June 20th, from 1:00 – 4:30
University of Minnesota, Science Teaching & Student Services (STSS) Building
Room 412
Register now!

This event will look at re-engineering the classroom to harness the power of digital technologies. How can we customize learning to meet the needs of each student? Technology tools, teaching innovation, and new ways of organizing learning may provide the answer. Join us to hear from national experts on technology-enhanced customized learning.

Featuring

• Jennie Magiera, a 4th-5th grade math teacher in the Chicago Public Schools. Jennie began implementing a 1:1 iPad technology grant. She was also named a Golden Apple Teacher of Distinction in 2008, Apple Distinguished Educator and this January she was named the Chicago Public School’s Tech Innovator of the Year.
• Dominick D’Angelo, Principal of I.S. 228 in New York, has a strong focus on mathematics and technology. In 2010 the school began the School of One program for mathematics. The School of One seeks to customize learning to each child and is housed in its own dedicated section of the school, where instruction takes place in large, interconnected classrooms.

Don’t wait until the event to get the conversation going.  Join the virtual Education Innovation Gathering on InCommons to discuss and share information on the topic, access relevant videos, documents, links to related organizations and resources. Create a profile or log in through Facebook.

What I didn’t realize was that Lisa, while now working at Involta, used to work at APEX, a Duluth-based organization that was instrumental in attracting Involta to the area. So I got to hear about attracting high tech businesses to Minnesota from both sides – something I thought might interest readers.

In terms of an update, Involta is looking at opening their second location in Duluth in September. They are on the look for more places as they grow and as they strive to create a robust and redundant network.

In terms of why Duluth? Duluth was very thoughtful in their approach. APEX did a market survey and realized there was pent up demand. They had a natural advantage over warmer climates. They had the workforce and a public and private sectors that were willing to work together. That culture was key to getting on track and attracting likely candidates. As Lisa said – they had clients, community and climate – a perfect recipe for data center success.

Much of the innovative thinking in mHealth is coming from programs that target populations outside the United States, often in developing countries. Now in a twist of fate, the innovations emerging from the developing world could prove to be a significant springboard for innovation in the developed world.

Here’s a short list of some of the applications folks are using. They are not intended to run on smartphones; they are generally developed to run on low-end cell phones. It’s amazing – for patients and public health initiatives…

TRACNet (in Rwanda) a dynamic information technology system designed to collect, store, retrieve, display and disseminate critical program information, as well as to manage drug distribution and patient information related to the care and treatment of HIV/AIDS. This system enables practitioners involved in anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment programs to submit reports electronically and have timely access to vital information. By dialing 3456, a toll free number, or logging onto a bilingual website (English and French), health center staffers can submit or receive program results on HIV/AIDS patients as soon as they are processed. TRACnet uses solar energy chargeable mobile phones, which can be used in the most remote parts of the country.

PatientView is a simple and easy-to-use electronic medical record system (EMR) targeting small clinics or single departments that have little support from professional IT staff. Many of these clinics are currently using paper medical records and would benefit from the improved efficiency and reliability of an EMR, but do not have the technical staff to maintain a large, complex EMR. To address this problem, PatientView was designed to be easy to set up, easy to maintain, and easy to use. Beyond simplicity and usability, PatientView has many mobile features that are useful when working with health workers in the field, like the ability to coordinate SMS to and from the workers, accept forms submitted on mobile phones, and more.

CelloPhone is a revolutionary diagnostic tool that will be able to perform basic diagnostics such as Complete Blood Count, diagnosis of Malaria and TB, and CD4 T Lymphocyte count on the back of a camera phone. The device utilizes a new imaging technique called LUCAS that can take cellular-level images of blood or other liquids without complex lens systems or microscope hardware. An algorithm then analyzes cell morphology to automatically produce a diagnostic result. The diagnostic results will be communicated from the device to a central location using FrontlineSMS, and viewed with our Patient View module and/or sent to OpenMRS with our medical records module. The Ozcan lab at UCLA is developing this device, and we aim to pioneer its use in the developing world.

For a long weekend bonus, I thought I’d include a TED Talk too that take a look at what a difference technology (mobile and other) is making in health and the health care industry…

“We’ve diversified our commerce using sites like eBay and Etsy,” says arts advocate Lynn Kasma, a recent MIRC participant from New York Mills, Minn.

In Akeley, Minn., 79 percent of local businesses have taken advantage of the program; in Sebeka, Minn., 57 percent. More than 1,500 individuals have participated in the grant-supported workshops, benefiting the vitality of rural Minnesota.

