NETC Program

Pre-Conference Session

Beyond the Web: Education in the Second Life Multi-user Virtual Environment

Second Life is an online multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) that was created in 2003. Interest in Second Life as an educational environment continues to explode as educational institutions scramble to create a presence in this virtual environment. eXtension, in late 2006 acquired some "virtual land" with a group of like-minded educational institutions in a space called EduIsland, Morrill Island on the main-grid, and Bailey Island on the teen-only grid to explore educational opportunities with youth learners.

This hands-on and in-depth professional training session will introduce participants to the Second Life experience through some fun activities like virtual shopping, dancing, and sporting activities in addition to a tour showing educational tools being used. Skills learned will include creating your own avatar, changing your appearance, gestures, walking, flying, navigation, basic building, and scripting skills. Participants will be exposed to both the adult and youth eXtension educational space, and learn how they can get involved.

There is no additional cost for this pre-conference session, however, space it limited so pre-registration is required.

Breakout Sessions

NETC08 offers a wide range of breakout sessions on a number of interesting topics. In an effort to make the conference more interactive, all of the NETC sessions have been listed on the eXtension Collaborate Wiki at NETC08 Wiki. Please feel free to use the wiki discussion pages engage the presenters prior to the conference with your comments, questions, or ideas for any session that interests you. Your input will help the presenter to better meet your needs.

You'll need an eXtension ID in order to edit the Collaborate wiki. It's a simple process to obtain one! Just go to http://people.extension.org and you'll be taken to the registration page.

A complete listing of all breakout sessions on one page can be found at: Breakout Sessions List

Conference Speakers

NETC08 has a great lineup of featured speakers to challenge us to think creatively and to apply our work to new and exciting uses. Check out the Speakers Page for more information on our speakers.

Immersive Excursions (Tours)

Immersive Excursions have been arranged to help conference attendees see the application of technology in real-world situations. The Raleigh/Cary/RTP area is rich with technology based companies and projects which should be really exciting. The following is a list of available excursions:

WRAL Television Technology Tour

WRAL has always been on the cutting edge of television's future. From the nation's first high-definition television station to groundbreaking HD coverage of news, entertainment and sporting events, WRAL Digital continues to make history. WRAL-TV obtained the first experimental HDTV (high-definition television) license in June of 1996 and became the first commercial television station in the nation to broadcast the HDTV signal a little over one month later.

Visit WRAL to find out what they are doing today and what television technologies might hold for the future.

This tour will also include a visit to the beautiful WRAL Azalea Gardens.

NC State Veterinary Teaching Hospital

The NCSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) established in 1983, provides state-of-the-art veterinary medical services for veterinarians and the people of North Carolina and surrounding regions. Each year nearly 17,000 patients are examined in the Teaching Hospital.

Tour this impressive facility to see what technologies are being used in the treatment of animals. Special attention will be given to an application used to treat cancer in animals.

This tour will also include a driving tour of NC State University's campus.

NC State Aquaculture Fish Barn

The North Carolina Fish Barn project at NC State University has been active in the evaluation and development of recirculating technology for the intensive production of fish since 1989. Referred to as The NC State Fish Barn, the facility is designed to produce approximately 45 metric tonnes (mt) of tilapia fish annually based on 1 gram (g) fingerlings growing to market size of 600 g in approximately 210 days.

Join us for this really interesting tour. This tour will also include a driving tour of NC State University's campus.

Lulu.com

Lulu is a marketplace for creators of content, so what you see is actually the product of a community that has grown up around Lulu's electronic publishing technology. Lulu gives the creators and owners of digital content complete control over how they use their work. Individuals, companies and groups can use Lulu to publish and sell a variety of digital content including books, music, video, software, calendars, photos and artwork.

Learn more about Lulu on this exciting tour. You'll get to meet with engineering, marketing and distribution staff to see how this truly unique business runs. Who knows - you might be their next author.

UL Laboratories

Located within the largest research park in the United States, UL's Research Triangle Park division encompasses 230,000 square feet of testing and office space on a beautiful 52-acre campus in the heart of North Carolina. More than 400 safety professionals at UL RTP serve customers throughout the Southeastern United States (ranging from Maryland to Texas) and the world.

The UL RTP facility offers evaluation services for more than 17,000 product categories, including such areas as alarm systems; casualty and chemical hazards; electrical products; electromagnetic compatibility (EMC); fire protection devices; food safety services; network equipment-building systems (NEBS); heating, air conditioning and refrigeration equipment; lasers; marine products; medical devices; personal protective equipment; and plastic pipe and fittings.

This tour will also include a driving tour of Research Triangle Park.

Red Hat and NC State Centennial Campus

Red Hat, the world's leading open source and Linux provider, is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with satellite offices worldwide. Red Hat is leading Linux and open source solutions into the mainstream by making high-quality, low-cost technology accessible. Red Hat provides operating system platforms along with middleware, applications, and management solutions, as well as support, training, and consulting services to customers worldwide and through top-tier partnerships. Visit Red Hat's headquarters to find out more about what they have to offer.

Red Hat's headquarters is located on NC State's Centennial Campus. Located on a 1,334-acre site adjacent to NC State's main campus, Centennial Campus houses more than 130 companies, government agencies, and NC State research and academic units advancing technologies ranging from semiconductors to genomics tools. More than 1,600 corporate and government employees work alongside a thousand-plus faculty, staff, post-docs, and students. Major partners include ABB, Red Hat, the Iams Company, Ericsson IPI, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, GlaxoSmithKline, MeadWestVaco and Talecris Biotherapeutics. This excursion will include a driving tour on Centennial Campus.

SAS Institute

SAS, the world's largest privately held software company with 10,000-plus employees spread across the world. SAS is the leader in business intelligence and analytical software and services. Customers at 43,000 sites use SAS software to improve performance through insight from data, resulting in faster, more accurate business decisions; more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers; compliance with governmental regulations; research breakthroughs; and better products and processes.

This excursion will take you on a tour of the beautiful SAS campus to a meeting where you can find out about the new products which SAS has to offer. Those on this tour will have a chance to ask questions on any topic related to SAS and it's products.

ibiblio and the Internet Archive

Home to one of the largest "collections of collections" on the Internet, ibiblio.org is a conservancy of freely available information, including software, music, literature, art, history, science, politics, and cultural studies. ibiblio.org is a collaboration of the School of Information and Library Science and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill.

It's Not Your Average Library. The evolving Internet has created new opportunities to share knowledge. Imagine being able to walk into your local library and view, on demand, and without charge, not only every imaginable written text, but also music and poetry archives, African American authors, American history, sports statistics, philosophy of religion, Italian literature, large text database projects, software archives, and more.

Then imagine, in addition to being able to view the collection, you have the opportunity to critique it, expand it, or to create and manage a new collection in your own area of interest. While such a feat is physically and fiscally beyond the scope of even the largest and most extraordinary physical library, ibiblio.org achieves just such breadth and depth on the Internet.

Cisco

Cisco hardware, software, and service offerings are used to create the Internet solutions that make networks possible-providing easy access to information anywhere, at any time. Today, with more than 63,050 employees worldwide, Cisco's tradition of innovation continues with industry-leading products and solutions in the company's core development areas of routing and switching, as well as in many other advanced technologies.

This tour will visit Cisco's facilities in the Research Triangle Park (RTP) and will include a driving tour of RTP.