What does a classroom in the 21st century look like? Gone are the days when students would sit in rows while the teacher wrote on the chalkboard. Today’s classrooms are all about connections. Connections to one another, connections through critical thinking, and connections to technology. A 21st century classroom is filled with technology from desktop computers and wireless devices, to interactive whiteboards and school-issued laptops for students.
This technology integration puts demands on an IT infrastructure requiring upgrades in order to keep up with the trends. Roanoke County Public Schools recently partnered with Cox Business to develop a customized solution to connect 23 sites within the school system via the installation of a state of the art private WAN (wide area network) powered by the school system’s network hardware paired with many hundreds of miles of dark fiber and a 10Gig internet pipe from Cox.
Earlier this year, Roanoke County Public Schools expanded its well-established one-to-one high school laptop program to include all students in grades 7 – 12. Upgrades had to be made to the Roanoke County Public Schools’ broadband network in order to support the expansion of technology programs and to meet the increased demands the equipment would put on the existing network.
Through the installation of dark fiber connecting the school sites to the administrative building, Cox Business provided the infrastructure for Roanoke County Public Schools to have an infinitely scalable network to meet the vast and growing needs of broadband access. A network of this capacity and capabilities is among the most-advanced within education systems across the country.
“Access to technology is imperative for a student’s academic success and we are committed to ensuring that our students have all of the advantages they need,” said Dr. Greg Killough, Roanoke County Public Schools Superintendent. “We appreciate Cox Business’ commitment to developing a solution that would meet our current and future needs to power our network and support our students and teachers.
In addition to providing ultra-high speed broadband and dark fiber to Roanoke County Public Schools, Cox Business also provides video and telephony services.
About Cox Communications -Cox Communications is a broadband communications and entertainment company, providing advanced digital video, Internet, telephone and home security and automation services over its own nationwide IP network. The third-largest U.S. cable company, Cox serves approximately 6 million residences and businesses.
