South Dakota, with its sparse population and large landmass, has 127 school districts with fewer than 600 students. In the past, many of these small schools could only provide a basic curriculum. Governor William Janklow committed to equalizing education through network-based technology. The challenge he issued was immense: connect every classroom in 622 buildings so that three out of four students could simultaneously use the Internet.

The solution? The Governor commissioned 11 teams of inmates from the South Dakota corrections system, and had them trained to install 101,250 commercial grade network connections. The state provided supervisors and materials, the schools provided food and lodging for the inmates. Over three years, the classrooms of every public and private school with more than 50 students were wired with Category V wire, video cable, and additional electrical power. The resulting school area networks were then linked into school district networks. Connections were also installed in libraries, government offices, public universities, and technical institutes.

Sixty-three telecommunications companies serving South Dakota provided connections. The resulting Digital Dakota network1 became the state Internet Service Provider, which provides services to the K-12 schools, libraries, units of government, postsecondary education institutions and universities. Since the Digital Dakota network is a full fledged data communications network, schools can implement client-server information systems using video, data, and voice components.

How was this financially possible? Without the inmate labor and large-scale purchases of materials, the cost could have been as much as $100 million. Governor Janklow also used state and federal education improvement funding to provide the $15 million needed to connect the K-12 classrooms. Local school boards are providing the computers for the classrooms, with help from businesses. U.S. West donated interactive television equipment, worth $17 million, enough for every high school and middle school to set up one classroom that could generate and receive video.

The Governor understood that without teacher training infrastructure alone would not improve learning. An intensive teacher-training program was created and implemented through the universities and technical institutes in South Dakota. Thirty percent of the K-12 teachers received 200 hours of training during the summer. They each received a $1,000 stipend for attending the training, and another $1,000 to purchase software for use in their classrooms.

In addition, K-12 administrators participated in two-week intensive workshops to prepare them to lead their communities in the use of the innovative network. Teachers and staff from each of the 176 school districts were trained to operate the servers connecting their local schools.

Seventeen percent of the university faculty received three months of summer support to incorporate technology into their instructional programs.

The state has developed an extensive framework of content standards to direct the learning expected by each student. The Rapid City School District is working with the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology to develop software to link students, teachers, and parents into a partnership for enhanced individual learning. This innovative partnership will combine the best features of traditional teacher-delivered education with broadband technologies.

South Dakota offers a world-class example of how to democratize access to Internet learning.

1. http://www.support.k12.sd.us