FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: June 4, 2001
 

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - June 4, 2001 - The University of Washington and the Pacific Northwest-Gigapop are pleased to announce that Washington's statewide K-20 network is now fully connected to Internet2 (I2), the national next-generation research and education network. (Click here to see diagram.) The K-20 network, which was designed and is operated by the UW, connects all of Washington's K-12 school districts, community colleges, and public baccalaureate institutions. With the new connection to I2 all teachers, faculty, and students -- in all parts of the state, and across all of public education -- will now have the opportunity to use and participate in developing the next generation of Internet resources, applications, and tools, opportunities that were previously only available at major university and corporate research labs.

"Connecting the K-20 Network to Internet2 will keep Washington at the cutting edge in our efforts to bring students the highest quality, most diverse curriculum and learning tools that can be made available over the Internet," said Governor Gary Locke.

This "will literally open whole new worlds to Washington's school children," says Susannah Malarkey, executive director, the Technology Alliance. "We are incredibly lucky to be able to participate in this cutting edge technology. All of Washington's students can now be part of designing the future." Now when students and teachers use the K-20 network for their work they will be learning and using tomorrows, rather than yesterdays, technologies. "Not only will this development put the teachers, students and schools of Washington State at the forefront in using the educational tools that are currently available, it will put them in the position of understanding and helping to build the next generation of content and tools," says Louis Fox, UW vice provost for Educational Partnerships and Learning Technologies, and recently named co-leader of the national Internet2-K20 Initiative.

Even more important than ground floor connectivity to the next generation Internet, now Washington's innovators can participate in I2 initiatives. Typical of the first wave of the tools, materials, content and program opportunities included in the Washington I2-K20 initiative are:

• Special Interest Groups (SIGs) across Washington K-20 and trainings around specific technologies and content interests, workshops for K20 in Internet2 tools and content, an annual Washington conference for innovators from Washington's schools and colleges
• Linking Washington groups to national conversations, special interest and workgroups, and international collaboration efforts, particularly among Pacific Rim and southern African countries
• Connecting Washington educators to rich, often multimedia content repositories (this is the theme of some special interest and and working groups), coupled with advanced middleware intellectual property management mechanisms, enabling broad use and shared licensing; K20 versions of Catalyst, the national award-winning teaching and learning toolkit; mySchool, a sophisticated Web-based, middleware-enabled portal, creating the capacity for true "mass customization" and personalization of the Web, with complete control over content and transactions for every teacher, class, and student
• Projects to enhance and extend learning through advanced information and network technologies and content
• Educational opportunities and collaborations like Virtual UW in the High School, which offers UW college-level credit classes to schools and communities with little or no access to such opportunities, including new, cutting edge, national model classes and materials like the UW Department of Computer Science's and the UW Information School's Fluency in Information Technology (FIT)
• Network access to scientific apparatus and live data from weather radar, seismic sensors, telescopes, satellites, and ocean probes
• Participation in testbeds for the next generation of broadband and narrowband digital video, multicast, and interactive video

Just as the UW brought the original Internet to the Northwest, and along with the Pacific Northwest Gigapop more recently played a major role in creating I2, they are committed to help bring the resources and benefits of I2 to all of Washington's schools and colleges.

Marty Smith, chair, Technology Alliance Education Task Force; partner, Preston Gates & Ellis; member K-20 Network Board: "This development is a tribute to the partnership created a decade ago involving the Technology Alliance, higher education, government and industry."

Joseph Olchefske, Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools: "Expanding access to this cutting edge technology will go a long way toward bridging the digital divide and preparing our students for the extraordinary opportunities that await them."

Earl Hale, executive director of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges: "Access to this high-performance network will allow the community and technical colleges to enrich our educational opportunities for students across the state. The colleges have been using the K-20 network to deliver Internet-based courses, but this means we can expand training in technical fields, enhance collaboration among faculty working at different colleges, and customize courses to better meet the diverse needs of the students we serve."

Terry Bergeson, Superintendent of Public Instruction: "The K-12 community in Washington will make great use of the advanced educational and collaborative tools enabled by our partnership with the University of Washington. Washington's K-20 network provides each of our schools the opportunity to be involved in the evolving Internet2 environment. Taking advantage of the I2 offerings immediately, as well as preparing our schools and their infrastructures for the advanced programs to follow, means a bright future for teaching & learning across our state."

For more information or to get involved please contact:

Louis Fox, UW Vice Provost
206 685-4745, 543-6616
lfox@u.washington.edu
Ron Johnson, UW Vice President
206 543-8252
ronj@cac.washington.edu

About the Pacific Northwest Gigapop

The Pacific Northwest Gigapop is a partnership of the leading public and private sector R&D forces throughout the northwest that provides innovators in education, industry, content publication and government with early and direct access to the full range of current and next generation, and super high performance internet capabilities, and to a robust testbed with over a million people with broadband internet access and I2 functionality.

About Internet2

Internet2 is a consortium of research institutions working in partnership to develop and deploy advanced network applications and technologies, accelerating the creation of tomorrow's Internet. Internet2 is recreating the partnership among academia, industry and government that created today's Internet.

Pacific NorthWest Gigapop: http://www.pnw-gigapop.net
The K-20 Network: http://www.washington.edu/k20/
Internet2: http://www.internet2.edu
Catalyst: http://www.catalyst.washington.edu
UWired: http://www.washington.edu/uwired/
mySchool-myUW demo: http://www.myuw.washington.edu
Fluency in Information Technology: http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/courses/cse100/
Smart Tools Academy: http://depts.washington.edu/academy/