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Internet and video streaming are fast becoming cherished and essential resources in Iowa classrooms. Students and teachers can learn, see and do many things without the restriction of the four walls of the classroom. Heartland Area Education Agency (Heartland AEA) is a partner in providing cost-effective ways for schools to access important resources such as the Internet so that schools can unlock the power of these valuable 21st century tools. Iowa was fortunate to have the foresight in the early 1990s to develop the Iowa Communications Network (ICN), a statewide fiber-optic network that was designed to provide high quality, full-motion video, data, high-speed Internet connections and telephone service to a variety of authorized users, such as state and federal government agencies, K-12 schools, higher education institutions, hospitals and public libraries. Although the ICN gives Iowa students and educators equitable access to learning opportunities across the state and around the world, it comes at a cost. Heartland AEA has helped to moderate those costs for schools. For many years, Heartland AEA has provided aggregation and Internet services at no cost to participating schools. Aggregation connects schools to the ICN, paving the way for Internet access to flow through. The cost for the 49 data circuits that will aggregate through Heartland AEA for Internet access during the 2011-2012 school year would cost schools more than $1.4 million if they chose to obtain Internet access directly from the ICN. Pooling the school bandwidth allows Heartland AEA to pass along savings to schools. The need for bandwidth has increased greatly. In the early 1990s, Heartland AEA only aggregated a total of 9 MB for all the schools it served. As schools begin the 2011-2012 school year, Heartland AEA is aggregating 1018 MB for area schools, which is a 27 percent increase from the 2010-2011 school year. “Schools are currently paying for the physical connections to the ICN, which is a small fee compared to the Internet service that is paid for by Heartland AEA,” said Tuan Dao, the Network Administrator at Heartland AEA who administers Internet access for the Agency and the schools it serves. “Think of the physical connection as getting a phone line to your house, but without the telephone service, you would not be able to make any phone calls.” Obtaining Internet service is a costly endeavor and demonstrates one way in which Heartland AEA provides a source of savings for schools. A way the Agency helps support this service is to apply for discounts through the Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund, which is often referred to as the “E-Rate.” The E-Rate is a federal program that provides discounts for schools, AEAs and public libraries to obtain affordable Internet access as well as telecommunications and information services. In order to receive the discounts, Heartland AEA completes an application procedure that requires considerable documentation and includes a bidding process. Eligible schools may apply individually, but many of the schools do not have the time or staff to make the application. By filing on the behalf of the schools, Heartland AEA is able to provide Internet service at no cost. In order to receive E-Rate funding, it is required under the Children’s Internet Protection Act to utilize content filtering. Content filtering prevents computer users (such as students) from viewing inappropriate websites or content and protects users from malicious software. “For participating schools, every computer must be filtered,” explained Dao. “The AEA acts as an umbrella for the schools. We provide the technical assistance and pay the cost for each filtered machine in the school.” Through volume licensing provided through the Iowa Educators Consortium – an initiative provided by Iowa’s AEAs – Heartland AEA is able to provide basic content filtering for every connected computer in participating schools at less than a third of what schools would pay individually. Schools still have the flexibility to opt for a customized filter for their district’s needs, but Heartland AEA provides the basic content filtering with no cost chargeback to the school. After using a different provider, Kendall Miller, Technology Coordinator at Bondurant-Farrar Community School District, had the following to say, “I decided that after a few times of having problems that something needed to change. I then found out that we could get free web content filtering with our Internet access [through the AEA]. It became an easy decision [to partner with Heartland AEA] for easy access to help, more stable Internet access and free web content filtering.” Heartland AEA takes pride in providing cost-effective systems and support for Internet access and content filtering for the schools it serves. High-speed access to the Internet has great power to enhance education, and Heartland AEA plays a vital role in lessening the financial burden and enabling schools’ access. ### Heartland AEA is an intermediate education agency serving 11 counties and 136,000 students in Central Iowa. The Agency is committed every day to helping people grow, develop and learn. |
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