News for and about the Internet2 community

[Ryan Bass <>]

U.S. UCAN, MAGPI and the Internet2 K20 Initiative Partner to Showcase How Advanced Networks Can Revolutionize K-12 Teaching and Learning at Annual ISTE Conference

Booth Features Exciting Live Demonstrations From the Large Hadron Collider, the JASON Project, Library of Congress and others

Philadelphia, PA – June 28, 2011 – United States Unified Community Anchor Network (U.S. UCAN) project, MAGPI, and the Internet2 K20 Initiative have teamed up at the 2011 International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference to showcase how advanced research and education networks are helping to transform the learning environment for K20.

ISTE 2011, which is taking place this week (June 26-29) at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, is the world’s premier conference for K20 educators and education leaders engaged in advancing excellence in teaching and learning through innovative and effective uses of technology. The 2011 annual ISTE conference is host to over 14,000 attendees from around the world who convene for four days of exciting conference sessions, hands on educational workshops and live technology demonstrations.

The demonstrations of advanced research and education networking in action are being organized by MAGPI in partnership with Internet2’s newly launched U.S. UCAN project as well as in coordination with the Internet2 K20 initiative.  The demonstration schedule includes a live interactive connection with CERN, the home of the Large Hadron Collider, in Geneva Switzerland as well as demonstrations from the Library of Congress, the National Space Centre in the UK, the Bob Ballard JASON Project, hands on science museums across the country, Dancing Volcanoes, and many others.

"MAGPI is pleased to be able to once again provide the advanced networking infrastructure for the ISTE annual conference," said Greg Palmer, Executive Director, MAGPI. "We're also thrilled to be able to partner with the newly formed U.S. UCAN project of Internet2 and the K20 Initiative to showcase live demonstrations of advanced applications for the K20 education community in action for the ISTE 2011 conference attendees onsite here in Philadelphia." 

To support the 20 live demos, MAGPI is providing advanced networking connectivity from the conference floor at the Pennsylvania Convention Center to the MAGPI regional network and Internet2’s national network. 

Additional information about the demonstrations of high speed networking for teaching and learning featured at the ISTE 2011 conference, including a full schedule and demonstration contacts and descriptions, can be found at http://www.magpi.net/Community/Programs/ISTE2011. All 20 advanced networking demonstrations are also being webcast live by MAGPI for those unable to attend in person. The demonstrations are viewable by the general public at http://video.magpi.net.

About U.S. UCAN

Established by Internet2 in 2011, The United States Unified Community Anchor Network (U.S. UCAN) is a new national project dedicated to connecting community anchor institutions, including public libraries, schools, community colleges, research parks, public safety and health care institutions with advanced broadband capabilities. Utilizing the Internet2 Network and in collaboration with regional research and education networks across the country, U.S. UCAN will enable these anchor institutions to serve their communities with telemedicine, distance learning and other life-changing advanced network applications. For more information about U.S. UCAN, visit www.usucan.org.

About MAGPI

MAGPI, a part of Penn’s Division of Information Systems and Computing, provides regional and Internet2 connectivity and educational services to its member institutions in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Florida. MAGPI is committed to promoting advanced applications, collaborations, and services for the K20 research and education community through high performance networking technology. For more information about MAGPI, visit http://www.magpi.net.