Yesterday I met with Kathy Kraemer from TIES. It was easily my best meeting of the week! We seemed to have so many things in common – we both have worked intensely with the Internet since the mid 1990’s. We each lived in Spain. We have lots of mutual friends. We met so that Kathy could tell me all about Internet 2 and TIES’ role with Internet 2.

It made me wish that I worked at TIES.

Internet 2 is like a parallel network to the commercial (or commodity) Internet. Use is limited to research and educational organizations so the traffic is not bogged down with commercial ventures. TIES is involved as a SEGP (Sponsored Educational Group Participant).

TIES is a demonstration site for Internet 2. They provide training on how the network works and how the community works together on the network– including getting involved with a number of really cool projects.

Internet 2 Day
Last month TIES sponsored an Internet 2 Day for a host of Minnesota schools, including 10 rural schools. They got to experience Internet 2, learning how to get connected, and learn about what’s happening in the region. About 10 years ago, I used to promote online educational resources and conferences – but the trouble back then was that there was little support both from the tech end and from the teacher/curriculum end. It sounds as if connecting to these resources now is much easier and therefore much more practical.

MN Resources to Support Internet 2
To encourage participation Kathy maintains a listserv where she posts info on upcoming Internet 2 events. TIES also has a polycom loaner program – so schools can try before they buy. (I love that idea!!) It sounds as if they’re pretty booked – but that’s certainly worth checking into.

The bandwidth required to participate is really T1 for the video. I was kind of surprised that the requirement wasn’t higher – but with the commercial traffic filtered out that’s all that’s needed (for now).

Cool Projects
We talked about various Internet 2 projects, which I wanted to make sure to at least mention. They will make you wish that you were still in school. Geez maybe the video and remote instrumentation could even make Driver Ed interesting…

Lehigh University Remote Scanning Electron Microscopy and ImagiNations Project –  kids learn about nanotechnology by remotely runningthe XL30 electron microscope from their classroom. (You can send a sample from your backyard and check it out online.)

Hurricane simulations  – I remember looking at tornado tapes online for a daughter who loved Dorothy so I can only imagine how cool this is.

Minnesota’s International Wolf Center hosts an online Howling.

TV by Girls is a program where girls learn about media literacy and then create a TV Program – often for a collaborating class somewhere around the world. It sounds like a great opportunity for girls to get to learn about other cultures nearly firsthand.