Dr Howard N. Van Trease <vantrease_h@usp.ac.fj>
Richard Wah <wah_r@usp.ac.fj>
Wayne Heads <wayne.heads@usp.ac.fj>
Ruby Vaa <vaa_r@usp.ac.fj>
Linda Austin, M.S.J. <austin_l@usp.ac.fj>
Mrs Selai Fa <fa_s@usp.ac.fj>
Asifo 0. Ajuyah, Ph.D. <ajuyah_a@samoa.net>
Jannette Kirkwood <kirkwood@usq.edu.au>
Professor John Dekkers <j.dekkers@cqu.edu.au>
Som Naidu <s.naidu@meu.unimelb.edu.au>
Kimberly K. Obbink <kobbink@montana.edu>
Steve McCarty
<steve@kagawa-jc.ac.jp>
(1) Dear Howard, Richard and
Ruby:
==============================
Many, many thanks
for your cordial and generous invitation to
attend your roundtable mtg
held from 11/29th to 12/1st/99 at your
university (ATTACHMENT I)
to discuss strategies and plans to make the
best use of your newly
established USPNet (ATTACHMENT II) which
connects 12 member
countries' institutions in the South Pacific area
with audio, data and video
transmission capacity.
I thoroughly
enjoyed the mtg with exciting discussions to utilize the
capabilities of the USPNet
to enhance learning, teaching, research and
administration at the
USP.
I was also amazed
at the drenching rain in Suva, Fiji. It was
like some kids on
a beach scooping South Pacific ocean water by
the bucket and
dumping them on the town of Suva -- especially
on the day when
John and Jannette left for home.
My bus trip from
Suva to Nadi international airport was very
pleasant through
a scenic coastal route, passing by beautiful
resort
hotels. It took me almost 5 hours!!
Dear Selai:
===========
Pls take note of this time -- not 3 hours as you said -- since
someone who needs to catch a plane needs to have ample time.
I had to spent
almost 11 hours at the Nadi airport -- it was very
hot and humid
which was another amazement compared with the other
side of the
mountain where Suva still had such rainy weather that
many flights were
cancelled.
After arriving
home in the very early morning of 12/4th, I was
completely down
in bed for a day with fatigue/exhaustion, jet
lag, back-ache
and the flu I got at Nadi airport. It was certainly a
long, long
trip!!
Dear
Howard:
============
My wife appreciated greatly your gift of Fijian clothes. Thank you very much.
Dear
Ruby:
==========
Many thanks for
your msg (ATTACHMENT III) -- I received your attachment
all right. Your people are
really efficient, in spite of a congested 64
Kbps leased line from Fiji
to Melbourne, Australia -- Richard's paper
says that you have to pay
US$50,000/Year for only a 4.8 Kbps leased line
from Fiji to
Melbourne!!
When I visited
the University of Rondonia in Brazil (which is very
close to Bolivia)
a year and a half ago, I also saw the same
situation with
their 56 Kbps leased line for several thousand
students. Their
professors just gave up the use of Internet
because of long
waiting time to download web pages.
(2) Dear Richard:
=============
I was very glad to have a chat with you on 12/2nd though you did not feel well that day.
As we discussed, we welcome your USP's joining in our Global University System (GUS) project.
Dear
Kim:
=========
Pls take note of this -- USP can be a sub-region of your Asia/Pacific regional activities.
Dear
Steve:
===========
I conveyed your regards to Richard. He then returned his to you.
When you come up
with a plan for testing spread spectrum wireless broadband
Internet units,
pls let me know. You may apply to the InfoDev of the World
Bank for your
units -- see <http://www.infodev.org/projects/prhome.htm>
for its
guidelines, and PART II of the final report of our Tampere event
at
<http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/Tampere_Conference/Final_Report/Tampere_Event/Final_Report.html>,
how our regional
groups came up with their drafts of their pilot project
proposals.
