From a Distance...

 
Online Newsletter for Arkansas Distance Learning

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Vendor Spotlight:  AT&T
By Max Kolstad

Because it is vital to every facet of compressed video distance learning in Arkansas, we chose AT&T for this issue’s Vendor Spotlight.

Commitment
AT&T has made a commitment to the education sector and, instead of being just a vendor, has become a participant in the mission of education.  AT&T has provided $4.5 million in support to diverse college scholarship programs since 2000 including the United Negro College Fund, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund, and the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering.  The AT&T Foundation announced AT&T Aspire on April 17, 2008. AT&T Aspire is a $100 million initiative to address high school success and workforce readiness.

AT&T participates in professional educational technology organizations such as ACUTA, ISTE, CoSN, and Educause.  AT&T has been a consistent sponsor of educational technology symposiums throughout the United States including NECC as the 2007 title sponsor, the CoSN annual conference, TCEA, CETPA, South Carolina Ed Tech, and other various Department of Education state-sponsored symposiums.                                

AT&T Pioneers, employees and retirees who volunteer time to enhance the communities in which they work and live, are active in schools on a daily basis providing tutoring, fundraising support and other assistance.  Their main focus is to provide immediate help when it is needed and education and community programs that improve quality of life. 

Credibility
AT&T has been recognized by Frost and Sullivan as a leader in the Education vertical.  In 2006 and 2007, Frost and Sullivan awarded the Vertical Marketing Penetration Leadership for Education Vertical Telecom Services Market award to AT&T. 

K-12
AT&T is one of the largest telecommunications service suppliers to the K-12 education market:  31 of the 50 schools with the largest enrollment in the U.S. are AT&T customers.  In the 22 states where AT&T is a Local Exchange Carrier, out of a total 6,800 school districts, over 3,900 school districts, or 57%, are AT&T customers. 

AT&T has developed a team of account managers who understand the needs of K-12 educators.  This team works toward providing solutions for K-12 business problems.  Additionally, AT&T has a team of Education Advocates and E-rate Subject Matter Experts who have held K-12 teaching and administrative positions at local school districts or state education agencies.  This group assists AT&T K-12 customers in the use of educational technology and the federal E-rate program.  AT&T’s familiarity with E-Rate program processes and rules, as a result of its participation in the program since its inception, also enables success in the education vertical.  

Higher Education
AT&T has a long and extensive commitment to Higher Education.  In 2008, AT&T awarded $25,000 grants to support the research projects of three academic research teams through AT&T’s  Industrial Ecology Faculty Fellowship program. AT&T lab researchers, university professors, and interns discuss current joint research projects, share progress and make plans for future endeavors via the annual AT&T Labs University Collaborations Symposium.

The University of Houston’s planned deployment of cutting-edge U-verse TV and high speed internet services is the first for university housing in the United States.  With AT&T’s help, school officials chose Internet Protocol-based television (IPTV) as the next-generation video service best suited for the university's next-generation living space.

AT&T served as a strategic partner by supporting program development and assisting Abilene Christian University (ACU) navigate problems when ACU launched a mobile learning initiative using iPhones and iPod Touches for the freshman class.  ACU developed useful web applications such as the ability to receive homework alerts, answer in-class surveys and quizzes, get directions to their professors' offices, and check their meal and account balances.

About the Author

Max Kolstad is a Lead Channel Manager with AT&T specializing in E-Rate. He holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Arkansas and was the recipient of the Hugh T. Henry Award for 1998. 

Max serves on the ARDLA board as Past President.

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