The Piedmont Education Network, designed and managed by Piedmont Technical College, was organized to advance learning opportunities for students in the college's seven-county service region. The network is owned and maintained by the Piedmont Technical College Foundation. Through funding for equipment from the Department of Commerce (Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program and Economic Development Administration), South Carolina Department of Education (Two-Way Video Project), and numerous private foundation grants, this planned network  completed its initial planned phases in 2004. 

During the fall of 1997, fourteen fully-interactive video classrooms were ready for use on the network. By the fall of 2000, the network's original design of twenty-four classrooms was completed. Each room had the capacity to link with any three other rooms for full-presence video, audio, and data interactivity.  The PEN originally linked the region's public high schools and public supported higher education institutions but budget constraints in the 2003 to 2005 years caused many of the school districts and the area university to withdraw support for the PEN consortium. By the fall of 2005, only the seven Piedmont Technical College sites and the three Newberry County School District high school sites remained in the original consortium. Growth in numbers of rooms, class sections and student access for the college continues each year.

Additional capacity was added to the PEN in the fall of 2006 by adding additional class sections to the smallest county centers at Abbeville, Edgefield, McCormick, and Saluda increasing the overall PEN capacity to over 120 class sections. Seven simultaneous PEN circuits are currently active. In the fall 2007 term, over 1,700 (unduplicated headcount) students were taking 122 class sections via the PEN technology. Term schedules are located on the Web for all to access as they are developed. See About our courses. To view each term offering, click on the link for the term PEN schedule. To see the classrooms at each center click on PEN Room sites.

PEN is State-of-the-Art Technology...

The PEN consists of the latest fiber-optic technology. The original technology used two divergent technologies: 1) Newbridge ATM video and data switches with MPEG2 data compression to conserve bandwidth provided on the telephone company fiber where leased, and 2) unswitched broadband fiber optic transmitters where full fiber was available (approximately 80 percent of the network). Since the fall of 2007, all sites except one circuit use IP V-Brick MPEG1 or MPEG4 appliances for the highest resolution and full presence between all connected sites at all times. All broadband IP V-Brick sites operate 24/7 and are always available for instruction. PEN 4 circuit uses Polycom compressed video.

Sites added after fall of 2006 employ V-Brick MPEG4 technology appliances, approximately 60 percent of the network. Plans are in the works to upgrade to V-Brick MPEG4 at all sites, as funds allow. By using the V-Brick Stream Player, all sites can be viewed on Microsoft Windows Media Player from selected campus office computers. The MPEG4 appliance allows simultaneous streaming of low bandwidth audio and video over the Internet while also providing the high quality 2.5 Mbps simulcast video over the college's VPN circuits on the Gigabit college fiber network backbone. Cisco core switches provide segmentation and management.

The college has installed 32" and 37" LCD Olevia and Visio monitors in the Greenwood teaching sites during the spring of 2007 and will have all replaced at the county center sites by the end of spring term 2008. The LCD monitors at the six county centers are all 37" and are almost all Visio brand. The college now uses seven circuits, three circuits (1, 2 and 3) connect four sites with teaching stations and full presence at all sites; one circuit (6) connects five sites for full presence at all sites but only has a teaching station in Greenwood. One circuit (4) uses Polycom compressed video to provide switched video for all sites and full video and audio at the teaching station for viewing all sites. One circuit (5) provides V-Brick audio and video to all seven sites with the single teaching station provided a full view all all remote sites and switched views for the remotes. The PEN seven circuit (7) connects three sites with teaching stations at all three sites and offers students full presence for all sites.

One circuit (1) has computers at each student desk at all sites and provides student computer monitoring and control via NetSupport Manager software. One circuit (6) provides student laptop computers at student desks at all sites. These circuits are used for teaching accounting, business, office skills and computer program courses to the six county center sites.

There's more than just good audio and video...

In addition to the broadcast quality video and audio, there is a minimum of 100 MB data capacity at each site for sharing computer resources between the regions educational institutions.  The network also provides high-speed Internet access. The majority of the network carries Gigabit Ethernet capacity for IP video and data.