(3) Dear Richard and
Linda:
=======================
(a) Use of mirror of webs:
You may ask Steve how to make mirror Websites -- Steve uses free sites as a backup.
(b) Simultaneous use of web during videoconferencing with Polycom at a 128 Kbps channel:
Once you have the
mirrors of webs, your counterparts, say in Tonga, can
retrieve the web at the
same time as you do in Suva so that your
instructor can point out
necessary materials on the web.
Your media person
demonstrated how the color of magic marker could
be faithfully
transmitted to other side via satellite. (We did
this kind of test
between the University of Alaska in Fairbanks
and the National
Technological University in Fort Collins, CO in
the summer of
1993.) However, as far as you use an analog TV
monitor, it is
far inferior to the computer screen. Therefore,
try to use a
computer screen with the Web as much as possible.
Also, if you use
the Web, it can be incorporated with application
programs and
simulation models so that your students can play with
it with their
hand-on experiments -- this will transform KNOWLEDGE
into WISDOM,
since it is said that "Knowledge with action becomes Wisdom."
Eileen said a couple of times that you are now facing a
REVOLUTION of education!! I agree with her, and
strongly suggest you to use the Web and enrich its contents and
its interactiveness and asynchronous communication -- rather than
talking-heads type videoconferencing.
(c) Use of NetMeeting:
You may also use
NetMeeting at 64 Kbps, since it can be accompanied with
PowerPoint, whiteboard,
application programs and simulation models.
1.
Simultaneous use of NetMeeting during videoconferencing with
Polycom at a 128 Kbps channel:
You may
experiment with this use to supplement the videoconferencing
with Polycom at
128 Kbps channel.
2. NetMeeting at 128 Kbps or 3 x 64 Kbps channel:
You may
experiment with NetMeeting at multiple channels of 64 Kbps,
particularly when
the usage is low -- to compare with the VHS tape
I gave to Linda
which was the test between Montana State
University/Bozeman and the University of Hawaii via 45 Mbps.
If the usage is low, you may be able to get almost the same
effect as the Montana/Hawaii experiment with your 128 Kbps
channel.
I am very much interested in this experiment so please
send me a VHS tape of your results.
Anyway, I would
like to emphasize the use of web and NetMeeting as much
as possible so that you
will come to let your students exercise with
simulation models -- as you
may know I am a simulationist by profession,
and that is why I promote
the use of simulation models rather than a
talking-heads
approach.
(4) Dear Wayne:
===========
You told me that
your equipment received from the Japanese government
does not have much margin
for upgrading in the future.
However, once your
USP is hooked up to a 200 Gbps fiber optic loop
among Hawaii, Fiji,
Australia and New Zealand next year, you may use the
current 64 Kbps satellite
link and the line from your central hub to any
web site in the US (or
anywhere) the same as the terrestrial line of the
DirecPC, if the return
(downlink) of the web is sent at 0.5 Mbps
(up to 10 Mbps) via another
(or the same) satellite from an earth
station in Hawaii to be
received at your USP or at its 12 consortium islands.
Although this
scheme will add additional satellite hop for
uplinking for
your students, this time delay may not be much for
Web retrieving --
and this scheme will not need to waste the
current equipment
received from the Japanese government.
I may mention
this possibility to a fellow from the US Agency
for International
Development (USAID) during our mtg in
Washington, D.C.
on 12/20th.
(5) The above are some of my ideas
that came up during my return trip --
hope they may be of
some help to you.
(6) Dear Asifo, Jannette, John, and
Som:
====================================
I was very glad to
have met with you. I took the liberty of admitting
you into our listserve.
Keep in touch.
Best, Tak
****************************************
ATTACHMENT I
The University of the South Pacific (USP)
was established in 1968 and is a
regional university owned and operated by twelve Pacific Island
countries:
Cook Island,
Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon
Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and
Vanuatu. USP serves a population base of
over 1.8 million people. It has campuses in Fiji,
Samoa and Vanuatu, and
University Centers in all member countries. After a period of fairly
rapid
growth, enrollments
reached about 9,200 students or 5,300 Equivalent Full-time
Students Units (EFTSU) in
1997.
