1/23/02

AUBURN EXTENDS HIGH SPEED TECH LINK TO SCHOOL SYSTEM

AUBURN -- A partnership between Auburn University and Lee County Schools has provided those schools with a new wave of teaching technology that until recently was available only at the nation's research universities.

Through the AU partnership, Lee County Schools recently became one of the first school systems -- and possibly the first -- in the state to use an Internet2 connection, which is 100 times faster than formerly high-end network connections available to Alabama schools.

The East Alabama school system made its first classroom use of the new technology in early December for an interactive videoconference involving students at three Lee County schools and aerospace experts 200 miles away in Huntsville.

Interim AU Provost John Pritchett said the technology breakthrough is an example of the close links being formed between higher education and school systems in Alabama. "While some in the political arena would pit K-12 and higher education against each other, the reality is that technology is bringing the two closer together than ever before, and Auburn University is at the forefront of that movement."

A high-end computer web established over the past three years by a national consortion of research universities, Internet2 enables college faculty at different institutions to collaborate on complex research projects. Some Auburn faculty also use Internet2 as a teaching tool through videoconferences that bring authorities from distant universities into AU classrooms for interaction with students.

"Since the mid-1990s, Auburn has been helping Lee County build a network among its schools, and early in that process we added a connection for them to the Alabama Supercomputer network through Auburn University," said Bliss Bailey, administrator of the campus network for the AU Office of Information Technology. "Once the mission of Internet2 expanded to permit associate members, adding Lee County Schools was the logical next step."

The Lee County School System in December used the technology partnership with AU to bring two prominent members of the U.S. space program in Huntsville simultaneously over computer-connected monitors into three high schools in the county. Ed Buckbee, an aerospace industry executive who worked with Werner Von Braun, and former astronaut Owen Garriott, an aerospace scientist and industry executive, met with Earth and Space Science students at Beulah, Loachapoka and Smiths Station high schools through a computer connection from Huntsville. AU provided the local connection, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville provided the connection at that end.

The class provided the ideal introduction of the remote teaching method because offsite teaching is already part of the distance learning program of Lee County Schools, said Bob Schafer, the school system's coordinator of distance learning and special projects. Nerissa McKinnon teaches the class in all three schools from her home base at Smiths Station High School.

"Internet2 has unlimited potential in the schools," said Schafer, "and we plan to make maximum use of it. We are very appreciative to Auburn University for providing this service." Schafer said Lee County Schools sought a partnership with AU in the past decade as part of Superintendent John Painter's goal of tying together the system's farflung schools through information technology. With Internet2, the system is seeking to give its students a wider perspective on the world, Schafer added.

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jan02: AU-net2

CONTACT: Bailey, 334/844-3500; Pritchett, 334/844-5771; Schafer, 334/745-9770.