As MPR reports…

Bemidji-based Paul Bunyan Communications, which provides service to some 28,000 phone customers, is slowing down an aggressive expansion of fiber optic cable because the Federal Communications Commission is shifting how it allocates money in what is known as the Universal Service Fund.

The company could receive from $3 million to $5 million less from that fund each year as more money flows instead to such large carriers as AT&T and Verizon, a company spokesman said.

I’ve heard the same sentiment from other folks, such as at the CLE Day on Broadband last week. The Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) feel as if they are paying into a system from which they can’t make a withdrawal. At that meeting Joseph Cavender from the FCC explained that the recent changes are the first of several phases, indicating that the next round of changes may help LECs. I think that feels like cold comfort right now – first because it doesn’t help today. Second, because that just leads to more uncertainty and it’s difficult to build (or sustain) a business plan or make investments based on uncertainty – as seems to be the case with Paul Bunyan.

It’s hard on the companies; it’s hard on the communities as well. A recent report from the University of Minnesota Extension (Economic Contribution of Telecommunications Companies Serving Greater Minnesota) indicates that the total economic contribution of the telecommunications industry serving Greater Minnesota in 2011 was an estimated $1.3 billion. So anything that hampers growth will hamper the economic impact. Also with the negative impact and uncertainty communities are not getting broadband.

David W. Collins, Executive Director of Hubbard County Regional Economic Development Commission has sent a email to several folks outlining the potential problems with these changes on his community and asking policymakers and community leaders to consider the impact…

We need your help!

The Hubbard County Regional Economic Development Commission (HCREDC) for several years has been trying to bring high speed broadband services to ALL of our rural areas. Approximately 4,000 homes and businesses within the Park Rapids (MN) phone exchange currently are not served, and have to rely on satellite or dial up service. These options are unacceptable. Bringing state of the art, underground fiber optic cable to these areas is vital to our future economic growth for numerous reasons, a few of which are:

1) the ability for consultants and others to operate / manage their business from home;
2) students / parents / teachers / schools being able to communicate and student being able to complete assignments (they are currently at a disadvantage compared to other students);
3) resorts being able to take reservations and market themselves, plus the ability of guests to communicate while visiting;
4) people want to live in this area, but are choosing to purchase real estate only where broadband is available;
5) medical care / monitoring plus emergencies;
6) the list goes on and on.

After communicating with several industry providers in our area, the HCREDC partnered with Paul Bunyan Communications (cooperative, based in Bemidji) and supported efforts to obtain a Rural Utility Service loan (RUS loan) thru the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This effort was successful and Paul Bunyan Communications was awarded a $17 million loan in September 2011 to build out fiber to each home in the Park Rapids area. It was expected that work would begin immediately with fiber going into the ground beginning Spring of 2012, with project completion estimated to be early 2014.

HOWEVER, in late October and again in November, the Federal Communications Commission issued an order to “reform” universal service fund (USF) and intercarrier access compensation. This “reform” would cost local telecoms millions of dollars annually in lost revenue. It would dramatically change the business model for these telecoms from a system that has worked and been in place for years. The “reform” would significantly reduce their annual revenues and in almost all cases eliminate their ability to invest in rural broadband / phone infrastructure. It is my understanding that one of our local area telecoms stands to lose over $3 million annually due to this “reform”, which would be implemented over the next 9 years. This “reform” will make it extremely difficult for these businesses to repay existing loans, let alone invest in further developing a broadband infrastructure in rural areas.

This is not just a Hubbard County problem. It is not just a Minnesota problem. It is a problem for rural areas nationwide!! This “reform” will negatively impact the development of rural broadband infrastructure nationwide. Imagine if rural areas did not have land phone lines or electricity? We are basically talking about the same issue for our times! And this is much more important than keeping rural post offices open!!!

But back to Hubbard County. The build out of fiber in our area has been for the most part “put on hold” because of the “reform” and its impact locally. Tough for Paul Bunyan Communication (or anyone else in our area) to build out a $17 million broadband infrastructure when the revenue model is being so drastically changed.