****************************************
ATTACHMENT II
The University of the South Pacific Bulletin
Vol 32, No. 31
17 September, 1999
USPNET UPGRADE
PROJECT ADVANCES
(A photo of the main earth station dish
antenna and a diagram for
videoconferencing
omitted by Tak Utsumi.)
Reaching out
to students ......, pictured (omitted), the antenna goes up as
the FJ$9 million (about US$4.5 Million --
noted by Tak Utsumi) USPNet project
advances from one stage to another. It's a project that when
completed will
see the USP
have its own VSAT telecommunications network. The USP will own
and operate this private network, purely
for USP activities.
USPNet Project Manager Mr Wayne Heads said
the USPNet satellite earth stations
were designed with different capabilities to meet the requirements of
the
University in an
efficient way. "The "Hub" is at the Laucala Campus with a
7.6 m antenna, pictured (omitted), with a
transmit power of 100 watts and is
the master station. The "Mini Hubs" at the Alafua Campus in Samoa and
the
Emalus Campus in
Vanuatu, with 6 and 4.6 antennas, will have reduced
transmission capacity of 50 watts, thus lesser video
broadcast transmission
capability. The "Remotes" at the University Centres will be 4.6 antennas
with
a transmit capacity of
20 watts to participate in audio and video conferencing
and receive video broadcast. Therefore, there will
be provision for
permanently
assigned 64 kbps two-way data circuits between the Hub earth
station and all Mini-Hub/Remote earth
stations for data, audio and telephony
services, as well as provision for a maximum of
three simultaneous 128 kbps
video transmissions for lectures from the Hub earth station and
single
lectures from
Mini-Hub earth stations, or a maximum of two simultaneous video
conferences between the Hub earth station
and Mini-Hub/Remote stations. The
video services will be scheduled and managed by the
Hub station," Mr Heads said.
Mr Heads explains that the 64 kbps data
channels will be connected to
multiplexers which dynamically adjust the bandwidth required for
audio,
telephone/fax and
computer data transmission. This means if a particular
circuit is used for an audio conference and
telephone calls are made at the
same time there will be lesser capacity left of the 64 kbps to download
large
amounts of data via
the computer which could be quite slow. When the circuits
are 'quieter' very much faster download
times will be possible between sites.
Mr Heads said the management of major
projects such as USPNet has included the
preparation of a Project Plan which allows the
Project Manager to lay out all
the activities or tasks that need to be carried out for the project, and
to
assemble them into
sequence which runs the project. He said Project Plans
often include full details of resources required,
when they are required, and
plans and tracks the hours of work of people involved. A key advantage
of the
plan is to identify
when particular activities, which must be done by a fixed
date, fall behind. "Depending on how much
time the manager allows for float,
such a 'critical path' can be identified in time to take corrective
action," said Mr Heads.
The project's funding has been made
possible through the governments of Japan,
New Zealand and Australia. Japan's funding has come
in way of general grant
aid
for Fiji and Samoa; in way of grassroots aid for the Marshall
Islands,
Solomon Islands,
Tonga and Tuvalu. Aid from New Zealand (NZODA) will provide
facilities in the Cook Islands, Nauru,
Niue and Tokelau while Australia
through AusAID will help facilitate Kiribati and
Vanuatu.
Mr Heads said final approvals have now been
completed with each donor country
for all the funds promised at the Project's conception. He said
the
university manages all
funds except for the General Grant Aid funds from
Japan, which are paid directly to the satellite
station contractor, Mitsubishi
Corporation. The aid funds provide the satellite earth stations in
each
country (with
associated electronic equipment), fully installed and
commissioned for operation with USP's satellite
provider INTELSAT. The
funding also provides multiplexers and audio systems for a number of
Centres,
and comprehensive
spare parts for the satellite earth stations.
