Telecommunity
Note: This is not an active program. The resources produced by the program are maintained to share with school districts in Ohio facing challenges in support and management of educational technology.
eTech Ohio Telecommunity is a unique public-private partnership funded by Ohio's large local exchange telephone companies. The program has historically provided grants to help schools implement interactive video distance learning and Internet technologies that link students with other schools, institutions of higher education, fine arts institutions, libraries, zoos and other educational service providers.
eTech Ohio's Telecommunity vision: To create a statewide system so that all Ohio students, regardless of school, geographic location and socioeconomic background, have access to high-quality, concept-driven learning experiences. This statewide system is intended to support and extend the overall state's vision of systemic reform in education.
Through the first five years of the program, eTech Ohio Telecommunity has provided more than $26 million to over 385 Ohio school districts in support of its statewide video connectivity mission. Forty Implementation Grant projects have been launched, enabling over 500 K-12 schools and 75 content and professional development partner entities to acquire video distance learning equipment. In addition, 150 grants of up to $8,000 each have been awarded to non-public schools and community schools for the implementation of Internet projects. Grant opportunities are usually offered twice each year. eTech Ohio Telecommunity is expected to distribute more than $32 million to Ohio schools, content providers and other educational entities over the life of the program.
Telecommunity Resources
This section of the Telecommunity website provides resources for participants in the Telecommunity project. Many of these resources are provided as documents for you to download and reference.
OSN Telecommunity Grantee Handbook (November 2001 edition)
Distance Learning & Videoconferencing Links
DAS Videoconference Scheduling and Usage Fees Information
Technology Plan Development Assistance - Telecommunity
Ohio SchoolNet Criteria for Evaluating School/District Technology Plans
Forms and Reports
Final Expenditure Report (FER) Form
Telecommunity Internet Grant Final Activity Report
Telecommunity Professional Development Grant Final Report
Evaluation Toolkit
The Distance Learning evaluation toolkit project is designed to provide Telecommunity Consortia with a set of data collection and evaluation tools that will help gather information that would assist in communicating with key consortia stakeholders about program accomplishments, promote the use of common evaluation methodologies across Telecommunity consortia, help clarify the goals and outcomes of interactive video use and provide data necessary for completing the online profile. We continue to work with individual consortia to provide tools designed to capture the unique approaches and accomplishments of each Telecommunity project, while at the same time advocating common approaches and metrics where appropriate.
Access the Participant's Evaluation Toolkit
Evaluation
Every year, eTech Ohio Telecommunity contracts with an independent evaluator to assess the program. Below are the reports provided from the evaluators for each year of Telecommunity:
OSN Telecommunity Year 1 Evaluation
OSN Telecommunity Year 2 Evaluation
OSN Telecommunity Year 3 Evaluation
OSN Telecommunity Year 4 Evaluation
OSN Telecommunity Year 5 Evaluation
OSN Telecommunity Year 6 Evaluation
OSN Telecommunity Year 7 Evaluation