So, we are asking that:

1) our congressional delegation (Senator Klobuchar, Senator Franken, Congressman Colin Peterson & Congressman Chip Cravaack) make this issue a top priority; [See note from Klobuchar/Franken]
2) we need our congressional delegation work to have the FCC order nullified or reversed or amended in a way that our project could proceed;
3) and we may need our congressional delegation to extend the deadline for using the $17 million dollar RUS loan authorization. Time is ticking away on us as this issue is being “discussed” in Washington. The “reform” issue needs to be resolved, but when that happens we still need to be able to access the $17 million RUS loan;
4) the Association of Minnesota Counties to actively become involved in this issue. Perhaps by asking each county to pass a resolution of support, and by actively engaging their Minnesota and Washington lobbyists and political action network;
5) Bill Richards, Richards Policy Group, representing Governor Dayton & Minnesota, become actively involved in resolving this issue;
6) Impact 20 / 20 (Northwest Minnesota Foundation) to become involved and mobilize their network;
7) Blandin Foundation Broadband Initiative become involved and mobilize their network;
8) Governor Dayton and his staff to make this a priority and communicate the same to the Richards Policy Group and entire MN Congressional delegation;
9) that the Rural Broadband Alliance (based in Washington, D. C.) continue to work with us towards a satisfactory solution.

Apparently challenges to the “reform” have been, or will shortly be, filed in the 10th Circuit Courts (Denver). However, this route to remedy the situation could take years at best. Congressional action is needed and needed now. The intent of the USDA’s RUS program is solid, the FCC needs to keep its USF and inter-carrier access fees in line with and supportive of that intent.

I offer the content of his email almost in its entirety as a roadmap for anyone who has similar concerns.

Here’s a picture painted from a recent report (The Broadband Imperative: Recommendations to Address K-12 Education Infrastructure Needs) from the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA).

Broadband is Essential

It is a simple fact that access to high-speed broadband is now as vital a component of K-12 school infrastructure as electricity, air conditioning, and heating. … In fact, out-of-school access to broadband by students and teachers is now arguably as important to the overall quality of the student learning experience as access at school.

Broadband Supply is Inadequate

While a 2010 Federal Communications Commission survey of E-Rate funded schools found that most had access to some form of broadband service, nearly 80% of respondents reported that their broadband connections were inadequate to meet their current needs. Outside of school, home broadband adoption rates have all but stalled since 2009, leveling off at roughly 65%.

STEDA made four recommendations:

1. Recommendation 1: Move to Address K-12 Broadband Infrastructure Needs. The set a target for 2014-2015 of at least 100 Mbps per 1,000 students/staff for an Internet connection and at least 1 Gbps per 1,000 students/staff for the WAN.
2. Recommendation 2: Ensure Broadband Access for Students and Educators
3. Recommendation 3: Build State Leadership
4. Recommendation 4: Advocate for Federal Funding

I want to interject a note here from a recent The DLTCL Electronic Newsletter that brings home the importance of Federal funding…

The Federal Communications Commission recently released information outlining the fund demand for the July 1, 2012, E-rate year. Here are some (sobering) highlights.

• Total demand for 2012 is $5.237 billion. This is an increase of 21.5 percent from the demand for 2011 of $4.310 billion.
• Demand for Priority 1 funding (telecommunications and Internet services) is $2.444 billion. For the first time in the program, the Priority 1 demand exceeds the $2.3 billion in funding available, without rollover funds. (Each year there are some funds not used from previous years. It is estimated that for 2012 this “rollover” may be about $400 million.)
• Demand for Priority 2 funding (internal connections) at a 90% discount is $1.379 billion.

What does all this mean? Assuming no major changes in the above figures, all eligible Priority 1 applications will be funded. However, most Priority 2 applications cannot be funded. State E-rate coordinators were in Washington recently and met with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Schools and Libraries Program staff to review various E-rate issues, including the 2012 fund demand. Federal officials do not know how they will address the funding issue, although FCC regulations say that when there are not enough funds, they are to prorate discounts. (Note: DPI has routinely filed comments with the FCC requesting that the discounts be reduced to address this funding issue.)

It is expected that schools and libraries will start to be notified of approved applications for the July 1 funding year later in May.

Clearly access is a bottleneck, at home and at the schools. I think that the numbers can be overwhelming for most people. What’s the difference between 100 Mbps or 1 Gbps? The SETDA report does a nice job of explaining what a school can do with various speeds; I’ve abridged the scenarios below. To put it into perspective think about which experience you’d like to see your kid or your future employee to have. In other words – how are we preparing future workers?

Basic Connectivity for Supplemental Enrichment – 10 Kbps per student/staff broadband connection

Students are scheduled to visit a central lab to access locally-run software applications, go online to conduct research for term papers, and compose occasional papers and presentations. Faculty and staff might use the network primarily for email and to post newsletter updates.

