EDUCATION COUNCIL

Nebraska Information Technology Commission
Friday, November 30, 2001, 9:00 a.m.
Southeast Community College, Room G-1
8800 O Street, Lincoln, Nebraska

APPROVED MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Mr. Keith Bartels, Boards of Education
Mr. Con Dietz, Creighton University
Ms. Linda Engel, Nebraska City Schools
Dr. Kent Hendrickson, (alt. for Harvey Perlman, UNL)
Ms. Yvette Holly, (alt. for Bill Berndt, UNMC)
Dr. Jack Huck, Southeast Community College
Mr. Joe LeDuc, Lincoln Diocese Catholic Schools
Mr. Dennis Linster, (alt. for Sheila Stearns, Wayne State College)
Mr. Tip O'Neill, (alt. for Roger Koehler, Nebraska Methodist College)
Dr. Joe Preusser, Central Community College
Dr. Ed Rastovski, Wahoo Public Schools
Mr. Al Schneider, ESU 5
Dr. Robin Smith, (alt. for Tom Krepel, Chadron State College)

LIAISONS PRESENT:

Mike Beach, Nebraska Education Telecommunications Commission
Dean Bergman, Nebraska Department of Education
Carna Pfeil (alt. for David Powers, Coordinating Commission for Post Secondary Education)
Dave Wagaman, (alt. for Brenda Decker)

MEMBERS AND LIAISONS NOT PRESENT:

Jeff Johnson, Centennial Public Schools; Rob Ziegler, Madison Public Schools; and Alan Wibbels, ESU 10

OTHERS PRESENT:

Sid McCartney, Division of Communications; Bob Huber, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications; Don Vanderheiden, Dark Fiber Solutions; Kathy Tenopir, Legislative Fiscal Office; Myrta Hansen, Futurekids Nebraska; Aimee Lempke, Nebraska National Guard; Craig Carlson, Metro Community College; Phil Hovis, DAS Budget Office; Roger Hahn, Nebraska Information Network; Mark Billington, Apple Computer; Wayne Fisher, Dept of Education; Dr. Jean Jones, Nebraska Catalyst Grant; Rick Becker, Lori Lopez Urdiales, Steve Schafer and Tom Rolfes, Office of the CIO/NITC.

CALL TO ORDER, ELECTRONIC POSTING, ROLL CALL & INTRODUCTIONS

Co-chair, Dr. Jack Huck, called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. Roll call was taken. There were nine voting members present at the time of roll. A quorum existed to conduct official business. Dr. Huck stated that the meeting notice was posted to the NITC and the Nebraska Public Meeting Calendar Web sites on October 22, 2001. The agenda was posted to the NITC Web site on November 28, 2001.

APPROVAL OF NOVEMBER 30, 2001 MEETING AGENDA

Dr. Preusser moved to approve the agenda as presented. Mr. LeDuc seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Bartels-Yes, Dietz-Yes, Engel-Yes, Huck-Yes, O’Niell-Yes, Smith-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, and Preusser-Yes. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

APPROVAL OF THE OCTOBER 19, 2001 MINUTES

Dr. Smith moved to approve the October minutes as presented. Dr. Preusser seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Preusser-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Smith-Yes, O’Neill-Yes, Huck-Yes, Engel-Yes, Dietz-Yes, and Bartels-Yes. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

At the end of last month’s Education Council meeting, all task group/committees met briefly. They were to continue meeting via electronic means to further discuss the worksheet questions and report back to the Council at the December meeting.

TASK GROUP/COMMITTEE REPORTS – INFRASTRUCTURE
Wayne Fisher, Nebraska Department of Education

The Task Group was not able to discuss all the questions. The most significant need discussed was the need for sufficient state funding and support of the postalized rate and flexibility in the NETCOM project. The Task Group asked if a web site could be available to post minutes and/or activities of the Task Groups, and/or a possible chat room.

Mr. Schneider and Dr. Rastovski arrived at 9:12 a.m.

TASK GROUP/COMMITTEE REPORTS – LIFE CYCLE FUNDING
Keith Bartels, School Boards

There was only one member present at the last meeting. Attempts were made to communicate electronically but were unsuccessful. The Task Group plans to meet briefly after the business meeting to discuss meeting times.

TASK GROUP/COMMITTEE REPORTS – NEEDS OF THE LEARNER
Linda Engel, Nebraska City Public Schools

Renee Bose was in attendance at the October meeting. It was the consensus of the group that schools need to spend more time and money on in-services and training. Some of the training resources identified were as follows: Department of Education’s Catalyst Grants, Tag Lit, NETA conference, Educational Service Units and there are some vendors that also provide training. A basic level of computer proficiency requirement for educators similar to multicultural education was discussed.

TASK GROUP/COMMITTEE REPORTS – LEADING EDGE TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
Dr. Robin Smith, Chadron State College

The Task Group discussed several issues: piloting technologies; investigating efficient use of present technology; IDL usage; LATA boundaries; accountability and the bottomline (learning); and support to teachers and schools who support technology and learning.

Jean Jones, Department of Education, announced that on December 11-12, the Catalyst Grant Project is hosting a meeting to discuss the possibility of providing a certification for distance learning for teachers. Georgia and Oklahoma have such a model. If persons in attendance feel it is worthwhile to purse, a training grant could be written.

Mr. Linster arrived to the meeting at 9:17 a.m.

Ms. Jones offered the use of the Department of Education’s Facilitate.com to host the web site for the Task Groups. Dr. Smith also offered to host the web site through Blackboard. He is a Blackboard administrator. Members were very interested in establishing a web site. Mr. Rolfes will follow-up.

Ms. Holly arrived to the meeting at 9:30 a.m.

TASK GROUP/COMMITTEE REPORTS – NET DISTANCE LEARNING
Bob Huber, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications

A written report was distributed to members and reviewed by Mr. Huber. The “Year-to-Date” hours and classes have increased on Network2. North Platte1 & 2 are utilizing as many hours as the Grand Island site. DLS team visits are stabilizing.

OPERATIONS WORK GROUP MEMBER VACANCY APPROVAL
Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

Mr. Rolfes presented the subsector nomination of Mr. Noel Stanley, Northeast Community College, to the Operations Work Group to replace the community college representative, Neal Henning, who resigned.

Dr. Preusser moved to approve the nomination of Noel Stanley, Lifelong Learning Center Coordinator, Northeast Community College, to serve on the Operations Work Group as a community college representative. Mr. O’Neill seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Smith-Yes, O’Neill-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Huck-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, Engel-Yes, Preusser-Yes, Dietz-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Holly-Yes, Schneider-Yes, Bartels-Yes, and Linster-Yes. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

NEBRASKA DIGITAL NETWORK (NDN) RESOLUTION/CHARTER & APPROVAL OF NDN WORK GROUP EDUCATION MEMBERS
Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

At the October 31st NITC meeting, the Commission passed a resolution creating the Nebraska Digital Network (NDN) Workgroup. The purpose is to evaluate the feasibility of the development of a digital network and related support functions to serve education, communities, and state government that could be accomplished through a statewide consortium. The proposed membership is as follows:

• Education: Two members each from K-12 and Higher Education, as determined by the NITC Education Council
• Communities: One member each from telehealth, public libraries, and local government, as determined by the NITC Community Council
• State Government: The Chief Information Officer; and
• Technical Panel: One member each from Nebraska Educational Telecommunications, University of Nebraska Computing Services Network, DAS Division of Communications, and DAS Information Management Services, as determined by the NITC Technical Panel.

Proposed time line is as follows:

January 23, 2002 – Present workgroup charter to the NITC
February-May – Conduct 1st-4th monthly meetings
June - Public review process
July – Monthly meeting 5th meeting to review the final report
August – Present draft final report to affected NITC Councils and Technical Panel
September 2002 – Present Final Report to the NITC

Discussion on the draft occurred. Mr. Linster moved to change the wording of the NDN Purpose to read as follows: “To evaluate the feasibility of a digital network and related support functions to serve education, communities and state government which could be accomplished by a statewide consortium”. Dr. Preusser seconded the motion. Discussion followed.

A concern was raised regarding the involvement of State Government and whether it would circumvent the efforts of the Education Council. Mr. Dietz moved to delete the works “State Government” from the NDN purpose statement. There was no second. The Motion dies for lack of a second.

