Beaufort County SD Revamps Network for E-Learning
Beaufort County School District in South Carolina is overhauling its network infrastructure to facilitate e-learning applications and to help provide advanced online professional development through the use of streaming video. The district is working with technology provider Extreme Networks and systems integrator Converged Networks on the overhaul.
"We are supporting growth of the student population and consistently embracing innovative technologies that improve the education experience," said John C. Williams, assistant superintendent for information services at BCSD in a statement released last week. "Our network is like an electronic fuel injection system in a car. Our students and staff don't need to know how it works--we just need to know that it's there and that it works reliably."
The network infrastructure is supporting several initiatives at the district, including:
- Professional development and technical training via two new Technical Training Centers;
- Streaming video in the classrooms, used in conjunction with other interactive classroom technologies;
- An expansion of the number of computers to improve the ratio of computers to students; and
- Collaboration with the South Carolina Virtual High School Project, allowing students to take courses not offered in the district's physical schools.
For the network revamp, Converged Networks provided consultation and technology integration. Extreme Networks supplied various network components, including its Summit X450 fixed switching solution and ExtremeXOS operating system. The switches provide connectivity between LANs and the district's new fiber WAN.
Beaufort County School District serves about 20,000 students in 28 schools in Beaufort, Bluffton, and Hilton Head in South Carolina.
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About the author: David Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's online education technology publications, including THE Journal and Campus Technology. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com.
Proposals for articles and tips for news stories, as well as questions and comments about this publication, should be submitted to David Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.