The Okanagan-Skaha School District in Penticon, British Columbia, is in an area blessed with "beaches, peaches, and wine." It is also an area where tax revenues and school budgets have been declining for several years while demand for information access and support services continue to grow. School administrators realized that the district's 19 schools serving more than 8,000 students had to do more with less. How could this be done? The answer: Use networking and the Internet to cut operational costs while expanding programs to schools and the wider community.

          The school district had been using an expensive public telephone network and an aging data network that had cobbled together many different hardware and operating system platforms. Working with Cisco Systems and Boardwalk Communications, the school district standardized desktop hardware and operating system software and replaced its outdated data and telephone networks with a multiservice network that can run voice, data, and video applications using the Internet Protocol (IP).

          The network supports Voice over IP (VoIP) technology which converts each teacher's classroom computer into a telephone that can transmit voice data in the form of packets over a data network based on the Internet Protocol. Using just a handset and a microphone, teachers can make calls from their computers without having to make a special trip to the administration office. This IP telephony system reduces the number of phone lines needed by the district from 150 to 25 and provides a uniform system for voice mail and systems administration, saving the district about $60,000 per year.

          Teachers have developed Web sites for collaborating with students and parents. For example, physics instructor Dan Bergstrom uses software to demonstrate difficult scientific concepts so that students can make observations, take measurements, and manipulate the data to understand what is actually going on. Lecture notes are linked to lab notes, homework questions, and test questions. Students and teachers can access the district's network and all of its applications wherever they are working using a Web browser program.

          The new learning environment helps students learn responsibility and time management. Each class has a Web site with its course schedule, rules and expectations, and dates for tests and assignments.

Sources: Howard Baldwin, "Thinking Big," Cisco IQ Magazine, First Quarter 2004 and "Okanagan-Skaha School District and Cisco Solutions Empower Teachers, Students and Parents," www.cisco.com, accessed April 27, 2004.