New Jersey District Shifts to Fiber for Tech 'Without Limits'

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 06/02/11

In an effort to support a slate of school technology initiatives, a district in New Jersey has moved its underlying communications network to high-speed fiber.

River Dell Regional School District, with one middle school and one high school serving about 1,615 students and 142 faculty and staff, contracted with Optimum Lightpath in 2010 to replace the existing "inadequate 3 megabit bandwidth connection," according to Director of Technology Marianthe Williams. The vendor is a division of Cablevision Systems.

The district now runs on Optimum's metro Ethernet network, which provides 100 megabit Internet access to its schools. The company offers Ethernet-based voice and data services to organizations in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The school purchased an "education services suite," which includes data and voice over IP service.

Williams had been an Optimum customer in a previous district and knew "that I could take advantage of the best service and value by working with them again to fulfill all of [the district's] telecommunications needs," she said. "And while cost savings certainly factor into decision making for any project, it is ultimately the ability to improve student achievement that drives any project undertaken in the school."

The goal for her, she said, was to enable instructors to allow students to use Web 2.0 technologies and other classroom learning tools "without limits."

Those include a one-to-one computing initiative, interactive whiteboards connected to tablet computers, the use of Skype to connect classes with other schools via the Internet, and delivery of student-produced programming on the Web-based River Dell TV.

Other New Jersey districts, Cresskill Public School System and Elmwood Park Community Unit School District 401, have also used the company's education suite.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • A teacher and students gather around a glowing crystal ball containing a miniature school building surrounded by clear AI symbols, including holographic interfaces, neural networks, circuits, and data streams

    2025 Predictions: AI's Impact on Education

    What should schools and districts expect from the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence in the coming year? Here's what the experts told us.

  • digital illustration of Estonia with glowing neural network-like connections spreading across the map

    Estonia to Roll Out ChatGPT Edu for all Secondary Schools

    In a nationwide artificial intelligence program dubbed "AI Leap 2025," the country of Estonia plans to provide free access to leading AI applications for all secondary school students and teachers. The initiative will launch with a rollout of ChatGPT Edu to 20,000 high school students in grades 10-11 and their 3,000 teachers, beginning Sept. 1.

  • A middle school student wearing safety goggles and a lab coat uses a microscope in a science lab, surrounded by beakers and test tubes filled with colorful liquids

    2025 Young Scientist Challenge Seeks Students Using Science to Solve Everyday Problems

    The entry period is now open for the 2025 3M Young Scientist Challenge, a science competition from 3M and Discovery Education for students in grades 5-8 recognizing individuals across the United States who have "demonstrated a passion for using science to solve everyday problems and improve the world around them."

  • young child sitting at a table, using a tablet with an AI-generated interface

    Research: 1 in 3 Kids Use AI for Learning

    In a survey of parents with children aged 8 or younger, nearly a third of respondents (29%) said their child has used AI for school-related learning, according to a new report from Common Sense Media.