“Project Connect: Inter-Island Distance Learning Network,” which establishes a point-to-point wireless broadband network that connects Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, is now in its final stages of completion, NMC said.
“The new connection places the college a step closer to being the educational technology leader in the region and improves our abilities to provide state-of-the-art learning technology to our students and the people of the CNMI,” NMC President Carmen Fernandez said.
“I’d especially like to commend our IT staff at all of NMC’s instructional sites for all the hard work and long hours they put into accelerating the completion of the project,” Fernandez added.
The project, launched earlier this year in partnership with IT&E and the CNMI Emergency Management Office, is funded by the Administration for Native Americans grant, and will result in improved distance learning opportunities in education, telemedicine, cultural preservation, and business development, she said.
Fernandez said a major feature of the new connection includes a more streamlined transmission of conferences, workshops, and various educational media throughout the CNMI through the college’s video teleconferencing capabilities.
NMC’s information technology department is leading all efforts and has been receiving assistance and consultation from the California-based Educational Consulting Foundation, or ECF.
A team from ECF was on-site last month to install and test run the final components of the new wireless connection, she said.
The ECF is a non-profit organization that assists educational institutions and organizations in maximizing the functionality and performance of its technological, human and financial resources.
