In order to effectively streamline technology to and between Utah’s public education and higher education systems, the Utah Legislature established the Utah Education Network (UEN) in 1993. UEN has since grown and now connects nearly 1,400 educational and community sites, serving more than 800,000 students from kindergarten through graduate school. UEN and the Utah Telehealth Network (UTN) are now in the process of merging governance and operations under the Utah Education Telehealth Network, created by the Utah Legislature effective May 2014.
UEN’s services span three categories: 1.) it provides broadband and broadcast infrastructure to all areas of the state; 2) it licenses or develops applications which run on this infrastructure, including Canvas (a learning management system), a digital media library, and interactive video conferencing; 3.) it provides support and services to those who use the Network. UEN does this by leveraging every state dollar received with more than a dollar from other grants and resources.
UEN’s Services
1.) Networking Services
- Wide Area Network (WAN): carries high speed data and applications, including video, throughout the state. (For a peek at UEN’s real-time network traffic map, visit here.)
- Internet access
- Network support and security monitoring: Continuously tracks, reports and manages Internet, data and video traffic on the WAN. Detects attacks on the Network and mitigates infrastructure vulnerabilities.
- Broadcast: Three channels: UEN-TV provides educational programming to public ed, higher ed and the general public; MHz Worldview carries international news and cultural programs; FNX (First Nation Experience) shares Native American stories and content.
- Internet filtering: UEN operates content-control software and hardware on behalf of public schools, charter schools and public libraries to limit children’s exposure to harmful content.
2.) Application Services
- Interactive Video Conferencing (IVC): Used by thousands of students and educators each day for live, instructor-led curriculum, collaborative meetings and special educational events. Has the ability to connect over 1,100 locations throughout Utah, as well as many others throughout the world. More than 350 daily educational events, as well as desktop video conferencing option to allow hundreds of administrators to collaborate.
- Learning management system (Canvas)
- Pioneer Library: A statewide service that purchases online library resources from national suppliers at large discounts (newspaper articles, magazines, professional journals, graphics)
- Web conferencing: Desktop-based conferencing
- Teaching and learning tools
3.) Support Services
- Training: Workshops and presentations to help teachers, faculty, and librarians use services effectively.
- Regional support: In four regional service centers: Heber City, Richfield, Cedar City, Price
- E-rate support: Helps public school districts, charter schools, libraries and Headstart programs obtain E-rate reimbursements for broadband circuit costs.
For more information on UEN, check out the following:
