Buffalo schools are expanding the optical fiber internet system which connects schools and other buildings.
The district has dived deeply into the web, from connecting surveillance cameras to tablets used by students and it's going deeper. To do that, the district is looking for major additions, both fiber which will be used right away and fiber to be installed and turned on later as demand continues its increase. Instructional Technology Director William Russo says the increase is across the board, students and teachers.
"You might think it would be high schools, but we're seeing a huge amount of capacity in the elementary schools, especially as we move towards more electronic curriculum, especially with some of the laptop and tablet programs that are going on in some of those schools," Russo explained.
"We're seeing a huge increase in the amount of computers in the elementary schools."
Those kids are certainly digital natives but Russo says new teachers are also and they want the kind of web capacity they need for lesson plans and operating the district's many interactive white boards, the electronic equivalent of the old chalkboards.
