High-speed Data Connection to the Internet

Have you been wondering what the recent trenching at the front of campus is all about? The trenching and telecommunications trucks you have been seeing have enabled the installation of a high-speed data connection for the school. AT&T engineers connected us directly to their Internet backbone with a fiber-optic cable running into our network. The immediate impact of this upgraded is a 5-fold increase in Internet bandwidth and speed from last year providing greater capacity for and faster access to the resources available on the Internet. The increased bandwidth will support our students and faculty as they take advantage of online content and Web 2.0 tools. The bandwidth increase also supports our Google Apps for Education initiative, which provides all students access to the Google suite of online productivity tools (word processor, spreadsheet, presentations, etc.). This allows students access to their work anytime, anywhere. In addition, the online tools allow for enhanced teacher-to-student and student-to-student collaboration, which is impossible with traditional desktop applications. In the long term, the installation of a fiber optic data connection to campus will allow us to further upgrade the amount of Internet bandwidth to accommodate newer technologies and greater demands for online resources. It is another way we are working to make Heathwood Hall the place for first-class education!