A premature baby in critical condition is born in a small rural town hospital.

In some cases, this could be fatal for the child, but because the Iowa Communications Network has interactive video sites all around Iowa, a pediatric specialist can be instantaneously contacted, giving the child a better chance for survival.

Medical care isn’t the only field that has benefited through ICN’s video sites. Justice systems hold hearings through ICN, and it is also used by both the state and federal governments for committee meetings. But most of ICN’s users are members of the state’s educational system.

The two-way interactive video transmission is used extensively by Iowa State, said Marcia Bankirer, the director of Extended and Continuing Education. She said the video service is used as a “distance-learning program” for many graduate and upper-division classes. Iowa, she said, is the only state that has such a system.

“We currently have six ICN classrooms here at ISU, and we will soon be up to eight,” Bankirer said. These classes are used by students to be taught by teachers or lecturers who are on the other side of the state. Classes that ISU professors teach at different sites in Iowa are also offered, Bankirer said.

“The reaction to these classes are so positive,” she said. “The students are so appreciative. They don’t have to give anything up. They can be part-time students and full-time people.”

Ingrid Johnson, ICN’s public affairs assistant, said ICN has more than 420 sites in Iowa.

“We have more than 12 sites in each county. That means there is an ICN site within 20 miles of any person in Iowa,” Johnson said.

The ICN interactive classes make it possible for students living far away from universities to get top-quality educations without having to commute or pay for full tuition.

“These classrooms increase the reach of the university. On top of that, it improves the overall teaching of the professors involved. Classes are extremely organized; professors are more prepared and put together better handouts,” Bankirer said.

Because of the increased time commitment needed by the professors to do preparation for ICN classes, some educators were a little reluctant to get things going with the distance-learning classes, she said.

“A few professors were a little hesitant because they wondered what kind of recognition they would get for the extra work they were doing,” Bankirer said. “But once we started the faculty became very excited about the program.”

John Kingland, director of ISU Telecommunications, said the benefits received of the interactive video sites far outweighs the cost of the system.

“There is a one-time connection fee of $38,000 that we had to pay, along with a $5-an-hour usage charge paid every time someone uses the system,” Kingland said.