Pine Technical College

Internet 2 Achievements: Engaging the Two-Year College in the K-20

Initiative

PTC: Overview

• Two-year technical college - - AS, AAS degrees, certificates, diplomas in technical disciplines

• Part of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system

• Rural area of the state

PTC: Overview• Regional facts:

– Degree attainment below state average– College participation below state and national

average– Per capita income only slightly higher than Puerto

Rico

• Smallest stand-alone college in system: 420 FYEs, 1600 headcount

PTC: Relationships

• Shared degree programs with other colleges via distance learning– Shared AA offering– Multi-site social worker program– Course-sharing for efficiency and cost-

effectiveness– Strong commitment to technology solutions

PTC: Relationships

• Curriculum, courses and technology sharing with regional K-12 districts– PTC courses to area high schools– PTC as telecom hub for 12 districts– PTC as Internet 2 conduit for teachers

PTC: Relationships

• Statewide college connections– Member of 2 of 4 MnSCU Centers of

Excellence (Manufacturing & Allied Health)– Involved with U of Minnesota Digital

Technology Center

PTC: Relationships

• Economic development and social mission– Regional Manufacturing Alliance– Regional Early Childhood programming– House both Chamber of Commerce and

regional welfare-to-work initiative

PTC: Infrastructure

• High level of bandwidth into building (gigabit-plus level)

• Hub for data and ITV for 12 school districts

• Hub for regional college consortium

• Hub for community fiber backbone with FTTP in local industrial park

PTC: Technology Flagship

• Founded only Virtual Reality Center in 2-year college in Midwest

• Applied research and product development: affordable immersive VR on PC platform for education & training applications

• VR applicability to distance learning and applied research through Internet 2

• Basis for partnership with universities, including UM

PTC: Technology Flagship

• Awards from MnSCU System for IT Excellence:– Fiber Optic Backbone– JCVR

• Products for industry partners:– Virtual industrial spray paint booth– Virtual welding– Virtual inspection training

PTC and Internet 2• Relationships with K-12 in region:

– East Central Minnesota Educational Cable Cooperative (ECMECC)

– 12 school districts in rural East Central Minnesota

– Share resources, including common data and interactive television backbone at 1 gigabit to the premises.

– Culture of using technology to enhance learning or to provide access to learning not otherwise available

PTC and Internet 2• ECMECC collaborations:

– Virtual field trips for K-12 students• Wolf Center at Ely, MN• Cincinnati Zoo

– Classes with Vanderbilt University– Joint classes with Japanese schools including

joint band concert– Access through gigabit network to Internet 2

resources via hub at Pine Tech

PTC and Internet 2

• Partnerships with U of Minnesota and gigapop:– Virtual reality collaboration

• National Science Foundation grant• Minnesota grants for application of VR to industrial

uses

– Legislative demonstrations of VR and Internet 2 with UM and Iowa

PTC and Internet 2

• Partnerships with industry related to Internet 2 initiative

• Improved infrastructure at college = ‘Bulk buying’ of bandwidth at discount by combining

needs of several public sector entities Installation of Pine City fiber backboneFTTP into industrial parkAffordable rate broadband to major industry users

PTC and the Internet 2

• Complete win-win scenario for all parties:– K-12 received higher bandwidth at lower cost

– City, county government acquired broadband

– PTC students networked city hall to take advantage

– Cost savings for broadband Internet for government, healthcare, education, industry in region

• Created grassroots support for infrastructure improvement

PTC and Internet 2

• Infrastructure improvement empowered and enabled greater K-12 access and use– Gigabit network to each school district– Access through PTC hub to Internet 2– Snowball effect in terms of teacher usage

• Now ‘under the radar’ - - school tech directors handle Internet 2 projects without need for coordination or special help

PTC, VR and Internet 2

Live demo with JCVR and University of Minnesota Digital Technology Center