Kentucky students now are on the leading edge of technology and education thanks to the newly created
Kentucky Education Network (KEN). Public schools across the state now are connected to KEN, which continues Kentucky's tradition as a leader in maintaining a high-speed link between education and the World Wide Web.
Education Cabinet Secretary Laura E. Owens, along with other state education leaders, yesterday unveiled the capabilities of KEN and the opportunities it will provide to create a seamless P-20 education community that supports lifelong learning.
"Technology is the foundation upon which today's global economy is built," said Governor Fletcher. "This new program helps prepare the students of Kentucky for the demands of a high-tech world by making technology a part of learning."
KEN addresses the need to improve the speed in which information -- through the Kentucky Instructional Data System, content via Web sites like Internet 2, applications and communications -- comes into and leaves local school districts. The goal is to provide equal access among the state's 174 school districts to high-speed Internet that is reliable, secure and cost effective.
The Kentucky Virtual School system, the Individual Learning Plan, online tutoring services, the GoHigher Portal, online advising services, a KCTCS course applicability system, KET's Encyclomedia and a lifelong learning portal, are just a few of the technological features to which KEN will provide all Kentucky students unprecedented speedy access.
"Technology in schools means that learning is no longer bound within the walls of a classroom or the pages of a textbook," said Owens. "This new network will open more educational opportunities to our students and prepare them for the technology challenges of tomorrow."
KEN was created through a joint budget request during the 2006 session of the Kentucky General Assembly. State legislators awarded $70 million to build the Kentucky Education Network (KEN) and to provide an Instructional Device Upgrade for Kentucky public schools' technology programs.
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