On November 23, 1995, the ABC News overnight program World News Now, where I was a broadcast producer, was the first to stream television live over the internet. The proof-of-concept project used a donated, dedicated T-1 line and a beta-testing video-conference software developed by Cornell University. The idea for the experiment occurred to me nearly a year earlier, when I saw that our CBS competition was airing the first television reviews I had ever seen of World Wide Web sites. Watching that segment on CBS, an idea came to me with a single, simple thought: The new medium that was emerging before our eyes was already bigger than television; so, instead of putting the internet on television, we should put television on the internet. To accomplish this, we partnered with the Global Schoolhouse (now GlobalSchoolNet.org), where Yvonne Andres was using the internet to connect youngsters in classrooms around the world, as part of an educational outreach program. She had access to the latest innovations in video conferencing software, and she was excited about the idea of showing what it could do. Most of us were still using telephone modems to connect to the internet at a tiny fraction of the speed we consider standard today, but they didn’t provide the reliability or the bandwidth needed to stream audio and video around the world. White Pine Software, which was preparing a commercial version of Cornell’s video conferencing program, offered to provide a T1 line (the “gold standard” of connectivity at the time) to help us prove the potential of internet broadcasting. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Global SchoolNet is all about collaborative learning! Global SchoolNet's mission is to support 21st century, brain-friendly learning, and improve academic performance through content-driven collaboration. We engage educators and youth in brain-friendly e-learning projects worldwide to develop science, math, literacy and communication skills, foster teamwork, civic responsibility, collaboration, encourage workforce preparedness and create multi-cultural understanding. We prepare youth for full participation as productive and compassionate citizens in an increasing global economy. Founded in 1984, GSN is a 501(c)3 non-profit education organization. Let's work together to give youth the skills they need. Get Involved Now! www.globalschoolnet.org/gsnmembers/contribute.cfm

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