Brisbane Grammar School is moving into the Internet fast lane, thanks to The University of Queensland.
The initiative's General Manager Simon Rose said the University’s broadband service, UQSchoolsNet, is providing the school with a ten gigabit per second connection.
“We offer one of the fastest technology platforms available and Grammar may be one of the first high schools to access, connect and collaborate with a University at such a speed,” Mr Rose said.
“The educational and administrative advantages for Brisbane Grammar are considered significant.”
Brisbane Grammar School ICT Director Michael Lowbridge said the ability to connect at such a rate, opened the door to new initiatives and eliminated barriers experienced in many other schools.
"We’ve barely begun to scratch the surface in exploring the opportunities available to us with the Internet speeds,” Mr Lowbridge said.
“We expect to adopt a range of new collaborative and cloud-based services, for example, LAN (local area network) speed access to off-site disaster recovery facilities and other potential software and infrastructure.”
UQSchoolsNet began introducing Queensland schools to accelerated one gigabit a second broadband services in 2008.
Today the network connects more than 150 schools at up to 10 times that speed, reaching as far west as Toowoomba and as far north as Rockhampton.
Mr Rose said UQ had built one of the best Internet connected networks in Australia for educational use and the University was pleased to extend the capability and share the network with the school community.
“No longer is teaching and learning about blackboards, books, and the classroom experience,” Mr Rose said.
“The resource and service demands of a school on a network connection differ greatly to that of a business, therefore the UQSchoolsNet network is tailored to cater for teaching and learning with a focus on collaboration, videoconferencing and access to high-definition, media-rich content."
UQSchoolsNet enables schools to tap into the University's resources, such as virtual labs offered through the Centre for Educational Innovation and Technology, as well as exploring Web 2.0 services in the classroom.
“Many major content providers are also joining the network to be in a position to deliver their content to schools,” Mr Rose said.
He said students would hopefully build established ties with UQ through UQSchoolsNet, creating a smoother transition from secondary school to university.
Media: Inga Cahill, ICT Communications Officer: (07) 334 66912 i.cahill@uq.edu.au
