See the attached flier, this opportunity is open to any school who wants to participate.
*This is a call to all of the RUS Grant participants to send in their match
as well as an outline of the training program we put together. *
Dear ACTEM RUS Grant Participant:
We are in the process of collecting all of the necessary paperwork to move
forward with the ACTEM RUS Grant and could use your help. To refresh your
memory the ACTEM RUS Grant was awarded to provide video conferencing
infrastructure equipment to the University of Maine who will manage the
equipment on behalf of every K-12 school in the state. The solutions that
will be provided out of this grant are as follows:
· *Tandberg Video Communication Server (VCS)*: This solution will
provide the ability for each school with an IP based video conferencing unit
to register to the VCS for purposes of firewall traversal and alias
dialing. The end result will be the ability of each school with equipment
to traverse your internal firewalls without requiring significant
reconfigurations of your schools networks. In addition this solution will
provide for a universal phone directory to streamline the ability to call
from school to school.
· *High Definition Bridge*: The University will be deploying a 30
port High Definition bridge which will give any school the opportunity to
setup a multisite call on the fly. The bridge will support up to 30
simultaneous calls and also features a web conferencing feature for those
sites who do not have video who want to participate in a conference
· *Tandberg Content Server*: The Tandberg Content Server will give
schools the ability to record and archive a video conference which can then
be played back to a Mac or PC via Windows Media Player, REAL Player, or
QuickTime
· *Tandberg MOVI*: MOVI is a desktop video conferencing application
that will allow schools to video conference from their PC. Please note the
initial deployment will be PC only however we expect the Mac client to be
available within the next year.
*Ongoing Support and Help Desk Services*: The University will provide basic
Help Desk Services and management support for this equipment which will help
take the technical and financial burden off the local school districts to
support this equipment.
*Next Steps*: As I assume you are aware when the grant was submitted we
asked every school to contribute a combination of in-kind and cash match in
order to meet the requirements of the grant. We are in the process of
collecting everyone's match and cannot move forward with the project until
we have your match invoices. To review every school was asked to contribute
the following in match:
· Two (2) Computers Per school totaling $1,600/school ($800/CPU)
and $1,000 Cash to be used towards staff development
*Computer Match Requirement*: Our hope is every school over the pas year
would have purchased at least two computers thus this requirement we hope
will not be a financial burden. Please note if you have purchased more than
two computers per school we welcome any invoices you can provide as it may
help us reach out goal in a shorter timeframe. The invoices must be dated
between March 15, 2008 through present day. *Please note we can take match
from any school in the state. *
*Training Match Requirement*: In regards to the $1,000 training match we
understand this maybe a little more difficult however we have put together a
training package we feel will be of value to your schools. In summary we
are asking each school to contribute $1,000 cash towards staff development.
This training will build upon the T4 Training package most of your schools
should have already participated in or are schedule to participate in over
the next few months. In return each school who contributes $1,000 will
receive the following training package (click here for
)
* Distance Learning Student Based Content Training Package including the
following:*
o Minimum of 1.5hrs of teacher training to be conducted over video with a
maximum of 3 other schools
§ Training is for 2 teachers
§ Nominal fee for additional teachers who would like to participate
o One Virtual Fieldtrip – A list of Virtual Fieldtrip providers will be
offered to choose from
o Inclusion in Student Contest to see who can create the best Virtual
Fieldtrip (prizes for the top three schools)
*Timeline*: Our goal is to collect everyone's match invoices by mid
February as we are hoping to start deploying equipment in March however the
project timeline is 100% contingent on when we receive everyone's match
invoices. Please note if you would like to participate in the training
program but much leverage your 2009/10 budget we can try and work with you
just let me know.
*Where to send Match Invoices*: You can fax, mail, or email copies of your
invoices and/or PO for the $1,000 training program to:
Jeff Mann
CBE Technologies
50 Foden Rd.
South Portland, ME 04106
Fax: (207) 239-3113
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