Mr. Hendrickson proposed a friendly amendment to omit the Q4 2002 line “Develop Technical Architecture and Implementation Plan” in the document under Section I. Proposed Schedule and Deliverables. Mr. Linster and Dr. Preusser accepted the friendly amendment. The motion now reads: “To change the wording of the NDN Purpose to read as follows, “To evaluate the feasibility of a digital network and related support functions to serve education, communities and state government which could be accomplished by a statewide consortium” and to omit Q4 2002 line “Develop Technical Architecture and Implementation Plan” in the document.” Roll call vote: Linster-Yes, Bartels-Yes, Schneider-Yes, Holly-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Dietz-No, Preusser-Yes, Engel-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, Huck-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, O’Neill-Abstain, and Smith-Yes. Voting results: 11-Yes, 1-No, and 1-Abstention. The motion was carried by majority vote.

Mr. O’Neill and Mr. Dietz left the meeting.

The K-12 and Higher Education sectors caucused to arrive at their member recommendations on the Nebraska Network Workgroup.

Dr. Preusser moved to approve the following sector recommendations to serve as members on the Nebraska Network Work Group.
Higher Education Representatives: Kent Hendrickson and Dennis Linster (alternates-Con Dietz and Jack Huck)
K-12 Representatives: Allan Wibbels and Ed Rastovski (alternates-Wayne Fisher and Shirley Schall (pending her agreement; if not, Keith Bartels will serve as the other alternate)
Mr. Schneider seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Holly-Yes, Schneider-Yes, Bartels-Yes, Linster-Yes, Smith-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Engel-Yes, Preusser-Yes, Huck-Yes, and Hendrickson-Yes. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

VIDEO STANDARDS REPORT (PDF 301k) & RECOMMENDATIONS/COMMENTS TO THE NITC
Michael Beach, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission

Mr. Beach began by thanking persons who volunteered to assist with the testing. The Work Group was commissioned to study and make recommendations on synchronous distance learning video and audio standards. Mr. Beach proceeded to provide a summary of the testing procedures, charts and results of the report. The Work Group had discussed migration, gateways and current K-12 consortia contracts. It was recommended that existing consortiums maintain whatever standard is currently used and then upgrade when their current contract expires. Conclusions and recommendations did not include asynchronous network issues since they were not part of the Workgroup’s charge. Funding of interconnectivity hardware will be a future issue to consider. The Work Group addressed next steps and felt that there needed to be a Work Group to address the network environment – the middle ground between transport and application. Mr. Beach was pleased to hear about the NITC’s resolution to establish the Nebraska Network Work Group. The Video Standards Work Group is in full support of the NITC’s resolution.

The Work Group unanimously voted on the following: “It is the recommendation of the Video Standards work group that Nebraska adopt a dual standard. For higher data rate applications intending to use full-motion video, MPEG 2 should be adopted. For those applications that do not have need for full motion, H.263 with G.722 audio should be adopted.”

Mr. Beach entertained questions regarding: NETCOM specifications; neutral hardware revenue; efficiency of MPEG2 over JPEG; and how standards would affect new and existing installations.

Mr. Linster moved that the Education Council recommend that any contract renewal or expenditure of new state funds for interactive distance learning services shall comply with the Technical Panel standards of H.263 video/G.722 audio or MPEG2. Dr. Hendrickson seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Bartels-Yes, Holly-Yes, Engel-Yes, Huck-Yes, Smith-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, Preusser-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Schneider-Yes, and Linster-Yes. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

The Technical Panel will review the video standards draft document at the December and/or January meeting to prepare their recommendation for final approval and adoption by the NITC at their January 23rd meeting.

Mr. Hendrickson moved that the Education Council commend and thank the Video standards work group for their work. Mr. LeDuc seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Bartels-Yes, Holly-Yes, Engel-Yes, Huck-Yes, Smith-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, Preusser-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Schneider-Yes, and Linster-Yes. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

TINA/WIDEN/NETCOM UPDATE
Syd McCartney, Division of Communications, shared that the State of Nebraska decided to reject all four of the NETCOM bids on October 19, 2001 and that the advisory group, together with the Division of Communications, will discuss next steps which may include reissuance of the RFP or engaging in a pilot, proof-of-concept, project with some Nebraska municipality.

OTHER

There was no other business.

NEXT MEETING DATE, TIME AND LOCATION AND ADJOURNMENT

The next meetings of the Education Council will be held on January 18th and February 15th with locations to be determined. Dr. Huck adjourned the meeting at 12:10 p.m.

Meeting minutes were taken by Lori Lopez Urdiales and reviewed by Tom Rolfes, Office of the CIO/NITC.

Meeting Minutes