In addition the University, through member
countries, will provide over
FJ$2million in funds to supply and install all the video, audio,
telephony and
data systems
required for connecting the campuses and the centres to the
satellite network. The USP member
countries also provide support directly in
each country such as duty free access for equipment
and other forms of
assistance to the project.
Mr Heads said for USP's distant students,
USPNet will provide the opportunity
to participate in audio tutorials, conducted from any campus,
communicate by
telephone,
fax or email with a lecturer or tutor or another student; watch a
live video transmission of a lecture from
any of the three campuses and take
part in video conference and tutoring with the Laucala Campus in
Suva.
University
Administration will also become more efficient with the
availability of telephone/fax and email
communications via USPNet to all USP
locations. Access to video conferencing will save time and travel in
many cases.
****************************************
ATTACHMENT III
From:
VAA_R@usp.ac.fj
Date: Fri,
03 Dec 1999 15:39:06 +1200
Subject: USPNet Action Plan from Roundtable meeting
29/11-1/12/99
To:
chandra_r@usp.ac.fj, manoa_p@usp.ac.fj,
hughes_r@vanuatu.usp.ac.fj,
jowitt_a@vanuatu.usp.ac.fj,
ajuyah_a@samoa.net, bartley_r@usp.ac.fj,
muralidhar_s@usp.ac.fj, muralidhar_k@usp.ac.fj,
williams_e@usp.ac.fj,
heads_w@usp.ac.fj,
thaman_k@usp.ac.fj, naidu_v@usp.ac.fj, pr@usp.ac.fj
Cc: kirkwood@usq.edu.au, s.naidu@meu.unimelb.edu.au,
j.dekkers@cqu.edu.au,
utsumi@columbia.edu,
wragg_n@usp.ac.fj, sharma_d@usp.ac.fj,
adams_a@usp.ac.fj, savu_a@usp.ac.fj, karan_m@usp.ac.fj,
tabualevu_m@usp.ac.fj, harm_p@usp.ac.fj, lesuma_a@usp.ac.fj,
fa_s@usp.ac.fj, vaa_@usp.ac.fj
Colleagues,
Herewith is the USPNet Action Plan (Word attachment)
that was
adopted during the
final session of the roundtable meeting on
Wednesday, 1st December. Many thanks for putting up
with the
fast pace of the
meeting and to those who attended, thanks for
making time. For those who could not attend all
sessions, I'm sorry
about
the short notice. By copy of this I am informing others who
were unable to attend the working
sessions. Please let me know if
you wish to have the hardcopy and I'll send it along.
This is also being copied to Janette, Som,
John, and Tak with
special
thanks for responding so well to our request for assistance.
And, a copy is also going to Aileen Savu
for her information and
records and any further action as deemed necessary.
I should like to extend thanks to the Media
Projection unit for their
very good work and support during the sessions and the UE
staff
(Marica, Padric and
Ala) for the great work on producing notes of
each session immediately after. Indeed, Marica
completed the final
changes
and passed me the Action Plan yesterday so that I am
now able to circulate to the working group before
the weekend.
Special thanks
also to Selai for her excellent support, organisation
and attention to all the things that made the
meeting run so smoothly.
Finally, I have not circulated to
"all-staff" as I thought the Chair of
the USPNet Education Group might prefer to do
that.
warm wishes for Christmas,
Ruby
****************************************
List of Distribution
Dr Howard N.
Van Trease
Director
USP
Extension
The University of
the South Pacific
PO Box
1168
Suva,
Fiji
Tel (679) 313900
(Office)
(679) 300724 (Home)
Fax (679) 300482
email: vantrease_h@usp.ac.fj
Richard Wah
Head of Distance Education
University of the South Pacific (USP)
Laucala Campus
Suva, Fiji
tel/fax:(679) 300482
wah_r@usp.ac.fj
http://www.usp.ac.fj/
Wayne Heads
Project Manager
USPNet Upgrade
The University of the South Pacific
Laucala Campus
Suva, Fiji
Tel: (679) 212004
Fax: (679) 314827
E-mail : wayne.heads@usp.ac.fj
Ruby Vaa
Organiser, USPNet Roundtable meeting
University of the South Pacific
(USP)
Laucala
Campus
Suva,
Fiji
vaa_r@usp.ac.fj
www.usp.ac.fj
Linda Austin, M.S.J.
