ETC Edison Technology Committee
Strategic Planning for Learning Through Technology

Draft of Minutes of meeting held
October 26, 2001

Present:  Brad Reed, Keith Roeth, Mary Beth Aust-Keefer, Mona Walters, Sandi Brubaker, Patti Ross, Jesse Parete, Carol Rigola, Carol Marion, Kathleen O’Brien, Dennis Myers

Purpose: Plan meeting dates for next year and discuss strategies and concepts.

 The minutes of the previous meeting were read and accepted.

Brad Reed: Reviewed the three phases of the Wireless Concept with committee members.

·        Testing of the Wireless Concept
o       Currently Edison has permanent connections in the Library
o       Hot Zones in the 400 Wing
o       Hot Zones in the 100 Wing

·        Mobile Labs
o       Anticipate a Cart/Laptop based system for turning standard classrooms into a wireless environment
o       Speak to the Engineering Department on the possibility of utilizing the laptops for college use

·        Full campus coverage
o       Currently looking at other Hot Zones, in one to two months we plan to be completely wireless both on the Edison and Darke County Center campuses.  This initiative has been taken to Executive Council and approved, deemed cost effective with the 80211A technology, and has been priced at a lesser cost than previously budgeted.

Mona Walters:

·        Training Issues
o       Concerns with students not being able to connect to the wireless network and also concerns about training the faculty members in the use of wireless technology.

·        Student Help Desk
o       Would it be feasible for a CIT “Major” student to operate a “Student Help Desk”
·        A proposal should be submitted to the proper committee for approval.
·        CQI
·        Academic Users Council

Mary Beth:

·        Ohio Link
o       “Physics Experiments”
·        An on-line video of actual lab experiments for student use.

Denny Myers:

·        Thin Client
o       Edison is considering the use of Thin Clients, hardware that operates on the computing power of the server rather than a stand alone PC.  Provides both feasibility and speed, however network dependent.  An example could be Room 455, currently tagged as an obsolete lab, the Thin Client would be able to run the lab with the same efficiency as the newly purchased computers.  The strategy is to adopt where needed, since some programs require loading of software.

 Other Issues:

·        Grants
o       The RLN Grant, if awarded, will be used to purchase Liquid Matrix.  Edison will be the host and focal point for the area.  This is the last part of the RLN Grant; the first award was used to fund “Packeteer” software to guarantee quality service, allowing us to control bandwidth usage.
o       The Content Grant, if awarded, will be used to equip “smart classrooms” with overhead projectors, white boards and to entertain the “Internet Café”. 

·        EDocuments
o       Currently, ITS is converting all files within the public folders to PDF files.

·        Steaming Media
o       The Tegrity Server Software is used for the Streaming Media
o       The English department suggested audio files for plays.  Possible means of delivery:
§         Streaming Media Files
§         Embedding MP3 files
§         CD’s for playback

Next Meeting:

·        November 26, 2001 at 1:00 PM in the Board Room

·        Committee members are to bring new technology proposals to this meeting.