WATERLOO - Waterloo Community Schools is expanding the number of classrooms with Activboards and preparing to provide an Internet-based curriculum for 300 students this fall.

And now it has the capacity to make the technology work at lightning speed.

Mediacom last week completed installation of four dedicated fiber-optic strands between Hawkeye Community College and the district's Education Service Center. That will allow for teachers easily to use streaming video as Promethean Activboards are placed in more classrooms and for students enrolled in the new Performance Based Diploma Academies to spend a significant amount of their class time learning online.

The expansion of the district's fiber network "enabled us to move to a new speed of 100 megabytes per second," Superintendent Gary Norris explained during a press conference with Mediacom officials Tuesday. Until now, the district has had a capacity of 25 megabytes per second. Although it was high-speed Internet, access was frequently slow due to the number of people logging on at any one time.

For teachers who had Activboards last year, Norris said Internet streaming video capabilities have been "sketchy," at best. "The issue has been to use Activboards effectively you need to use video links," he said.

"They can (now) do it at a speed at which they won't fall asleep while waiting," Norris quipped. In addition, the district gets access to other online resources through Promethean, Activboard's maker.

"It literally puts a worldwide video library at the fingertips of teachers," said Norris, suggesting such resources would keep students more interested in school. "What we are about in Waterloo Community Schools is reaching a level of engagement like no other time."

He also noted that the fiber connection with Hawkeye will allow for future distance learning collaborations with the community college.

In February, the Board of Education approved installing a fiber-optic connection between the district's computer network and the one at Hawkeye to allow for the expanded capacity. District officials were later approached by Mediacom, which could make the connection directly between Hawkeye and the school's central offices.

"It saved us at least 20 to 30 grand and a lot of time and a lot of headaches," said Norris, of the Mediacom partnership.

Matt O'Brien, the district's technology coordinator, said the expected cost of installing the fiber connection was about $40,000. Mediacom's price was $10,000. "So it was a $30,000 savings," he said. It was paid for through the district's physical plant and equipment levy fund.

The latest installation of Activboards will increase their number in classrooms from 138 to about 470 this fall, covering just over half in the district. All 19 district schools have some of the computerized white board systems while nine will be fully outfitted with them.

Another school, Highland Elementary, will also have Activboards in all classrooms when it opens next January. Norris hopes to find funding to put Activboards in all remaining district classrooms this year.

Remodeling is under way at both West and East high schools to create space for the Performance Based Diploma Academies this fall. Each academy will serve about 150 students and is designed for those who are at risk of dropping out of school. Students complete Plato Learning's online course work, participate in group counseling and take career classes.