AARNET CONNECTS STUDENTS WITH MINISTERS AND CELEBRITIES
Students to question Hon. Kate Ellis, Minister for Sport and Youth and William Zillman, Canberra Raiders first grade rugby player
Canberra, AUSTRALIA
– 27 May 2008 – Australia's Academic and Research Network (AARNet) announced today that it will be providing a live, two-way videoconference link up between the National Museum of Australia in Canberra and the Museum of Victoria for high school students where they will interview Hon. Kate Ellis MP, Minister for Sport and Youth, and William Zillman, a first grade rugby league player from Canberra Raiders.This link up is known as the Talkback Classroom, a regular forum held at the National Museum of Australia which provides an opportunity for students to investigate the 'big issues' affecting all Australians. To be held on May 28, participants will get to speak to the Minister and Zillman on "Issues in Sport".
Chris Hancock, CEO, AARNet, said, "AARNet builds and operates Australia’s most advanced research and education network. With AARNet’s high-speed, high-capacity network, we are enabling students to participate in conversations with decision-makers and thought leaders without the geographical constraints."
The Talkback Classroom will operate on AARNet’s National Video Conferencing Service (NVCS) for standard and high definition video conferencing. It offers a central repository service for the proactive and reactive troubleshooting of video conferencing equipment including an online booking service for its members.
AARNet's NVCS is a Video over IP Service which provides AARNet members with access to up to two Codian Multi Conferencing Units (MCU) for audio and video conference calls. The MCU supports up to 60 available ports (video conferencing endpoints). Other features include:
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Live streaming video for participants who wish to view the conference from a web browser • Real time transcoding and rate matching of video conferences from standard to high definition • ISDN Video conferencing multipoint bridging for mixed ISDN/IP environments • Content inclusion using H239 standards for PowerPoint or VNC screen sharing sessions • Recording and archival of video conferences allowing playback of content at a later dateAARNet’s conferencing service enables end users converse through a phone or video endpoint and it can support up to 60 locations on its network. The NVCS supports web streaming for participants who may want to view a conference through a web browser. These streams can be recorded and transcoded into different bit rates/formats for viewing at a later date. The NVCS also supports new systems such as IP VCRs for the direct recording of video conferences.
The National Museum of Australia’s Talkback Classroom will be held in the Museum’s Studio at 10am on Wednesday, May 28.
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About AARNet
AARNet Pty Ltd (APL) is the company that operates Australia's Academic and Research Network (AARNet). It is a not-for-profit company limited by shares. The shareholders are 37 Australian universities and the CSIRO. AARNet provides high-capacity leading edge Internet services for the tertiary education and research sector communities and their research partners. AARNet serves more than one million end users who access the network through local area networks at member institutions. For further information, please visit:
www.aarnet.edu.au.Media contact:
Laura Skelley / Tara Schwarze
Max Australia
+61 2 9954 3492
laura.skelley@maxaustralia.com.au / tara.schwarze@maxaustralia.com.au
