EDUCATION COUNCIL

Nebraska Information Technology Commission

Friday, September 17, 2004, 9:00 a.m.

W.H. Thompson Alumni Center-East Boot Hall

MINUTES

VOTING MEMBERS/ALTERNATES PRESENT:

Mr. Arnold Bateman, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Ms. Linda Engel, Nebraska City Public Schools

Ms. Yvette Holly, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Dr. Jack Huck, Southeast Community College
Mr. Michael Pate, Millard Public Schools

Dr. Ed Rastovski, Wahoo Public Schools

Mr. Al Schneider, Educational Service Unit 5

Mr. Alan Wibbels, Educational Service Unit 10

LIAISON MEMBERS PRESENT:

Mr. Mike Beach, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission
Mr. Wayne Fisher, Department of Education

MEMBERS/LIAISONS ABSENT:

Ms. Brenda Decker, Division of Communications; Dr. Michael Chipps, Mid-Plains Community College; Dr. Terry Haack, Bennington Public Schools; Mr. Jeff Johnson, Centennial Public Schools; Dr. Tom Krepel, Chadron State College; Mr. Joe LeDuc, Catholic Diocese of Lincoln; Mr. Chuck Lenosky, Creighton University; Mr. Dennis Linster, Wayne State College; Mr. Tip O’Neill, Alt. representing Independent Colleges; and Dr. David Powers, Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education

CALL TO ORDER, ELECTRONIC POSTING, ROLL CALL

Dr. Huck called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. It was stated that the meeting notice was posted to the NITC and Nebraska Public Meeting Calendar Web sites on May 21, 2004 and that the meeting agenda was posted to the NITC Web site on July 12, 2004. There were eight voting members present at the time of roll call. A quorum existed to conduct official business.

APPROVAL OF THE SEPTEMBER 16, 2004 AGENDA

Ms. Holly moved to approve the September 16, 2004 agenda as presented. Mr. Bateman seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Bateman-Yes, Engel-Yes, Holly-Yes, Huck-Yes, Pate-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Schneider-Yes, and Wibbels-Yes. Results: 8-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

APPROVAL OF JULY 2004 MINUTES

Alan Wibbels was not present at the last meeting. A correction to the minute’s attendance list was made.

Ms. Engel moved to approve the July 16, 2004 minutes as corrected. Ms. Holly seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Wibbels-Yes , Schneider-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Pate-Yes, Huck-Yes, Holly-Yes, Engel-Yes, and Bateman-Yes. Results: 8-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

PUBLIC MEETING CALENDAR-IT TRAINING CALENDAR

Rod Armstrong, Nebrask@Online

Mr. Armstrong demonstrated the proposed new Public Meeting Calendar features:

• Can search for meetings by specific date, topic, etc.
• Nebraska nebAnnounce System – citizens can sign up to receive electronic notification of meetings per their interest areas.
• Agencies will be able to do Calendar Administration-authorizing staff access to certain data.
• Templates have been developed so that agencies can save general information that won’t need to be re-entered. The template contains rules for event, for recurring meetings, monthly, bi-monthly, etc.
• Calendar will have an archive of past meetings.

The I.T. training calendar would function with the same type of search engine as the Public Meeting Calendar: www.nol.org/test/ryand/pmc/private/rescheduled_2.html. Before officially launching the I.T. calendar, a 6-month trial test would be conducted to solicit feedback. Changes and/or enhancements would be implemented. Once approved by the Education Council, the I.T. training calendar website would be official. Discussions will need to occur regarding promotion and awareness of the website. Mr. Armstrong asked that members provide periodic feedback.

UPDATE ON WEB APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION & SEARCHABLE DATABASE OF DEGREES, PROGRAMS.

Although it would be beneficial for K12 students and parents, higher education institutions are not certain that one web application for admission would be feasible due to different data needs of institutions. Education Quest may partner with Education Council to develop a search engine on AOL that would be specific to Nebraska degrees and programs.

NEBRASKA INTERNET2 K20 INITIATIVE SEGP ACTIVITY UPDATE (Word 36k) & DISCUSSION OF FUNDING FORMULA FOR SEGP 2005 MEMBERSHIP

Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

Members had received a written report prior to the meeting. Mr. Rolfes named the committee members of the Nebraska SEGP Steering Committee: John Stritt, Pam Holley-Wilcox, Terry Dugas, Eddie Elfers, Tom Rolfes, Wayne Fisher, and Rick Golden. Woody Ziegler resigned as a member due to a change in career. The committee has presented SEGP information at various past events. Upcoming events scheduled include: Internet2 Fall event Sept. 25-27 in Austin, TX; ESU-NOC Meeting Oct. 6, 10:45-11:30AM, at Kearney ESU 10; ESU-AA (Educational Service Unit Administrators Association) Meeting Oct. 7 in Sidney; Nebraska Museum Association Annual Conference, Oct. 8 @ Chadron; NETCHE Annual Meeting, Oct. 12 @ Mahoney State Park, Ashland; EDUCAUSE Annual conference, Oct. 19-22 in Denver; Technology and Learning Conference Oct. 27-29 in Denver; and the Nebraska Association of School Boards Conference, Nov. 19 @ Omaha Holiday Inn. Members volunteered to do other assignments. The SEGP current membership funding ($36,000) expires as of summer 2005. Following are options other states have used: submit a legislative request to pay membership upfront; dividing the membership fee per capita of students/learners that will participate; divide membership fee equally among members; divide membership per associations (NETA, state college association, university, etc). The council requested that Mr. Rolfes outline possible scenarios for discussion at the next meeting. It was also stated that it would be helpful if membership costs did not include transport costs.

