Deliver High Quality e-Learning Experiences
PWNet is recognized for its high broadcast standards and its state-of-the-art facilities at Hylton High School. When it sought to develop an e-learning program, it expected the same high standards. PWNet leaders looked for a partnership that would provide the best online learning and training experiences for students and educators in Prince William County, in Virginia, and around the nation.
Converging Strategies of PWNet
Prince William Network's strategy was to converge its already successful broadcasting programs with emerging Internet technologies. This included building a robust infrastructure to serve as the entryway into a variety of subject material for students and teachers, including history, math, geography, and technology. The solution required design, development, implementation, and hosting capabilities. Filnet stepped-in to deliver the right solution for the school district's needs.
The first priority was to create a portal to access the complete range PWNet programs. Because the site would evolve over time and add new programs and or modules, it had to be capable of scaling in size and complexity. Scott Prince, Filnet's CTO, developed a simple, yet dynamic, platform as the base of PWNet. This would enable the site to remain stable through generations of new program implementations that could over time become increasingly sophisticated. Open source solutions like Linux, PHP, Perl, and MySQL were chose as the core technologies for the platform. The site also includes a content management solution that allows programs developers and managers to save money by putting content on the website by themselves without the assistance of a webmaster. Since its launch in 1996, the original infrastructure of the portal has changed little, testifying to Filnet's expertise in meeting this demand
As PWNet offered new programs and modules, Filnet created online modules for the study program, accessible through the PWNet central portal. The modules can work in conjunction with satellite and cable programming or they can be stand-alone online learning programs. The modules that Filnet created included TechKNOWLEDGEy Academy, MathConnects, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Series, the Performing Arts Series, GeoConnects, WorldNet: Virginia, and Electronic Field Trips. Many of these programs have sub-programs that are continuously updated, by PWNet administrators, and changed according to the needs of the educational community.
Functional highlights that make PWNet's offering dynamic and of great value to students and staff include broadcast e-mail notification, discussion boards, mailing lists, chat rooms, and Filnet's own product Tango. Tango is a content management tool that allows PWNet staff to use templates to create new content for the site without the need to know HTML or have other technical skills.
Filnet customized elements of PWNet to meet the project's specific needs. These included, among other things, instructional tools, such as a grading and notification system for PWNet instructors and facilitators. Additionally, Filnet developed the unique appearance of each PWNet program, delivering a unique branded identity to the user while maintaining the architectural integrity to preserve the user experience. Another key priority for each program solution was accessibility. Filnet tested each site thoroughly for cross-platform and multi-browser compatibility before the launch to ensure that all users had the same experience.
Solution 1
WorldNet: Virginia
WorldNet: Virginia, a joint project between the Virginia Department of Education and Prince William County Public Schools, consisted of ten-day study seminars held in selected countries for groups of teachers and administrators. Teachers benefit from lectures on the culture, history, politics, religion, and geography of the nations they visit and pass this knowledge on to students and other teachers via PWNet. Past experiences have included Peru, Egypt, Russia, Turkey, and Israel.
Teachers share their travel and learning experiences with other educators and students in Virginia via the Internet. Filnet created a custom application for content management to enable traveling teachers to upload daily logs illustrated with photo and video images about their adventures and directly to the web site in real-time. The site also includes a discussion boards and chat rooms to share information between the traveling teachers and their counterparts back home in Virginia. Other sources on the web site include Standards of Learning (SOL) correlations, background information, and links to additional related sites. The majority of the content is created as it happens, from whatever town or city the travelers find themselves and then is archived online for teachers and students to access when they research a country or a city.
Solution 2
TechKNOWLEDGEy Academy
TechKNOWLEDGEy Academy is a distance-learning series designed to help teachers integrate technology, curricular objectives, and Virginia SOLs. It's offered free to teachers across the Commonwealth of Virginia. The program is a joint venture of Prince William Schools and the Virginia Department of Education.
This program consists of two components. First, the Academy broadcasts a total of 15 hours of instruction by satellite through Virginia Satellite Education Network (VSEN). The second component is the web site. The Filnet-designed and built Academy web site features online registration, communications, assignments, discussion boards, and e-mail notification capabilities. Local school divisions formed groups to assist teachers at the local level to adapt and extend techniques and examples presented in the lessons. Teachers are encouraged to submit lesson plans and ideas that are then reviewed and posted for access on the web site by all teachers.
Filnet also created a 10-disc interactive CD-ROM program containing the original broadcasted programs and courseware for TechKNOWLEDGEy Academy One. The CD-ROM program replaced the broadcast program for PWNet. Filnet is also in the process of creating a TechKNOWLEDGEy Academy Two web site, offering advanced technology programs for teachers.
Solution 3
MathConnects
MathConnects is a production of Virginia Department of Education and the Virginia Satellite Education Network in cooperation with PWNet. This self-paced course for middle and high school teachers provides valuable help in implementing the VA Technology Standards of Learning. The program now is totally offline and includes a kit that contains fourteen 90-minute videotapes and a CD-ROM (developed by Filnet) with course information (assignments, worksheets, etc.) that used to be housed on the web site. Originally, the videos were broadcasted weekly via satellite and the courseware was provided through the web site.
Solution 4
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Series
A production of Prince William Network and the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, these "Electronic Field Trips" enables teachers (K-12) to bring content-rich material about the natural world into their classroom. The web site acts a resource center for teachers, providing interesting, exciting, and informative material about a particular issue or subject. The teaching experience culminates in a broadcast event that can be obtained via satellite.
Programs include:
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Wild Things '97: Let's Partner-up for Endangered Species |
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Wild Things '98: Shorebirds Running on Empty |
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Wild Things '99: Watersheds: Rivers Run Through Them |
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Wild Things 2000: Wading Into Wetlands |
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"Winging Northward: A Shorebird's Journey" is the latest program. The web site provides a rich variety of material that teachers can use to enrich the classroom experience, including downloadable PDF documents with information about shorebirds and their habitats, links to related web sites, and fun projects for the classroom. The program culminated in a special production available via satellite in March 2002. |
Solution 5
GeoConnects
The purpose of Geography Connects course is to help teachers incorporate more geography into the World History curriculum. GeoConnects is a free offering that began on March 5, 2002 to support the Virginia Standards of Learning (VSOL) for teaching World History to 1500 AD. The program is a partnership between Prince William County Public Schools, Virginia Department of Education, and Old Dominion University.
Filnet developed sophisticated applications to manage the online program including registration, e-mail notification, discussion boards, and a grading system. The administration area is user-friendly and menu-driven, which required very little training before program instructor could start using it. Upgrades in features and the interface are planned for the future.
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The Prince William Network and Filnet partnership enhanced PWNet's already outstanding and award-winning broadcasts by incorporating emerging multimedia and Internet technologies into its program. This resulted in increased popularity of the programs; increased communications between instructors, facilitators, teachers, and students; added additional learning material to the program; and raised the overall value of the programs. The stand-alone programs like WorldNet: Virginia gave PWNet additional reach, allowing for the learning process to be carried to the far corners of the world and delivered into schools and homes across Virginia and United States. Along the way, Filnet provided applications that improved the experience for PWNet staff members by delivering rich educational content to teachers and students.
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