January 8, 2009
I’m posting this on behalf of the Windom folks. They received funding from Blandin and here are some of the things they are seen and done with that funding…
Blog notes for Blandin Grant by Wayne Wormstadt, superintendent
Benefits of the grant are directly seen through the funding for the equipment to enhance our video classes at Windom.
Other benefits are the opportunities for the students with the video equipment to showcase school district and learn practical skills and influence career choices.
Helps with publicity and public access are future benefits for all involved.
The Homework helper has been a concern as the ongoing cost to support this project to connect students with teachers at home. The ongoing cost of equipment and pay for stipends makes this a very unlikely program in which to sustain after the grant is complete.
A change of course from Homework helper would be to take the funds and provide Smartboards and Webcam in our 6th grade classrooms along with the fiber connection. This would then allow our 6th graders to communicate with students in Mountain Lake and Jackson County School Districts. They currently communicate via paper and pencil through out the year and get together for projects and joint field trips. The collaboration would increase and also allow live interaction. This is important as we are part of an integration collaborative to have our students interactive with other minorities. As Mountain Lake has a significant Hmong and Hispanic population this allows our students to experience ethnic diversity. The live interaction will only increase and enhance the number of opportunities. This will be much more cost effective and sustainable beyond the grant as equipment costs will be minimized and also stipends will not be necessary within this project.
Concern on the video end is the lack of training opportunity and the time allowed to teach a complicated program. Student mastery is difficult with limited time. Resources for the school become tight with new Biennium budget projections coming out. How do we make this program more responsive to the needs of the students including mastery and maintain financial viability of the program in economic strain? An elective with 9 students using expensive equipment vs. a class of 20-25 students with little overhead costs could force us in the future to possible make this a reduction in 2-4 years depending on state funding.
The Blandin Foundation is supporting four standout broadband programs through the Light Speed program. The program’s purpose is to stimulate the deployment of bandwidth intensive applications that connect local institutions to area resident’s home. This post comes from a Light Speed community leader.
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LightSpeed, MN, Rural, Windom, education | 
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Posted by Ann Treacy
March 12, 2008
Thanks to Dan Olsen, Director of Operations from Windomnet for sending us a report from the Windomnet project:
The first item to be activated is an informational channel on the local city owned cable system. Students create a power point presentation and then FTP the presentation to the server located at the cable headend. This is then displayed on a local cable channel. Open source software was used to produce the power point. In the near future this server will be moved to the high school and used as part of the overall video learning and information system.
Fiber optic splicing has begun for the the interconnect from the Windom areas high school to the City Of Windom Network Operations Center (Noc) and the headend. This will allow for Ethernet transport to the Noc, and live video streaming to the headend.
The Blandin Foundation is supporting four standout broadband programs through the Light Speed program. The program’s purpose is to stimulate the deployment of bandwidth intensive applications that connect local institutions to area resident’s home. This post comes from a Light Speed community leader.
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Blandin Foundation, LightSpeed, MN, Windom | 
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Posted by Ann Treacy
October 24, 2007
Blandin Foundation recently announced grants to four Minnesota organizations through the new LightSpeed program. The program’s purpose is to stimulate the deployment of bandwidth intensive applications that connect local institutions to area resident’s home. I will be keeping a close eye on the grantees and helping to report their progress on the Blandin blog. In addition, you will be hearing from our grantees about their efforts to better serve their communities with big bandwidth tools.
We have two education and two health care applications in the LightSpeed program and four very different applications. Today, I will give you a brief description of each project. Read the rest of this entry »
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Hutchinson, LightSpeed, MN, Staples, Windom, Winona County | 
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Posted by Bill Coleman
September 7, 2007
Thanks a million to Bill Coleman for answering a few questions about Blandin Foudnation’s Light Speed program for the blog.
What’s the thinking behind the creation of the LightSpeed program?
In community broadband, it is a mistake to focus only the connectivity provided by a network. Some advocates romanticize instantaneous adoption of advanced technologies throughout the community. In fact, once connectivity is in place, other deployment challenges rise to the top, like specialized equipment, software, and end-user training.
The LightSpeed program provides funding to overcome these challenges and encourages the adoption of new broadband intensive applications, especially in the education and health care areas.
A second reason for the LightSpeed Program is to provide evidence of the value of big bandwidth networks, most notably FTTP networks. Skeptics always ask, “What are you going to do with all of that bandwidth?” LightSpeed grantees will serve as demonstration projects and provide real world answers to those questions.
The Blandin Broadband Strategy Board’s Vision Statement emphasizes both the deployment and the use of ultra high-speed next generation broadband. The LightSpeed Program promotes achievement of the vision by stimulating end-user thinking about what is now possible in their own communities with the local deployment of high-speed networks, especially in partnership with their local telecommunications providers. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Hutchinson, LightSpeed, MN, Rural, Staples, Windom, Winona County | Permalink
Posted by Ann Treacy
The Blandin Foundation is supporting four standout broadband programs through the Light Speed program. The program’s purpose is to stimulate the deployment of bandwidth intensive applications that connect local institutions to area resident’s home. This post comes from a Light Speed community leader.
