The Jason “Virtual Argonaut”

Project

Internet2 Virtual Briefing September 2003

George LoftusExecutive Director

George.Loftus@OSHEAN.ORG

Connecting people and informationwhenever, wherever and however.

Lifespan

Community College of Rhode Island

Providence College

University of Rhode Island

Export Assistance Center at Bryant College

RINET

Rhode Island State Government

Cooperative Libraries Automated Network

Johnson & Wales University

Rhode Island College

Rhode Island School of Design

Brown University

OSHEAN Membership

Roger William University

Wheaton College

Care New England

University of Rhode Island

• URI is a founding member of OSHEAN

• URI’s Office of Marine Programs is responsible for delivering marine science programs to RI’s K-12 students

• URI has been PIN site for the Jason Project for over 10 years

• Provided Content Experts for the VAP

RINET

• A member of OSHEAN who provides connectivity and network services to over 400 K-12 schools in Rhode Island

• Provides H.323 equipment and MCU services for over 50 schools throughout the state

• Has worked with OSHEAN and URI on the Jason Project for three years

OSHEAN’s Jason History

• Jason XII - used H.323 to deliver Jason video content to 3 Rhode Island middle schools

• Jason XIII – used H.323 to deliver Jsaon video to 6 RI schools, Maine’s Baxter School for the Deaf, Gallaudet University’s MMSD and RI School for the Deaf

• Jason XIV – developed the “Virtual Argonauts” Project

Jason Project

Virtual Argonauts

• Phase I – broadcast Jason XIV expedition live via H.323 over Internet 2

• Phase II - build “Virtual Argonaut” teams of schools to hold H.323 session with experts

• Phase III – Virtual Argonaut team members present to each other

http://oshean.org/oshean/JasonVirtualArgonauts/

Virtual Argonauts

• Phase I

• 22+ sites participated

• States Represented were:– RI(9), VA(6), MN(2), DC(2), TX,IN,MD,– MI, CA (?)

• Included 5 deaf schools

Virtual Argonauts

• Phase II– Scott Bryan – St. Clair, MI ISD is project lead

• 13 Schools Interested– MI(4), MN(2), MD(2), – Deaf Virtual Argonauts ( 5 )

• RI,IN,DC,TX,CA

• Conducted interactive VC’s with Pinniped Expert– URI providing experts– Deaf team taking the lead

Virtual Argonauts

• Phase III

– Had more success with the established teams, such as the schools for the deaf

– Had difficulty with scheduling – ran out of time in the school year

Virtual Argonauts• Lessons Learned

– Still requires a lot of “manual intervention” to attract participants

– Bandwidth to the classroom OK, but your mileage will vary

– There is a genuine interest in this type of content within the K-12 community.

– We need to establish better interaction with content provider & align better with their delivery strategy

– We need to measure the outcomes of these learning experiences