Tuchola County Broadband Network (TCBN)

Abstract In the paper the designing project (plan) of Tuchola City broadband IP optical network has been presented. The extended version of network plan constitute technical part of network Feasibility Study, that it is expected to be implemented in Tuchola and be financed from European Regional Development Funds. The network plan presented in the paper contains both topological structure of fiber optic network as well as the active equipment for the network. In the project described in the paper it has been suggested to use Modular Cable System - MCS for passive infrastructure and Metro Ethernet technology for active equipment. The presented solution provides low cost of construction (CAPEX), ease of implementation of the network and low operating cost (OPEX). Moreover the parameters of installed Metro Ethernet switches in the network guarantee the scalability of the network for at least 10 years.</jats:p

Three years of an intensive programme: experiences, observations and learning points

This paper summarizes valuable experiences and learning points from three years of the Erasmus funded Intensive Programme on “Implementing Europe’s Future Broadband Infrastructure”. The programme consisted of a course held each year 2012-2014 during two weeks of July, where 30-35 students and 10-12 teachers from the 4 participating universities would meet in the location of one of the partner institutions. During the three years, the programme was each year adjusted according to the observations and evaluations from the previous year. The course was organized as a week of course modules, followed by a week of project work. The topics of the first week were defined to support the project work in the following week. The projects were based on real-life problems proposed by companies, and had to be solved in student groups with a mix of nationalities and educational backgrounds. Among the key learning points, we can highlight the importance of clearly communicating learning goals as well as motivations for the students to work problem-based and across traditional disciplines. Also, having short time to get a group from four different universities work together it is important to actively encourage (or enforce) the students to mix and work together throughout the course activities. Finally, we found that the model of combining course modules and projects worked well, especially if active learning approaches were used in the course modules.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Three years of an intensive programme: experiences, observations and learning points

This paper summarizes valuable experiences and learning points from three years of the Erasmus funded Intensive Programme on “Implementing Europe’s Future Broadband Infrastructure”. The programme consisted of a course held each year 2012-2014 during two weeks of July, where 30-35 students and 10-12 teachers from the 4 participating universities would meet in the location of one of the partner institutions. During the three years, the programme was each year adjusted according to the observations and evaluations from the previous year. The course was organized as a week of course modules, followed by a week of project work. The topics of the first week were defined to support the project work in the following week. The projects were based on real-life problems proposed by companies, and had to be solved in student groups with a mix of nationalities and educational backgrounds. Among the key learning points, we can highlight the importance of clearly communicating learning goals as well as motivations for the students to work problem-based and across traditional disciplines. Also, having short time to get a group from four different universities work together it is important to actively encourage (or enforce) the students to mix and work together throughout the course activities. Finally, we found that the model of combining course modules and projects worked well, especially if active learning approaches were used in the course modules.Peer Reviewe

Motivations and outcomes: a study of an intensive international course

In this paper, we study what motivates students and university teachers to do intensive international courses, and how they evaluate the outcomes. The study is based on three years of an Erasmus funded Intensive Programme on ‘‘Implementing Europe’s Future Broadband Infrastructure’’. It consisted of a course held each year 2012–2014 during two weeks of July, where 30–35 students and 10–12 teachers from the 4 participating universities would meet in one of the partner institutions. The course was organized with a week of course modules, followed by a week of project work based on real-life problems from companies, where students would work in groups mixed across nationalities and educational backgrounds. The topics of the first week, were defined to support the project work in the following week. Each year, by the end of the course, all students and teachers filled out evaluation forms addressing motivation for participation and their assessed outcomes (teacher’s motivations were only evaluated in the last year). This paper presents these results, together with the key learning points obtained during the three years. We observe that the motivation for participating is quite balanced and include both academic and cultural factors. The students’ travelling activities also emphasizes the ‘‘European experience’’, which is less for students in the host institution. Students following programmes not taught in English, also have an opportunity to practice a foreign language. The teachers are highly motivated by both personal and academic factors, especially by the desire to develop and experiment with new teaching methods. The analysis of the outcomes suggest that an international project with students and teachers from different cultures and learning traditions brings significant added value.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Three years of an intensive programme: experiences, observations and learning points

This paper summarizes valuable experiences and learning points from three years of the Erasmus funded Intensive Programme on “Implementing Europe’s Future Broadband Infrastructure”. The programme consisted of a course held each year 2012-2014 during two weeks of July, where 30-35 students and 10-12 teachers from the 4 participating universities would meet in the location of one of the partner institutions. During the three years, the programme was each year adjusted according to the observations and evaluations from the previous year. The course was organized as a week of course modules, followed by a week of project work. The topics of the first week were defined to support the project work in the following week. The projects were based on real-life problems proposed by companies, and had to be solved in student groups with a mix of nationalities and educational backgrounds. Among the key learning points, we can highlight the importance of clearly communicating learning goals as well as motivations for the students to work problem-based and across traditional disciplines. Also, having short time to get a group from four different universities work together it is important to actively encourage (or enforce) the students to mix and work together throughout the course activities. Finally, we found that the model of combining course modules and projects worked well, especially if active learning approaches were used in the course modules.Peer Reviewe

Motivations and outcomes: a study of an intensive international course

In this paper, we study what motivates students and university teachers to do intensive international courses, and how they evaluate the outcomes. The study is based on three years of an Erasmus funded Intensive Programme on ‘‘Implementing Europe’s Future Broadband Infrastructure’’. It consisted of a course held each year 2012–2014 during two weeks of July, where 30–35 students and 10–12 teachers from the 4 participating universities would meet in one of the partner institutions. The course was organized with a week of course modules, followed by a week of project work based on real-life problems from companies, where students would work in groups mixed across nationalities and educational backgrounds. The topics of the first week, were defined to support the project work in the following week. Each year, by the end of the course, all students and teachers filled out evaluation forms addressing motivation for participation and their assessed outcomes (teacher’s motivations were only evaluated in the last year). This paper presents these results, together with the key learning points obtained during the three years. We observe that the motivation for participating is quite balanced and include both academic and cultural factors. The students’ travelling activities also emphasizes the ‘‘European experience’’, which is less for students in the host institution. Students following programmes not taught in English, also have an opportunity to practice a foreign language. The teachers are highly motivated by both personal and academic factors, especially by the desire to develop and experiment with new teaching methods. The analysis of the outcomes suggest that an international project with students and teachers from different cultures and learning traditions brings significant added value.Peer Reviewe