Third Thursday

Are you interested in how your fellow members are implementing technology solutions in their institutions? Do you want to learn more about topics such as Voice over IP, community fiber, video conferencing? Then plan to participate in our upcoming Third Thursday Networking Series.

Each session will focus on a hot technology topic where a member will talk briefly about their experience implementing the solution. Our plan is to keep this an informal, free-flowing conversation so we can all learn from each other. If you would like us to include a topic not already listed, send a note to Maddy Covelli and John Pederson at networkingseries@wiscnet.net.

Past session topics have included…

December 20, 2007 VMWare and Virtualization

Are you interested in VMware Virtual Infrastructure?  Our December WiscNet 3rd Thursday Networking series webconference was about its benefits and uses.  Bob Plankers from UW Madison went through the current state of virtualization using VMware, what it gains you, things to think about as you virtualize, and easy ways to get started.

Bob is the Intel virtualization systems architect at the UW - Madison Division of Information Technology. He’s been virtualizing data center systems for six years now, and is active both in local VMware user groups as well as in the worldwide virtualization community.

November 15, 2007 - How do you connect your remote buildings?

Our November 3rd Thursday Networking Series was a discussion titled, “How do you connect your remote buildings to your network?”   Tom Hafemann of Campbellsport School District,  Bill Herman of Monona Grove School District talked about how  they implemented these connections in their  districts.

Tom has experience using BadgerNet Converged Network (BCN) circuits to connect buildings together, and he also has experience with purchasing and installing fiber between his buildings.

Bill is currently in the midst of an RFP in which he is requesting solutions for connecting his buildings together.  He is shared how he came to the decision to submit an RFP, and what he is learning during this process.

October 18, 2007 - IP Video

October 18th was a discussion about the implementation of IP Video.  Craig Young of the Triton Video Network  and by Scott Bouffleur of UW College Marathon County presented their best practices.

Craig has recently implemented an IP Video network that connects the Triton School Districts together via BCN WAN circuits.  Craig is currently working with BayNet/Pennet to help them set up IP Video using their WAN.

Scott played a lead role in helping the UW Colleges move from their old video system to an IP Video system that runs on their BCN Internet circuits and across WiscNet.  Scott is the also the Chair of the UW Educational Media Technology Council (EMTC).

September 20, 2007 - Collaborative Tools

Collaboration tools in a web environment allow individuals working on a common task to achieve their goals and can be independent of location and time.  Some such tools include, web and video conferencing, wikis and blogs.  Wikipedia information about computer supported cooperative work (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_supported_cooperative_work) and gives more fine examples to even include virtual worlds.  Many of which are considered mainstream today.

Join us for our September WiscNet 3rd Thursday session, September 20th from 2-3pm featuring  Alan Wolf - Senior Instructional Technology Consultant at the  University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He will share his expertise on collaborative tools, what’s available and how they are being used.

Alan is a senior learning technology consultant in the Division of Information Technology and the Center for Biology Education at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He directs the Digital Media Center where he monitors emerging technologies and helps faculty implement instructional and research technologies in the classroom. He serves as a faculty liaison to UW-Madison’s institutional repository, serves on the program committee for the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning, and is a PI for the NSF National Science Digital Library program. He serves as a lead instructor in a course teaching graduate students on effective teaching with technology. Alan received his Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Michigan.

August 16, 2007 - Wireless Security

This month’s session will be a free form discussion on wireless security. Please bring with you what are you Big Three on securing your wireless network. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

In addition to this discussion, Jim Young from WiscNet will be be sharing with the group what he has learned about wireless security.

April 19, 2007 - Email Retention and Legal Issues

April’s Third Thursday was a discussion on Email Retention and legal issues led by Bob Bocher from DPI. Bob provided two links on the matter of Email Retention and Legal Issues: 1) Sarbanes-Oxley Applies to School Districts and Other Municipalities(http://www.lathropclark.com/contentpublications/PDF/2006-Nov.pdf). Lathrop and Clark Law firm, Madison. 2) State Dept. of Administration Website on Email Retention (http://enterprise.state.wi.us/home/email/retention.htm). See especially the linked White Paper.

Bob was also joined by Mark Evans from the Madison Metropolitan SD and Amy Moran from the Department of Administration who shared information about a best practices document they have been working on at DOA on email retention.

Information on our special guest: Bob is the Technology Consultant with the DPI’s State Library Division. Heworks primarily with public libraries but also with schools on programs like the E-rate. Bob is on the American Library Association’s Information Technology Policy Advisory Committee and chairs its subcommittee on telecommunications. He helped draft ALA’s position on Net Neutrality and CALEA. Bob has a special interest in privacy issues related to technology and recently co-authored a book titled, “Privacy in the 21st Century: Issues for Public, School, and Academic Libraries.”