Ready for the Future: Steinmühle Connects to the High-Speed Network

Steinmühle has connected to the high-speed network. In cooperation with Marburg’s municipal utilities, the school and boarding school have been equipped with a state-of-the-art, high-performance fiber-optic connection. “This step ensures that we are well-prepared for the future in terms of digital learning and educational opportunities for decades to come,” say the managing director and school administration.

“We approached the municipal utility company and were able to implement our plan quickly,” reported Dirk Konnertz, executive director of the school association, during a press conference at which the project was presented to the public. He praised the utility company’s adherence to deadlines throughout all stages of the project and the generally good cooperation. The boarding school and the school carried out this important project on a cost-sharing basis. Together, they invested approximately 30,000 euros in the project.
According to Managing Director Norbert Schüren, the municipal utility company did its utmost to accommodate Steinmühle during the work by incorporating existing lines and connections in the area into the planning without bureaucratic hurdles and making use of them. The Steinmühle benefited from the boarding school’s forward-thinking planning; thanks to its IT manager, Till Buurman, a fiber-optic connection had already been installed on the premises 15 years ago. “Now we were able to take advantage of this and, in a positive sense, check this important item off our list,” says boarding school managing director Georg Ritter with satisfaction.
For the Steinmühle school administration as well, an important chapter has been successfully concluded. “When it comes to modern media, we may have a slightly different approach than other high schools,” explained Principal Björn Gemmer. The goal is to ensure that students leave Steinmühle with a comprehensive understanding of the internet and related technologies: “These skills shouldn’t have to be learned only after starting college, vocational training, or a career.” The principal mentioned that 7th-grade students will be equipped with tablets next year, “…and more will follow. We definitely needed more data capacity than we had available.”

 

“We couldn’t wait any longer”

Following the upgrade, the Steinmühle now has an internet connection with a speed of 500 megabits per second. Thanks to the fiber-optic connection, increasing the speed to meet future needs is no problem. If necessary, speeds of 1 Gbit/s or even 10 Gbit/s can be provided. According to Stadtwerke CEO Schüren, these are guaranteed connection speeds. Waiting until policymakers were ready to create these conditions was not an option, added school principals Björn Gemmer and Bernd Holly. Unfortunately, they noted, Germany is a relatively slow-moving country in this regard.

Teacher training on the topic of

Meanwhile, Steinmühle isn’t resting on its laurels. Next on the agenda is an in-school teacher training session in November. In cooperation with Philipps University, a training program was launched in collaboration with University Vice President Prof. Evelyn Korn and the Center for Teacher Education. The Steinmühle concept includes a comprehensive yet critical approach to the use of devices and media. The school aims to fully live up to this self-imposed standard.
Dirk Konnertz, Executive Director of the school association, believes the goals of the Steinmühle leadership team have been fully realized: “If we make even more extensive use of the internet in the classroom in the future, the necessary conditions for doing so will be in place in every respect.”
————————-

Norbert Schüren, head of Stadtwerke (4th from the right), praised Steinmühle’s initiative and its pioneering role in the area of network speed. From right: Björn Gemmer (principal), Georg Ritter (boarding school director), Johanna Buurman-Rogalla (boarding school director), Norbert Schüren (CEO of Stadtwerke Marburg), Dirk Konnertz (Managing Director of the School Association), Lars Witter (Project Coordinator at Hifreak), Bernd Holly (Principal), and Markus Scholz (Project Manager at Stadtwerke Marburg).