Arizona State University and the Smithsonian bring classrooms to the rainforest

Arizona State University and the Smithsonian Institute are using a fiber-to-the-jungle connection to provide distance learning that could include extending lectures into the rainforest via Wi-Fi connections.

The Internet-based connection would terminate on Barro Colorado, an island in the middle of the Panama Canal's Gatun Lake which the Smithsonian has managed since 1924 and where it now runs its Institute of Tropical Research. The fiber runs beneath the lake, which was formed by damming the Chagres River to create an open segment of the canal. A feature formerly called West Hill remained above water and became Barro Colorado. The fiber link terminates at Smithsonian buildings on the island, but there are plans to extend the connection outside using Wi-Fi, says Charles Kazilek, director of technology integration and outreach for ASU's School of Life Sciences.