October+2009

=October 21, 2009= Agenda: Vivisimo software on servers would allow for high-power searching, beyond Google capability, that would gather resources from local, regional, national and global sites. Norton is continuing to meet with the parties responsible for moving this project forward, and the AIU is represented as well Goal is to complete a pilot phase this school year, and then full implementation in the 2010-2011 school year MAGPI is affiliated with the Supercomputing Center located at Drexel U near Philadelphia. They have a robust menu of offerings from providers, both for Interactive videoconferencing and online collaborations. Laat week, MAGPI offered an Internet 2 workshop at CLIU 21 - our request is for that to be replicated here in AIU (possibly involve other IUs) Districts were invited to send a team of a network administrator and an educator. Sessions throughout the day culminating in a collaborative project brainstorming session for all participants Currently, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) is not able to offer the same range of services - the goal would be to develop collaborations to serve our region. Schools that participated in the G-20 Student Summit on September 17 at Fox Chapel Area HS have been paired with schools around the world. We are ware of the following schools that will videoconference with a world partner: 10/15 - North Allegheny, 10/29 - Gateway, 11/12 - Shaler, 12/2 - Avonworth As promised, a schedule for moderator training sessions to be held in November will be posted at www.aiu3.net/alleghenyconnect Interest continues to grow in the use of CONNECT-Live An agreement has been reached with Study Island, stipulating that once 50 new classrooms are enrolled, all schools will enjoy at 30% price reduction. Contact Dodie Smith at Study Island to enroll additional classroooms, she will keep count and notify everyone about the price reduction. There are simultaneous discussions occurring at the state level for statewide pricing reductions. Building a series of webinars based on the presentations that will be made at the TRETC conference on November 12 may stimulate interest in the use of personal videoconferencing. Presenters from TRETC will be asked to replciate their presentations as an online event using CONNECT-Live. There was discussion surrounding the release time factor for teaching staff. Method for organizing collaborative opportunities Suggestions are being taken for a preliminary, low-cost method of advertizing collaboration activites between AIU districts. Some possibilities include: blog, wiki, Google calendar, and Keystone Commons (http://keystonecommons.paiunet.org)
 * Vivisimo Project - progress report**
 * Internet 2 - MAGPi and PSC**
 * G20 Student Summit - follow-up activities**
 * CONNECT-Live Moderator training opportunities**
 * Apangea, Accelerated Reader, and Study Island - progress** **report**
 * Webinar Series**