Emerging Reliance on Online Educational Tools and Resources – 50 Kbps per student/staff broadband connection

The school implements a partial 1-to-1 laptop program (9th and 10th grades only) and encourages its students to use their devices to access the web for more dynamic content, collaborate with other students, download videos, and receive and post assignments on the school’s learning management system.

Transformation to a Technology-Rich Learning Environment – minimum of 100 Kbps per student/staff broadband connection

Students actively use their laptops in class to access rich, multimedia-enhanced educational content from the Internet. They post their content (including audio and video podcasts) to school learning management systems, access their e-textbooks and get their assignments online, and collaborate daily across the network with other students via wikis and other Internet-based applications.

As part of a larger, ongoing research project, this paper discusses the digital presence of rural businesses in 23 communities. We define digital presence as any locally controlled webpages, social media, or GooglePlace pages devoted to an entity, i.e., a private business, nonprofit, or government office, within a community. Overall, the digital presence of 85 townships and cities were assessed.

Here are the results:

Across the 23 communities, an average of 42.6 percent of businesses had a website. On average, 9.9 percent of businesses in each community used social media. More businesses showed activity on their GooglePlace pages. No major difference was found between the control and intervention communities for website and social media use.

The research seemed to pinpoint a few reasons that communities seemed to have more businesses online that their cohort communities

• MIRC communities saw slightly higher use of GooglePlace pages. UMN MIRC business training sessions focus on GooglePlace.
• Businesses in growing communities have a higher proportion of websites, are more likely to use social media for business, and have a higher proportion of GooglePlaces with owner verification and content.

The report adds that since the study was inclusive, not random, in nature that it doesn’t necessarily reflect all of rural Minnesota – but it does include 23% of rural businesses. So I suspect the rest of the state would follow suit. Check out the actual report if you want to see the list of specific communities and how they fared.

One fun follow up – the researchers used business listing from InfoUSA (a tried a true market research tool) to get lists of businesses. While the raw data from the report if not available to the general public, they have shared it with the individual communities so that efforts can be made to approach businesses to encourage them to learn more about effectively using the Internet to market themselves. As Hans wrote to me, “the important thing is that this is information that can help communities make “informed, intentional, positive choices about their future.”

Winona has a unique problem that the $100,000 local grant is also addressing: the city needs to attract more workers to fill the jobs it has. Grant money is being used to create free wireless portals around the city that are comparable to similar offerings in urban centers.

With two universities, a technical college, and a history of entrepreneurial efforts, this scenic river town is long on innovation. The number of global companies that trace their roots to the city of 27,000 is notable by any standard, with many still headquartered there today. Global giants like Fastenal, Hal Leonard, Peerless Chain, Watkins, RTP and others.

Higher education, health care, arts and culture have risen to meet the needs of Winona‘s innovative business community, and now widely available broadband technology adds a crucial piece of the progressive puzzle. With slow population growth, the city needs more workers so local companies can continue to flourish.

Technology, business, and medical jobs are available, in a place modern job-seekers might not think to look. A place that’s historic, contemporary, innovative, culture-rich, and a welcome alternative to the big-city grind. And now, well connected to the rest of the world.

Notes: for more on modern-day Winona, go to www.cityofwinona-mn.com. Grant money was also used in Winona to provide computer training to 60 Hmong refugees, and home computers to 40 Hmong refugee families, in partnership with PCs for People.

This week, the St Cloud Times paints a different picture of Internet in the schools. The Internet/broadband now permeates every aspect of education – from teaching to education administration. Now it’s the classroom, school and student without access that have become the exception – and not in such an exceptional way…

Broadband is being used in Minnesota schools for student testing, reports to the state, portals for parents to track their child’s work, and for students to take online classes, according to a December report from the Governor’s Task Force on Broadband. Professional development for teachers is another area where broadband access can reduce costs.

“I think people don’t always realize … how essential Internet access is to the business of doing education. It’s no longer nice to have,” said Mary Mehsikomer, technology integration development and outreach facilitator for TIES, which is an education technology collaborative.

“It’s just as important as having electricity and water. It’s really become a core component of the whole business of delivering instruction and also managing school districts.”

