[Sponsored content] The speed of learning: East Baton Rouge Parish schools are in the fast lane.

    Sponsored by Cox Business
    In Louisiana, underwater has always meant an ability to rise above and rebuild stronger than ever. There are few better examples of the resilience of the Louisiana spirit than of the East Baton Rouge Parish School District and its 41,000 students.
    Surveying the damage after the August 2016 floods had inundated 10 schools and several administrative centers, East Baton Rouge Parish Schools Superintendent Warren Drake vowed to recover stronger than ever. He knew Louisiana’s smart cities and regions depended, in part, on the recovery of their surrounding parishes’ “smart schools.”
    Just prior to the floods, Drake had announced a strategic plan for technology integration to “equip, educate, and empower every educator and learner to actively engage in technology-rich learning environments,” deploying a one-to-one laptop program for students in grades 5-8.

    Courtesy of The East Baton Rouge Parish School System

    “Preparing all students to succeed as citizens, workers, and leaders in a digital world is a priority and a right for students in the 21st Century,” Drake said. “We were not going to let a little water bog us down.”
    When students returned to school a week ago, approximately 80 school sites were newly-connected to bandwidth-rich, 10 gigabits per second, superfast high-speed internet (up from the previous year’s 1 gigabits per second). For students, this means reliable access to web-based tools and digital resources. For East Baton Rouge Parish schools, this means some of the fastest internet speeds in the state.
    The need for speed is well-documented by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology, which states: “The bandwidth required for today’s students to curate an electronic portfolio of learning far exceeds what was required to give students access to early online tools such as email and static reference materials.”
    For instance, national and state standardized testing is now computer-based for grades 5-12, often requiring students to know how to drag and drop items, graph on computers and be proficient online.
    Faster speeds will support the school district’s focus on technology-based learning, including accessible Wi-Fi, laptops for teachers and the one-to-one laptop program, now expanded to include grades 4-12.
    Courtesy of The East Baton Rouge Parish School System

    The unique programming across the district is possible because of this advanced technology. “We have to prepare our students for the jobs of tomorrow, and that means technology-rich instruction in our schools,” Drake said.
    “The East Baton Rouge Parish Public School System and its superintendent should be applauded for employing technology to improve performance, drive student achievement, and contribute to teachers’ effectiveness,” says Leigh King, vice president of Cox Business Louisiana, East Baton Rouge School District’s service provider. “Cox Business has been delighted to serve East Baton Rouge schools over the years and looks forward to continuing to meet their bandwidth needs,” King continued.
    Drake gives the students, teachers and staff of East Baton Rouge Schools an A+ for adapting and embracing a technology-rich learning environment.
    For more information about East Baton Rouge Parish School District, please visit ebrschools.org. For more information on how Cox Business can help in the classroom, please visit cox.com/business.