Commercial Integrator June 2022 - Special Section 6

C llab rati n
TODAY and TOMORROW
proved to set the stage for
later use in this present day.
Another example of collaborative
technologies can be
seen via the Utah Education
and Telehealth Network
(UETN). James Hodges, Video
Operations Center (VOC),
UETN notes, " The Utah Education
and Telehealth Network
is Utah's broadband provider
for education and telehealth.
UETN supports equity,
reduces barriers and provides
high-capacity circuits to
schools, colleges, universities
and libraries, plus hospitals,
clinics and rural health departments.
UETN serves more
than 675,000 public school
students, more than 202,000
college students, and more
than 78,000 faculty and staff in
public and higher education.
It also connects more than 70
hospitals, clinics and health
departments. In addition, it
operates a public television
station KUEN, also known as
UEN-TV, on behalf of the Utah
System of Higher Education. "
The collaborative scale
with which UETN operates is
impressive, and even more so
when one considers that they
connect schools, colleges and
healthcare providers for the
greater good. In that same
vein, " The Center for Interactive
Learning and Collaboration
(CILC) is a non-profit
organization that provides
equal access to educational
and cultural opportunities for
all communities by supporting
K-12 educators with authentic,
relevant and interactive
learning experiences. Through
virtual interactive program
offerings, students and educators
have access to limitless
learning opportunities, from
commercialintegrator.com
math, science and tech to art,
language and history from
hundreds of cultural organizations,
heritage centers,
and diverse content experts, "
says Jan Zanetis, managing
director, CILC.
Effective Learning
The use of collaborative
technologies is about using
available technologies and
technology infrastructures to
make more effective learning
opportunities accessible to
all learners. This should be
without regard to their age,
location or reason for learning.
These opportunities should
also be available anywhere, at
any time, at any pace, meeting
the individual needs of each
student. It most closely
resembles the way work
will occur and economies
will expand in this century,
remotely and in collaboration
with multiple and diverse
stakeholders.
Eric Jones, CEO, Oiada
International, remarks, " Oiada
International is another such
non-profit organization and
content provider for CILC
that has been providing
award-winning educational
and experiential programs
via videoconference, [taking]
learning beyond the four walls
of the school building. Since
the opening of their New
Jersey and Ghana, West Africa
centers in 2009, over 450,000
students in 50 U.S. states and
32 countries worldwide have
engaged in their programs.
[For example], Oiada's Visa
Program is an academic
videoconference exchange
program that pairs classrooms
in different countries
using a shared project-based
learning curriculum to build
students' skills in communication,
collaboration, and
critical thinking. Curricular
activities blend in-class
learning and video conference
engagement. The key program
feature of our Visa Program is
the face-to-face interaction
and the social network built
and curated for each classroom
pair to share project
based curricular activities and
cross-cultural interactions. "
Keep in mind that the
examples of collaboration
noted here are exceptional
programs. Since the pandemic,
more people have had to
use collaborative technologies
across a wide spectrum
of actives for work, telehealth
and even new creative programs.
According to Grand
View Research, Inc. (June
2021), " The global videoconferencing
market size was valued
at $4.21 billion in 2020 and is
expected to expand [with a
revenue forecast in 2028 of
$9.95 billion]. Furthermore,
lockdowns implemented amid
the COVID-19 pandemic globally
have resulted in a massive
rise in demand for videoconferencing
and teleconferencing
solutions as businesses
and individuals sought ways
of remaining connected. "
This projected growth in
videoconferencing/collaborative
technologies will
continue to foster engagement
and even present more
collaborative opportunities
for an even more diverse
global community. Black Girls
Dive Foundation, Inc. (BGDF),
is one outgrowth of these
programs. The foundation is a
nonprofit science education
organization which exposes
girls and young women to Science,
Technology, Robotics,
Engineering, the Arts, Mathematics
and Scuba (STREAMS)
though aquatic-based recreation,
research and career
opportunities. Dr. Nevada
Winrow, founder, notes, " BGDF
has a Shark Research and
Conservation initiative, which
is a collaborative partnership
with the Rosenstiel School
of Marine and Atmospheric
Science - University of Miami
that introduces participants
to the world of Sharks.
Through demonstrations and
in-class exercises utilizing
interactive videoconferencing,
students work with real shark
biotelemetry data and are
taught basic spatial analysis
of shark satellite data. "
So, along with all its horrors,
COVID-19 didn't invent
distance learning. What it did
do was shine a light on the
need for quality programs and
resources (not just webcams
stuck in front of classroom
teachers). There have been
and there will continue to be
organizations and projects
that will contribute to an
ever-increasing collaborative
community for the benefit of
humankind. Educators will
find new and better ways to
leverage collaborative technologies
that lift the human
spirit with a glimmer of hope
through all our future crises.
Our technological community
needs to be at the
forefront of helping launch
these kinds of outstanding
distance-learning programs.
Dr. Reggie Smith III is chief
operations and innovation
officer with Black Girls Dive
Foundation, Inc.
JUNE 2022 Commercial Integrator
http://www.commercialintegrator.com
Commercial Integrator June 2022

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