School District 211 will expand their bandwidth again

District 211 will nearly double their bandwidth again during the winter vacation.  A new contract with Comcast will increase the Internet bandwidth from 340mbps to 640mbps.  It is scheduled to go into effect on January 7, 2013.  The district has further plans to expand to a full 1GB of bandwidth during the summer of 2013.

Demand for more bandwidth is being driven primarily by two factors - more Internet content and more devices used by our students.  There has been a sharp increase in the amount of Internet-based content used by schools.  Schoology, Khan Academy, YouTube, Google and Twitter are becoming major components of a 21st century classroom.  There has also been an increase in the number of mobile devices used in school: students are bringing their cell phones, computers and tablets on their own, and the district has also begun to purchase large numbers of mobile devices (iPads) for students to use on a one-to-one basis.  With more devices accessing more content, it is critical to monitor and grow the capacity to connect to the Internet.

Bandwidth is vital to a school district's long-term technology plans

Internet connectivity is critical

Internet bandwidth is critical for every school.  Teachers depend on videos and files that they find, store, and share on the Internet.  When the Internet goes down, the school begins to grind to a halt.  The technology people in every district must maintain that connection to the outside world, and they must increase the amount of bandwidth on a regular basis.

What is driving demand?

Increased amounts of data is biggest cause - namely videos that have become an important part of the instructional process. Don't think about the 45 minute videos you had to watch in class.  These videos are short, specific, and highly engaging.  Teachers are showing 5-10 minutes as part of the lesson instead of using videos that take the entire class period.  

The shift to mobile devices in the last two or three years is also a big factor.  Students are bringing laptops, smart phones, tablets, and any other device that can connect to the Internet, and this is exactly what we want to happen - if your wireless network can handle it, that is.  Where I work, the high schools probably had less than 100 mobile devices brought in from home two years ago.  That number is over 1,000 per building today.  Elementary schools are feeling the biggest burden because they didn't foresee dozens or even hundreds of kids bringing in iPad and iTouch devices to school with them.  Kids and parents expect to get on the Internet when they come to school, and your wireless network and your bandwidth had better accommodate them.

How much is enough?

There are people who like to answer this question by saying things like, "You need 1.21 gigawatts of Internet per student if you are going to be successful."  I disagree with making a statement like that because gigawatt is a measure of energy, but at the same time how can you argue with anyone who can quote Back to the Future? I disagree because whatever number you set is going to be obsolete next year.  Instead of focusing on a number or ratio, look at what you have today and ask yourself, "Is this enough?"  Look at how much bandwidth you use on average during a really busy time of day.  Look at how much bandwidth you use when that usage spikes during your peak times.  If you are at maximum capacity - if you are not meeting demand - you need to double your bandwidth.  Double.  After you re-evaluate your situation once you have more bandwidth in place, you will likely have to double it again within the next year.  This will only get you to where you should have been all along.  How do you get ahead of the game?  You guessed it - you will need to double it.  Every time you propose an increase, you should be doubling your amount.  I think this will hold true until your district reaches 1GB of bandwidth. At that point, a new rule will probably need to be applied.

Our bandwidth over the last four years

In June 2010 our district had 50mbps of bandwidth to share among 2,000 employees and 12,500 students.  It was inadequate, but no one was really complaining.  YouTube was just hitting its stride in 2010, and 95% of our teachers weren't storing their data online, so it was not a serious problem.   But you could just tell it was going to be a major issue at any moment.  

We increased our bandwidth from 50 to 80 in August 2010.  In December 2010 we increased from 80 to 240.  In June 2012 we increased again from 240 to 340.  This December (2012) we plan to increase again from 340 to 640.  In July 2013 we will increase again from 640 to nearly 1GB.  We didn't quite follow the "double every year or two" rule because we were following a personal rule of mine - "keep your costs the same, but greatly improve what you offer".  Our 80mbps bandwidth in August 2010 cost $4,000 per month.  Our 240 mbps in December 2010 cost us just under $4,000 per month.  When we increase to 640 it will cost a little more than $4,000 per month.  When we hit 940 next summer, costs will dip down again to just under $4000 per month.  We have worked very hard to keep our costs constant, which is important to our school board, but at the same time we kept up with demand, which is important to our students and teachers.  

Bandwidth 2009 - 2013

ICN is the key to future for most Illinois school districts.  They have provided free bandwidth to schools for a long time, but they could not keep up with the demand of the last two years.  We were getting 40mbps for free from ICN.  When we needed more, they could not provide that for a low cost.  Thanks to a federal grant, lots of work, and the driving belief that schools need the Internet to do their core business of teaching students, ICN will be able to offer 10 times that amount for free starting July 1, 2013.   If you are planning to increase your bandwidth, contact ICN first to see how much you will get for free next year.

