Legacy distance learning boosted - Company Operations

Communications News, Feb, 2001 by Sean Kelly

Fulton-Montgomery Community College (FMCC) in Johnstown, NY, had an outdated distance learning system. The college--part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system--had built a distance learning room, which cost about $140,000 to build and $4,000 per month to maintain. Also, because of the proprietary nature of the wide area network in which FMCC participated, the college could only connect with schools in its eastern upstate New York region.

"Our old distance learning system had severe limitations when it came to usefulness," says Kevin Ross, FMCC's assistant dean of institutional technology. "The legacy distance learning rooms have only been used successfully twice--at a cost of $46,000 per class."

FMCC turned to VBrick network video appliances, already providing educational and informational programming across the campus network.

Originally purchased to provide informational feeds on the network, VBrick appliances were later used by the school's library to deliver educational feeds directly to each classroom. FMCC connected these appliances to its 100Base-T switched ethernet network, and centrally located its VCRs, DVD players and satellite TV feeds in the library.

Professors can now call the library to request a specific program, using a remote control to select and watch the program. The system reduces costs from stolen or lost videos and DVDs, and allows programs to be rebroadcast for makeup or review.

Additional VBricks--a total of 36 in the campus network--were purchased to revamp the distance learning program. With relatively low-cost T-1 wide area connections, FMCC is building eight distance learning rooms--at about $40,000 per room, with maintenance costs expected to be less than $1,000 per month--which can connect to any school in the world.

The implementation has been so successful that district schools and other SUNY universities are asking for assistance in setting up their own VBrick-based distance learning systems.

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