Sanford (NC) Herald09/06/2013"Increased bandwidth supports schools' digital transformation"Audience: 15,564Source Website: www.sanfordherald.com

Increased bandwidth supports schools' digital transformation

Sep. 06, 2013 @ 04:58 AM

From Moore County Schools

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CARTHAGE "

Moore County Schools' Digital Learning Transformation has received a major boost with thecompletion of an upgraded network system that increases the district's digital bandwidth tenfold.

With a three-year plan to see a digital device in the hands of all students, digital communicationbecoming a daily occurrence in the school system, and North Carolina's goal to see all statetesting online, the upgrade is described as being not only necessary, but timely.

"The completion of this project is a tremendous boon to the Digital Learning Transformation takingplace in our district," said Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence. "Our new network infrastructureprovides the 'backbone' for delivering the rich, engaging and up-to-date educational content thatstudents and teachers will access on devices at the schools on a daily basis. As we move throughthe pilot phases this year, the district will have the bandwidth to support a connected student andteacher population."

The state provides free Internet to the district through the N.C. Research and Education Network(NCREN); however, delivering that service throughout the district and among schools is theresponsibility of the school district. School officials say the extra bandwidth provides enhancedspeeds over the entire district and between all schools at a level of interaction and collaborationunavailable to the schools until now. "In addition to Internet services, the increased WAN (WideArea Network) bandwidth will allow us to provide more streaming and interactive services to theschools, including video collaboration and cloud resources," said Spence. Cloud resources includeGoogle Apps for Education, Edmodo, Discovery Education and other online services.

The state has also implemented a new student database and information system called HomeBasethat will also benefit from the improved bandwidth. Now teachers and students will be able to usethe online resources throughout the school day without over-taxing the network even as other onlinebandwidth intensive activities are taking place throughout the District. Spence also noted that whenthe state completes its plan to have all testing online, the requirement that all students will take testson the same date and at the same time makes the augmented bandwidth a necessity.

BroadPlex, a fiber optic telecommunication company based in Morganton, was contracted followinga bid process to complete the work of installing lines and provide ongoing service. According toschool district Chief Finance Officer Mike Griffin, the district is receiving 10 times the bandwidth andat a lower cost than from the school district's previous provider. He said over the life of the contractwith BroadPlex, the district expects to save approximately $40,000.

BroadPlex concentrates their efforts on providing high-quality and low-cost network services toeducation and business customers. They are a native North Carolina based Competitive Local

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Exchange Carrier (CLEC) with an extensive fiber network in place throughout the Carolinas.

"It is difficult to describe what a massive undertaking the installation of the new WAN was," said theschool district's Chief Technology Officer Tony Tuso. "Over half a million feet of fiber cable wasplaced in-ground throughout the County in less than four months."

He added, "The successful completion of the project for implementation in the 2013-14 school yearis a credit to the collaboration of Moore County Schools Maintenance Department for taking time outof a typically busy summer to mark the school locations for fiber installations and provide guidanceon utilities locations on and near the school campuses, Paul Jordan, BroadPlex's project managercoordinating the efforts of all of BroadPlex's installation crews throughout the county while alsoadministrating engineering and NC-DOT permitting requirements, and Moore County governmentoffices who shared considerable historical knowledge of the existing underground utilityinfrastructures, as well as the patience of many members of the Moore County community at-largewho may have been inconvenienced due to the work that was taking place along roads throughoutthe county."

(c) 2013 The Sanford Herald

Audience provided by Nielsen/NetRatings

Highlights: NC, NORTH CAROLINA, North Carolina, N.C, Research and Education Network,NCREN

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