Conclusion

Keeping up with bandwidth demand is a technology department's highest priority.  Keep an eye on prices, shop around for the best provider, and do not sign a contract that is longer than two years unless you have the right to renegotiate it (i.e. get more bandwidth for the same price).  Every student and every adult will be bringing a device to school with them some day, and at the rate things are going, it will probably be in the next two years.

Better Internet access for your personally-owned computer or phone

Our district previously had two wireless networks for a majority of our data.  There was the network for district-owned computers, and there was the guest network for all other devices.  The guest network was fine if you didn't have any other options for getting on the Internet, but it simply wasn't as good as the district network where the Internet seemed faster and it was filtered less stringently than the guest network.

Cell phone users were especially frustrated by the guest network, though.  The Internet provided by your cell phone company is completely unfiltered, which lets you access Facebook among other things.  People would rather be on their own Internet rather than the guest network for this reason.  Unfortunately, our high schools were built before cell phones were invented, and there are many places in our buildings where there is simply no cell phone reception.   You could see students and staff alike cringe as they walked deeper into the school, not because of their upcoming class but because they knew their cell phone would lose reception... right about... here (draw an imaginary line on the ground right now).

This year, the district has created a new wireless network called StaffNet which fixes the problem by allowing you to have better, faster Internet on any device you own.  Your Kindle Fire, Nexus 7, Mac laptop, iPad, and of course your cell phone will now be filtered less and will have faster speeds on the Internet.

Choose StaffNet from the list of wireless connections, then open up an Internet browser.  You will be asked to "Login for Web Authentication", which is the nerdy way of saying, "What's the username and password you use when you log on to your school computer or email?"  Enter the correct information and you will have the same Internet access that you currently have on your district-owned computer.

And it's okay to bring in that Kindle Fire, Nexus 7, and Mac laptop all at once.  This summer we added new access points that can handle 7,000 more devices across the district.  The bandwidth was also increased from 240mbps to 340 mbps and next summer it is expected to rise to over 500mbps.

Upcoming technology improvements

Dear Staff Member:

Next year District 211 will focus our efforts on improving your overall experience with technology.  In the coming summer months, we plan to implement six major improvements that will make your computer more reliable, your connection to the Internet faster and more stable, and your communication with students and parents more efficient. 

·    First, the wireless network is going to be completely overhauled.  Each school's wireless infrastructure will be expanded and improved to hold approximately 6,000 devices, which is four times more than the current system allows and enough capacity for every person to have two devices connected at all times.  Connections to the wireless network should be stronger and less likely to be lost and classrooms using laptop carts should expect faster boot times and far fewer issues connecting to network drives. 

·    Second, the Internet bandwidth will be quadrupled.  Streaming media will be expected to play smoothly, and large classes doing research will be able to maintain a more stable and faster connection. 

·    Third, as a result of a better wireless structure and greater Internet capacity, people will again have full access to the guest211 network as they have had in the past.  Students will be able to use any personal electronic device, including computers and cell phones, within the guidelines of District policy, to connect to the Internet inside our schools. 

·    Fourth, we will replace Windows XP with Windows 7.  This new operating system boots faster, has better wireless capabilities and is more stable than Windows XP.  Numerous staff members throughout the District have already been successful using Windows 7 and the transition has been smooth for them.

·    Fifth, we will replace Lotus Notes with Outlook as our e-mail, calendar, and messaging system.  Outlook offers a greater number of integrated communication features, is more compatible with your personal computers and is easily accessible on your cell phones.  We will make sure everyone has access to the training they need to use this convenient, easily accessible communication program.  Our ongoing discussions with Microsoft and our examination of similar transitions from other districts all indicate that all e-mail, data, files, folders and calendar entries accumulated in Lotus Notes have been successfully and completely migrated to Outlook.  More information about this will be provided in the near future.

·    Sixth, every student will be given a designated District e-mail account.  You will have the ability to e-mail your students, create student e-mail groups, and send out calendar reminders regarding tests, homework, practices, games and club meetings.

These six areas were chosen based on the extensive information collected from teachers, students, parents and administrators over the last few months, and they will have a positive impact on the way we use technology to advance student learning and achievement.

We will send regular updates over the next month to keep you informed of our progress and to explain opportunities for training.  In the meantime, please send us any comments or questions you might have.

Keith Sorensen  

Director of Educational Technology 

Charlie Peterson

Director of Technology Services