Re: Info on k-12 program (Pac*Bell)

[Brian Lloyd <[e-mail]>]

>On Fri, 18 Feb 1994, Penney George RCVB80 wrote:
>
>> Please send info.
>>
>PACIFIC BELL TO LINK PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND
>LIBRARIES TO COMMNICATIONS SUPERHIGHWAY
>
>February 14, 1994
>
> SACRAMENTO -- Pacific Bell today announced a $100 million
>investment in California public schools and public libraries to
>start them rolling on the communications superhighway.
> ...

Frankly, this scares me.  Already we are beginning to hear from schools
that are our clients saying, "gee, this sounds to good to be true."  From
what I can tell, it really seems to be a lot of marketing hype and media
smoke/spin.  Let me comment on this in general:

>*    Switched digital service, allowing telecomputing and
>     interactive telelearning capability, will be made

This is ISDN.  Without an underlying service that allows ISDN to be used in
a packet-switched environment, you are limited to making a digital phone
call someplace.  This does NOT necessarily get you Internet access.
ISDN-based routers are expensive and there aren't many available.
ISDN-based bridges are available but bridging is not the best way to do
networking.  Services providers are limited by the lack of ISDN hardware.

Lastly, ISDN tariffs are usage-based measured rates.  This makes it
difficult to budget for the connection.  It is very easy for the cost of an
ISDN line to exceed the cost of a leased line under moderate usage.

>*    The company will work with the California Public Utilities
>     Commission to develop an educational access rate that will
>     ensure affordable telecommunications connectivity for all
>     schools and libraries in the state.

This has the most promise.  The schools need flat-rate access.  This is
where Pac*Bell's recent Frame Relay offering is very attractive.

>*    Subject to regulatory approval, Pacific Bell will connect
>     public schools and libraries to its broadband network as
>     it is deployed, allowing these institutions access to
>     video-on-demand and other forms of interactive multimedia.

Bandwidth, yes, but what does it connect to?  Sounds like one-way cable
television.  It doesn't sound like interactive service as we know it.

>*    Pacific Bell will provide intra-building wiring at up to
>     two sites at each public school and library -- a computer
>     lab for telecomputing and a location for interactive
>     telelearning.  The company also will contribute $5 million
>     in "seed money" to organize and support a drive to raise
>     the funds needed to wire the remainder of classrooms in
>     the state for full broadband capability.

This may be the best part of the deal.  The hardest part of getting a
school "up" is wiring the school.  The problem is, a complete LAN for a
High School; e.g. fiber between buildings, hubs in buildings, and
sufficient copper to the classrooms; can be quite expensive.  I have wired
several High Schools to different levels of connectivity and I would guess
that a school is looking at between $50K and $100K to get completely wired
up (I include a router, a server, and labor in these costs).  It is going
to take a LOT more than $5M to get the schools wired up.

Now if we can only get the attention of the Architects when they
build/remodel the schools, the price could come down.


>*    Pacific Bell President Phil Quigley will spearhead a
>     public/private consortium to ensure that every California
>     classroom and library is wired and equipped for full
>     access to the communications superhighway by the year
>     2000.  As part of this effort, Compression Labs, Inc. has
>     agreed to work with Pacific Bell on a program to provide
>     the group videoconferencing systems for the schools.

Video teleconferencing for "distance learning" is of questionable
usefulness.  It only addresses the "teacher lecturing to the student" model
of learning.  The technology being developed on the Internet, i.e. Gopher,
Mosaic, VAT, etc., is far more interesting because it has the potential to
address all the different ways that students learn.  Pac*Bell's
announcement strikes me as falling into the, "now we have a hammer so let's
go pound some nails," catagory.

...

>*    The company will field dedicated resource teams which will
>     work directly with  schools and teachers to help them
>     fully utilize the new telecommunications equipment and
>     resources at their disposal.  At the same time, the
>     company will collaborate with universities and colleges to
>     help increase the emphasis given to educational technology
>     issues in the teaching curriculum.

But who is going to teach Pac*Bell?  In my experience with local exchange
carriers (telcos) Pac*Bell is one of the best and most advanced in the
world but even they have a hard time grasping the concept of
packet-switched, multicast, and broadcast communications.  They still think
in terms of telephone calls.  OK, so now the call is digital video.  It is
still a one-to-one circuit switched call.

The real key is to think about is how we represent and disseminate
information in new ways to facilitate learning.  The impact of packet/cell
switched multicast/broadcast technology has tremendous potential (go play
with Mosaic to see what I mean).  I don't believe that the communications
industry has this figured out yet.


Brian Lloyd, President                         Lloyd Internetworking
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