Cox Communications and Horizon Charter School Collaborate
to Lead the Dawn of Technology-Enhanced Education

Horizon Community Learning Center is taking the lead in technology integration, enhancing student learning and creating student enthusiasm, all in an exciting, futuristic environment, with a mission statement that includes providing an educational environment rich in technology. Horizon Charter School and Cox Communications took a major step forward in achieving this goal with the launch of the new Horizon Community Learning Center in April 1999.

As Cox's first model technology school in Arizona, success for the Horizon Community Learning Center would be determined by students' interest in school, and ultimately, improved learning performance. But first, school administrators needed the broadband technology to serve as the foundation by which all curricula would be supported and enriched.

"When we sent out a request for proposal for a provider of voice, video and data services, Cox was the only company that responded," said Larry Pieratt, director of the Horizon Community Learning Center. "As a state-funded school, we had to solicit at least two other bids. Our search determined that Cox was the best company that could actually meet our data, video and telecommunications needs immediately."

Cox Communications provides the Horizon Community Learning Center with Internet access at speeds up to 10Mbps via hybrid fiber coax (HFC) cable in addition to video and digital telephone services. By switching to Cox as an alternative provider for phone service, Horizon and other businesses can save 10 to 15 percent off of competitors' prices - a difference that can positively impact the bottom line.

Cox's partnership with the model technology school has gone beyond simply providing broadband communications services. Cox has named Horizon the recipient of the first Multimedia Academy in the greater Phoenix area. "Some schools in the area have services from Cox, but haven't bridged the opportunity to fully integrate them into their curriculum. With the assistance of Cox's Multimedia Academy, we have integrated the technology into each day's assignments," said Pieratt.

Cox's Multimedia Academy provides a specialized program that teaches educators and administrators how to effectively integrate advanced technology such as high?speed Internet and digital television into classroom teaching tools. Overall, the Academy is intended to enhance students' awareness and familiarity with technology to give them a competitive edge.

The results from offering a curriculum enhanced by technology have been measurable. "Cox's high-speed Internet access allows our students to conduct research and obtain information from sources around the world," said Pieratt "With a high-speed Internet connection to the World Wide Web, students have an opportunity to learn in new and exciting ways." In addition to improved test scores, a very positive intangible result has also occurred. "By using the technology in accessing the Internet and sharing information, students have become more interested in learning. We always believed that if we could get kids excited about what they are learning, and show them the relevance, they will be more likely to see learning as a lifelong adventure," said Pieratt.

"With Cox's reliable high-speed technology, we are assured that it is unlikely learning might slow down because of technical problems," said Pieratt. Cox's HFC cable services run over a ring-in-ring redundant network. The ring architecture provides multiple paths to Cox's HFC nodes, each of which serves approximately 1,000 customers. Should one of the fiber lines to that node be inadvertently severed, user traffic continues to flow uninterrupted across another redundant fiber path.

As such, the self-healing ring-in-ring distribution offers users a continuous secure connection to the Internet. The continuous connection enables Horizon students to access the Internet at any time of the day and not get busy signals. "With an 'always on' connection to the Internet, our students remain on task. The interesting benefit of having technology that enables high productivity is that students now encourage each other to stay on task," said Pieratt.

The bottom line is that the results of Horizon's teaching and learning model - enhanced by Cox's technology - have been overwhelming. In the last year alone, enrollment doubled, test scores improved, and the increased interest level from students was notable. "Thanks to Cox's technology serving as a foundational component, we have more admission requests than we can handle," said Pieratt.