The good news is that as the article points out – most schools and the majority of students have access. The bad news is that they often don’t have sufficient access. There are programs that are out there supporting connectivity, especially for schools. The FCC’s E-Rate program subsidies offset about $20 million to $25 million in Minnesota every year, about half of what it costs schools. On a more local level, Foley Schools recently received funding (via Blandin Foundation’s MIRC program) to install more wireless units in the school for school and community use.

And the Internet isn’t just for K12…

“Internet access has gotten so vitally important for college students,” said Vi Bergquist, chief information officer of St. Cloud Technical and Community College. “It’s almost a must.”

“Some people wouldn’t be able to get an education if we didn’t offer online classes,” she said.

At the college, registration is done only online and some classes are offered online, she said.

The college accommodates students who don’t have access at home with open computer labs, which is good but I think insufficient for many students. The article mentions a college student who was trying to take an online class using only her mobile phone. (That’s some dedication to the effort!)

So while progress is being made on the school front, progress is still lagging for home access in some areas and with some demographics…

“Some (parents) don’t realize what the kids can’t do,” he [Marc Johnson, director of ECMECC] added. “They don’t know they have access that just isn’t robust enough.”

As a community we should be asking what our kids can’t do due to limited technology – and is the cost of that lost opportunity greater than the cost of providing ubiquitous opportunity. (Both in terms of broadband connections and computers – as a parent of three students I can attest that the cost of the equipment can easily trump cost of connectivity.) There are lower-cost options available from Comcast and CenturyLink ($9.95/month and reduced rate computers for qualifying families) but that only helps in Comcast/CenturyLink coverage areas.

This paper will explain the economic and societal gains enabled by broadband, and describe how different rural service providers and the communities they serve have embraced the challenges and opportunities of new technology.

They take a look at Education, Health Care, Agriculture, Electronic Government, Public Safety, Utilities and the Consumer’s Home. Each chapter includes a statement of need (generally backed up with statistics and citations), some specifics on what communities and providers ought to be thinking about moving forward and a couple of case studies taken from real rural communities.

I think this report can be used to compel a community to take a closer look at broadband. It could offer some advice on goals. And, as it’s been developed by the NTCA and therefore uses examples from local telecommunications providers, I think this could be used to engage local provider through examples of success approaches by counterparts in similar areas.

I would like to pull out two Minnesota examples used in the report – both highlight best practices in Education…

Halstad MN – Discovery Education Drives Use

Based in Halstad, Minn., independent telecommunications cooperative Halstad Telephone Co. (HTC) maintains an Ethernet, fiber‐based network that provides broadband service to each of the four K–12 schools in its territory. HTC is part of the Northwest Minnesota Special Access, a consortium of 18 rural telephone companies that connects 126 schools and 43 libraries in the state. Students often use a remote video connection to take advanced placement, foreign language and other specialty courses from a teacher located in another facility. The network is linked to the University of Minnesota, Crookston, enabling high school students to enroll in college courses via a video conferencing application.

Although the network has been in place for many years, HTC recently observed an exponential increase in online activity. In 2010, HTC arranged provision of Discovery Education service to its four local K–12 schools at the company’s expense for one year. Under the terms of the arrangement, instructors and students have access to Discovery Education’s multimedia and interactive content within the school building. Content includes audio files, images and videos, as well as interactive elements such as online quizzes, educational games, and math and science lab simulations. The rural communications provider reports that the various school systems engaged in this endeavor each have a 6 Mbps to 30 Mbps symmetrical connection, and due to the popularity of multimedia content, the various capacities are maxed out at least once per day. HTC also stated that combined with the increasing use of tablets, it expects many schools to double their broadband speed requirements within the next two years.

Spring Grove MN – Devices Drive Use

Headquartered in Spring Grove, Minn., rural provider Spring Grove Communications (SGC) enables its citizens to learn on cutting‐edge technology devices. SGC partnered with its local school district to outfit students with the latest laptops and tablets. Apple iPads are used in all of the elementary classrooms, and every seventh through 12th grader has an Apple MacBook Air available to him during the school day. If a student wishes to take home a MacBook Air, he has the option of renting one for $15 a month. Many of the families renting laptops have never had a computer in their home. The program engages students on a dynamic, digital online platform, providing for learning anytime and anywhere. It also is educating students and teachers alike about how to use this technology and the importance of broadband in today’s economy.

In addition to the student aspect of education innovation, virtual learning is a driver of economic development for small, rural towns. Under the traditional education system, a teacher is limited to open positions within driving distance of her home. With virtual education, a teacher residing in a rural area is able to teach from home and reach students across the state, district lines or the globe.