Utilization of Internet2 Videoconferencing Capabilities for Delivery of Collaborative Tele-education: A Case Study

Tele-education is receiving attention from the educational community as university students demand more, high-quality distributed-education. Meeting these demands with limited resources means universities are increasingly dependent on synchronous collaboration of personnel and continuous utilization of distributed resources. Although videoconferencing has shown promise as a means for collaboration, until recently there have been high fees, steep learning curves, and poor quality associated with videoconferencing use in education. Internet2 (12), a next-generation network specifically for educational use, is designed to enable high-bandwidth applications such as videoconferencing while alleviating cost and quality issues. This research focused on the use of Internet2 for videoconferencing collaborations between pre-service teacher-education classes at two I2 universities. The report is a snapshot of the successes and difficulties experienced while utilizing Intemet2 for cross university collaboration among undergraduate students and their professors. This research documents a collaborative tele-education initiative between the Colleges of Education at the University of South Florida, Tampa, and the University of Virginia at Charlottesville. Results of this investigation will help form a foundation for acceptance of collaborative tele-education videoconferencing via 12 for andragogical activities. Findings from this study will contribute to literature on best practices in collaborative tele-education videoconferencing across 12. Results of this case study were weighed against other research investigating semester-long, collaborative videoconferences across high-speed networks among undergraduate students in fields of study outside science, mathematics, or medicine. This investigation was constructed within a phased, classic Systems Development Life Cycle. Because this study modeled the use of a systems analysis approach outside the data processing field, the investigation highlighted the links between learning, training, and advanced technology