Project Connect- 2nd Quarter Update
The ECF Consultants (http://www.educf.org) were busy analyzing and compiling data this quarter after their trip to the islands in January.
This is a brief report from Mike – the guru of the airwaves-
“Our measurements confirm what we had originally hoped to see, that the margins are good enough so that license-free low-cost commercial equipment will be able to meet the requirement.
We are working on theoretical numbers given to us by the manufacturers, and are our best working values at this time. Precise estimates will be generated when the equipment is purchased and field-tested before being shipped to NMI for deployment; we expect testing to occur in May with an anticipated deployment in this summer.
In conclusion….All systems are looking good at this time. One area that needs to be handled is the downlink to the Saipan campus, because links are expected to share the same tower with the FM radio station. This is an area of concern because the Power is relatively high; it will require that we use pipe to shield the wire going to the tower-mounted radios and careful grounding of the network switching equipment. All other locations are bereft of 5.7 and/or 5.2 GHz signals, and therefore, are not expected to be impacted by interference. Special considerations will be given to the environmental conditions on the islands.”
In addition to the technical aspect of the grant, we are in the hiring stage of grant personnel. We have posted the job descriptions for both Project Director and Network Systems Administrator. We should be interviewing shortly and hiring quickly thereafter.
We have been readying the DE rooms on all 3 islands and installing the AirCon in the new DE Room in Building V. Also we have purchased the server and installing the software to run the web-based, communication program - Elluminate Live. Elluminate Live will provide the Online, Synchronous Classes and workshops scheduled for Fall '07.
This Spring Semester a few Faculty Instructors have been under going a semester-long Online Course instructing them in Distance Learning Pedagogy and the use of Online Communication web 2.0 Tools, and are preparing their course curriculum with the help of NMC’s Instructional Designer to offer Online in Fall 2007. These courses along with a variety of other classes and workshops will be offered this fall to Tinian & Rota.
It’s been a busy 2nd Quarter!
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