N4L now has 90 per cent of the country’s schools connected to its Managed Network, providing more than 735,000 teachers and students throughout New Zealand access to fast, uncapped internet running at predictable speeds in their classrooms.

Announcing the milestone last week, Associate Minister of Education Nikki Kaye noting the Managed Network rollout is running about a year ahead of schedule, with the remaining schools able to connect next year. N4L is also marking the two-year anniversary since the first school connection, with West Auckland’s Massey Primary connecting to the Managed Network at the end of November 2013.

Currently, there are just under 2,300 connected schools and N4L CEO John Hanna says he’s encouraged by the company’s achievements to date, but also acknowledges there is still more work to be done once all schools are connected.

“The way schools use the internet is constantly evolving and the demand is skyrocketing, with increasing numbers using online learning programmes and video,” he said. “We are keeping ahead of the demand curve trend by proactively building new capability into the network, ensuring schools have more than enough internet to meet their classroom needs, and that they’ve got access to tools like web filtering to keep the environment safe for students.”

Hanna credits the steady rollout rate to the company’s collaborative approach.

“Our recipe for success is to work very closely with schools and technology vendors, such as Spark Digital, to ensure every school’s needs are catered to, and that our technology and services are designed with growth in mind.”

New Plymouth Girls High Principal Jennifer Ellis says her school, with just under 1300 students, is pleased with its recent Managed Network connection: “With the N4L Managed Network, our internet speed and availability has improved many times over, and our costs to deliver this service have been reduced to near zero. We have a BYOD program as well as a high ratio of computers per student, and being on the Managed Network helps us achieve our goals of providing excellent teaching and learning experiences across all levels and subject areas.”

A recent survey among schools which have used the Managed Network for six months or longer indicates that 94% of respondents feel more confident in implementing their digital strategy as a result of being connected to the N4L Managed Network and 71% increased their use of digital technology within the first six months of connecting.

Source: N4L

An interactive map of all participating schools can be viewed at: http://map.n4l.co.nz/

For more go to n4l.co.nz