Co-chair, Allan Wibbels, conducted the remainder of the meeting.

NITC UPDATE – REVIEW BUDGET REQUEST PRIORITIZATION TIMELINE (PDF 50k)

Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

Only one education IT request has been received as of September 16. Members will be given a chance to comment on the request but will probably not need to meet in October to prioritize requests, unless another project is received. Sometime during the week of October 25th, the Co-chairs will be involved in a joint council meeting to prioritize a total list to be forwarded to the NITC for final approval.

NITC UPDATE – VIDEO AND AUDIO COMPRESSION STANDARDS

Mike Beach, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission

At the September 9th meeting, the NITC approved the following Video and Audio Compression Standards:(PDF 149k)

Video protocol standard for synchronous distance learning and videoconferencing

H.263 - For data rates above 384 Kbps

H.264 - (MPEG-4 Part 10) For data rates at or below 384 Kbps

The CODECs selected for purchase or use should be capable of accommodating both standards and be capable of manual rate selection and/or automatic rate selection. The interconnecting CODECs should be allowed to automatically negotiate the best data rate.

Audio protocol standard for synchronous distance learning and videoconferencing

G.722 - For data rates above 128 Kbps

G.722 or G.722.1 or G.728 - For data rates at or below 128 Kbps

The CODECs selected for purchase or use should have the ability to use G.722 at all speeds and one or both of the other two standards listed for lower speeds. If any two CODECs do not have a common protocol at or below 128Kbps then they should continue to use G.722. The CODECs selected for purchase or use should be capable of accommodating audio standard G.722 and be capable of manual rate selection and/or automatic rate selection. The interconnecting CODECs should be allowed to automatically negotiate the best data rate.

Prior to the NITC’s approval the document was posted for a 30-day public comment period and was reviewed and approved by the NITC Technical Panel. Comments were received during the 30-day public comment period and were responded to within the Project Report. Mr. Beach entertained questions and comments.

NITC STRATEGIC INITIAVES

Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

The Education Council recommended the following three draft initiatives to the NITC as part of their Strategic Initiatives. They will be an action item on the November NITC meeting. Today, the council needed to review and approve the initiatives for recommendation to the NITC.

Network Nebraska (PDF 89k). Mr. Rolfes reported that the toll-free number is in place and discussions with the University of Nebraska have occurred regarding the web site. The council members made no changes to the document. The Collaboration Aggregation Partnership is making steady progress on Network Nebraska and attracting new education customers.

Dr. Rastovski moved to recommend the Network Nebraska initiative to the NITC. Mr. Bateman seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Bateman-Yes, Engel-Yes, Holly-Yes, Huck-Yes, Pate-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Schneider-Yes, and Wibbels-Yes. Results: 8-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

Nebraska eLearning Initiative (PDF 101k). Mr. Zemke reported that the invitation letters for the planning workshops will go out today. Six workshops have been scheduled with the sites being Norfolk, Omaha, Lincoln, Scottsbluff, North Platte, and Grand Island. After all the workshops have been conducted, a workshop summary paper will be written and the Strategic Initiative document will be redrafted. Under the Recommended Action section item A, the start month for the workshops needs to be changed from September to October. Two eLearning demonstrations were presented at the September 9th NITC meeting. Two meetings have been held with Senator Ron Raikes, Chair of the Education Committee and he has shown interest. The council members made no changes to the document.

Mr. Bateman moved to recommend the Nebraska eLearning Initiative to the NITC. Mr. Pate seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Wibbels-Yes, Bateman-Yes, Engel-Yes, Schneider-Yes, Holly-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Huck-Yes, and Pate-Yes. Results: 8-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

Statewide Synchronous Video Network (PDF 98k). Mr. Beach reported that the work group has been working with Senator Osborne’s office regarding funding request. Although the amount of funding is beneficial, it won’t be enough to fund the entire project. Other avenues will need to be explored. Recommended actions include the development of two kinds of scheduling software: one that is functional (switching routers, etc.) and the other for coordination. The council members made no changes to the document.

Mr. Pate moved to recommend the Statewide Synchronous Video Network Initiative to the NITC. Ms. Engel seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Huck-Yes, Pate-Yes, Holly-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Engel-Yes, Schneider-Yes, Bateman-Yes, and Wibbels-Yes. Results: 8-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

OTHER

There was no other business

ADJOURNMENT AND NEXT MEETING DATE, TIME LOCATION

The next meeting of the NITC Education Council will be held on November 19, 2004, 2:00 p.m. after the Nebraska Association of School Boards Conference at the Holiday Inn, Omaha, Nebraska, unless a project proposal prioritization meeting must be held.

Meeting Minutes