Overview & Instructor Notes

Connectivity, infrastructure and networks have been grouped into a single module. The module provides an overview of various types of network configurations and a description of regional and national networks.

For the purpose of this workshop the following definitions may be useful:

• Connectivity refers to the data or Internet connection whether it is dial-up, dedicated lines, satellite, wireless or other means.
• Infrastructure and Networks refer to the computers, peripherals, cameras, hubs, routers, wiring within facilities and network architecture, whether a LAN, WAN or National Grid.

From a policy perspective it is important to distinguish connectivity from infrastructure and networks. Often different levels of government or institutions are responsible for one and not the other. Connectivity is often the responsibility of a national or regional telcommunications ("telco") provider and for that reason it may often take a high level government policy to insure that adequate connectivity is provided at a reasonable cost. The issue of connectivity is one of the critical issues to be addressed.

It is important to arrange for a representative from an organization responsible for providing Internet services - typically a telco - to present their vision for data and Internet services to the country generally and to the education sector specifically. Since long distance telephone rates are often a critical issue, it is important to have the telco address this issue as well.

Another reason for having the telco present to the participants is to open a dialogue between workshop participants - and the agencies or groups that they represent - and representatives of the telco. Past workshops have shown that often the government department responsible for telephone services or the private telephone company were proceeding to improve their Internet services and upgrade the basic network infrastructures but were doing so in isolation from the education sector. The result was that sometimes services were being upgraded to areas that were not the highest priority for the education sector and not upgraded in critical education centres. This is an important dialogue and should not be omitted from the workshop.

It would be useful to have the country coordinator assemble a list of infrastructure, network and connectivity costs in the host country. This data can be used in the Implementation and Financial Issues module and will provide a useful benchmark for discussion.