News for and about the Internet2 community

["Lauren Rotman" <>]

DELEARN Connects to Internet2's Next-Generation Nationwide Network

Delaware State Education Network Connection to Internet2 Enables
Cutting-Edge Applications in Teaching and Learning

ANN ARBOR, Mich. and NEWARK, Del. - February 21, 2007 - Students, faculty,
and researchers across the state of Delaware can now access one of the most
advanced networks in the world. Internet2, the University of Delaware, and
Delaware's Department of Technology and Information today announced that
Delaware's statewide education network, DELEARN, has become an Internet2
Sponsored Education Group Participant (SEGP), the 38th state education
network to participate in the program. DELEARN brings together Delaware's
schools, libraries, colleges and other education and culturally-oriented
institutions to share information and technology. 

DELEARN member institutions will now connect to Internet2's nationwide high
performance network through MAGPI, the regional advanced networking hub
serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Through this connection,
DELEARN's connected institutions will also participate in the Internet2 K20
Initiative which extends the most cutting-edge, Internet-based educational
opportunities to the K20 community not available today on the commercial
Internet. 

"The Office of Information Technologies at the University of Delaware and
the State of Delaware Department of Technology and Information enjoy a close
collegial relationship that has reaped benefits for each and the State
constituencies that we serve. University sponsorship of the State SEGP is
yet another manifestation of the mutual value we find in that relationship.
We are looking forward to building rich collaborative opportunities for our
public K-20 communities and the State's cultural and service institutions,"
said Susan Foster, vice president for information technologies, University
of Delaware.

The connection to Internet2 will provide Delaware's public school students
with more sophisticated technologies like videoconferencing for live
language, cultural and other educational interactions with students all over
the world. One example of how the Internet2 network is already in use in
Delaware is at the Delaware School for the Deaf, where students have access
to the expertise of sign-language enabled instructors at other
Internet2-connected schools like those in Oklahoma and Georgia. DELEARN also
hopes to enhance art preservation and conservation projects at its highly
esteemed Hagley Museum and Library and the Winterthur Museum by enabling
distance collaboration with experts worldwide. 

"Through this new connection, made possible through a generous sponsorship
of Delaware's Department of Technology and Information in collaboration with
Internet2 member University of Delaware, more students and teachers in
Delaware will be able to create virtual classrooms and laboratories that put
global resources and experts at their fingertips," said Dr. Louis Fox,
director, Internet2 K20 Initiative and vice provost, University of
Washington. "Over the past five years, we have seen the amazing results that
advanced networking can bring to the K20 community and we look forward to
working with DELEARN to further enrich this growing program."

The DELEARN community will be able to tap into already established programs
under the Internet2 K20 initiative, like master music classes taught by
world-renowned musicians at the New World Symphony or the Manhattan School
of Music using DVD-quality videoconferencing or events like Megaconference
Jr., an annual project that uses videoconferencing technology to bring
together thousands of students in elementary and secondary schools from
around the world for an all-day learning conference. Delaware students can
also to take part in famed oceanographer Bob Ballard's immersion project to
receive live interactive undersea exploration demonstrations from divers in
remote locations around the world. 
For more information, visit: http://k20.internet2.edu

About Internet2
Internet2 is the foremost U.S. advanced networking consortium. Led by the
research and education community since 1996, Internet2 promotes the missions
of its members by providing both leading-edge network capabilities and
unique partnership opportunities that together facilitate the development,
deployment and use of revolutionary Internet technologies. Internet2 brings
the U.S. research and academic community together with technology leaders
from industry, government and the international community to undertake
collaborative efforts that have a fundamental impact on tomorrow's Internet.
For more information: http://www.internet2.edu/

CONTACT:  
Lauren Rotman
Internet2

202.331.5345

Michele Ackles
DTI

302.739.9654


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