Media Specialist
University of South Pacific
679-212-129
austin_l@usp.ac.fj
Mrs Selai Fa
University Extension
University of the South Pacific
Suva
Fiji
Ph: (679)212352
Fax:
(679)300482
fa_s@usp.ac.fj
Asifo 0. Ajuyah, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer
Animal Sciences
School of Agriculture
The Uiversity of The South Pacific
USP Alafua Campus
Private Mail Bag
Apia, Samoa
Phone: (685) 21-671
Fax: (685) 22-933
ajuyah_a@samoa.net
Jannette Kirkwood
DipT(DDIAE), GDipReading(BCAE), BEdSt(Qld),
MEdSt(SA)
Head, Unit Team
Services
Distance Education
Centre
The University of
Southern Queensland
Toowoomba Queensland 4350
Australia
Telephone:
+617 4631 2578
Facsimile:
+617 4631 2868
Email:
kirkwood@usq.edu.au
Professor John Dekkers
MSc (UNSW), PhD (ANU)
Professor of Open & Flexible Learning
Systems
Central Queensland
University
Rockhampton Qld
4702 Australia
Tel 07 4930
6403
Fax 07 4930
6740
j.dekkers@cqu.edu.au
Som Naidu
Associate Professor
Multimedia Education Unit
The University of Melbourne
Parkville Victoria 3052
Australia
Tel: +61 3 9344 7575
Fax: +61 3 9344 4341
s.naidu@meu.unimelb.edu.au
http://www.meu.unimelb.edu.au/
Kimberly K. Obbink
Director
Burns Telecommunications Center
128 EPS Building,
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717-3860
USA
Tel: +1-406-994 6550
Fax: +1-406-994 7856
kobbink@montana.edu
http://btc.montana.edu/
Steve McCarty
Professor
Kagawa Junior College
President, World Association for Online Education
(WAOE)
3717-33
Nii
Kokubunji, Kagawa
769-0101
JAPAN
+81-877-49-8041 (office, direct
line)
Fax:
+81-877-49-5252
steve@kagawa-jc.ac.jp
mccarty@pop06.odn.ne.jp -- his wife's.
http://www.waoe.org -- for WAOE
http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve_mc/WAOE-founding.html
English language home page and online
publications page:
http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve_mc/ -- for Japanese language home
page
http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve_mc/jpublist.html -- for online
publications
http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve_mc/presence.html
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Pantheon/7197mc/epublist.html
(an Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library
4-star site)
http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve_mc/asia-pacific/projects-ej.html
("Fundamental Projects of Dr. Takeshi
Utsumi")
http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve_mc/asia-pacific/index.html
(Global University System Asia-Pacific
Framework)
**********************************************************************
* Takeshi Utsumi, Ph.D., P.E., Chairman,
GLOSAS/USA
*
* (GLObal Systems Analysis
and Simulation Association in the U.S.A.) *
* Laureate of Lord Perry Award for Excellence in
Distance Education *
*
Founder of
CAADE
*
* (Consortium for
Affordable and Accessible Distance Education)
*
* President Emeritus and
V.P. for Technology and Coordination of *
* Global University System
(GUS)
*
* 43-23 Colden Street,
Flushing, NY 11355-3998,
U.S.A.
*
* Tel: 718-939-0928; Fax:
718-939-0656 (day time only--prefer email) *
* Email: utsumi@columbia.edu; Tax Exempt ID:
11-2999676
*
* http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/
*
**********************************************************************
Return to: Global
University System Late 1999 Correspondence
Web page
by Steve McCarty, World Association for Online Education President