Videoconference Across Texas
By Jenny Jopling, Interactive Learning Consultant (jopling@unt.edu)
UNT is now a member of the
Trans-Texas Videoconference Network (TTVN), a statewide two-way
interactive system.
A&M owns and operates the
service from College Station, extending to sixty-two other sites in
Texas and Mexico which will be listed on the UNT web site soon. TTVN
offers point to point conferencing, which is a two-way signal between
two sites, and multi-point conferencing, which allows up to twelve
simultaneous connections to different sites. Visual images are
automatically voice-switched as the locations of speakers change.
TTVN maintains videoconference connections to the University of Texas System, Texas
Woman's University System, the Sprint
Meeting Channel, Texas Education Collaborative Network (TEC Net),
several other Texas universities, community colleges, libraries, and
the satellite uplink/downlink facilities at Educational Broadcast
Services in College Station1. TTVN also provides gateway
services for dial-up videoconferences to non-network sites.
TTVN was primarily used for administrative purposes when it started
in 1991. It has since shifted to a more academic role, allowing remote
sites to work out agreements with other institutions to offer courses
that are not being taught locally, teach the same course in a
cooperative effort, and hold special events for classes to meet with
other classes or instructors.
TTVN helps reduce travel costs and time, plus gives faster and wider
dissemination of information with the advantage of pupil/instructor
interaction.
How do I get on? What courses are being offered?
Faculty are wondering by now, how do I get on? What courses are
being offered?
When I asked A&M how these courses get scheduled, they implied
that their main role is to act as a facilitator for the service. In
other words, the courses result from collaboration between faculty
members at participating sites who identify the need and pursue it
through their respective channels. Once you agree with another site to
pursue course approval and scheduling, your contact on campus is Ruby
Raines in the Provost's Office at x3951 or E-mail to Raines in
GroupWise or Raines@acad.admin.unt.edu
for the Internet. I am not familiar with the scheduling situation yet,
but would suggest including a flexibility factor for your time slot,
not to mention making your request as quickly as possible because TTVN
operates on a first come, first served basis.
To schedule an administrative meeting, you need to contact Christian Ward from the Center for Instructional Services at x4770 or E-mail to Cshaw@scs.unt.edu.
Although I do not have a listing of course offerings yet, they
are enroute to me by mail. I plan to post as much information about the
new service as possible on the web. Stay tuned for the new address which
will be posted under "What's New" on UNT's home page. If you have
questions unrelated to course or meeting scheduling, feel free to call
me at x4462 or E-mail Jopling@unt.edu
Our videoconferencing room is in Chilton Hall 245, where we could
previously only connect to UNT Health Science Center in Ft. Worth. We
are also in the process of connecting the NT Federation which includes
UNT, TWU and ETSU.
Go to the next page for a list of sites.
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If you have problems or questions about this server, please
contactme as soon as possible. You can send mail to the following
address:www@unt.edu