetical archived video clips and web material will make the experience even more meaningful for the students. Faculty from both Universities will contribute to the structure and content of the material under the premise that any technological enhancements will be made available to them. Upon a successful completion of the demonstration, funding will be sought for a full term course that may include multiple sites and multiple age groups.