While still in its infancy, Internet 2 will now be connected to more than 500 institutions in Wisconsin as part of an initiative to connect K-12 schools to each other and institutions of higher education.
While mainly utilized by research institutions, Internet 2 will now be available to nearly three-fourths of the K-12 schools in the state, which are part of the WiscNet Internet network, through a partnership between WiscNet, the UW System, UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee. Internet 2 was created by a consortium of 170 universities, the government and numerous industries to create an Internet for use in education and research.
'The Internet 2 is a national endeavor to create the next generation Internet,' said David Lois, executive director of WiscNet. 'Internet 2 is really geared towards education, whereas the first was developed for [the Defense Department] and researchers.'
Andrea Deau, education technology liaison for WiscNet, said this connection to Internet 2 will give K-12 student many new resources otherwise only available to research institutions.
'The value of this, even though we can't communicate any hard projects or programs yet, is it is education working with education,' she said. 'There are some unique things that can be done on this, like video. Right now the Internet does have video, but it's choppy and you can't use it for detail. [Internet 2] has the capacity to bring high-end simulations and learning applications to students. Or while learning a foreign language, like French, you could have a video connection with students in Canada.'
Deau said because of UW-Madison's sponsorship, K-12 schools in the state would get access to Internet 2 before many others in the country.
'UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee have had it for a while ... and their sponsorship has allowed us to tap into it,' she said. 'Not every state network is a member yet.'
Deau said this provided K-12 schools the opportunity to contribute to the creation of Internet 2.
'It is still in the early stages of development, but now all educational institutions are contributing to its creation,' she said.
Lois also said while the scope of Internet 2 is currently limited, it may help schools to better prepare their students.
'It's more of an initiative than an actual thing right now,' he said. 'We're strategically positioning our schools for the future.'
