The Gigabit Internet will come to Phoenix, but have we imagined the educational possibilities of a network 100 times faster than our current connections enabling virtual reality, 4K video and artificial intelligence community in school projects? The Mozilla Foundation Gigabit Community Fund, “in support of a healthy Internet where all people are empowered, safe, and independent online” has.
Gigabit 101
The Mozilla Foundation conducted their “Gigabit 101” Workshop on Saturday, June 3, 2017 at Galvanize Phoenix. The workshop highlighted the opportunities for STEM education in high-speed internet. Mozilla Foundation facilitators Jenn Beard, Craig Wiroll and Janice Wait also described the education projects of the five Mozilla Gigabit Cities (Austin, Chattanooga, Kansas City, Eugene and Lafayette) and Mozilla’s desire to expand the network with future grants.
Smart Gigabit Communities
Cox Communications provided the grant for the Phoenix workshop, part of the “Smart Gigabit Communities” project of 15 communities nationwide designed to inspire “a living lab of testbeds for smart gigabit applications,” initiated in 2015 by US Ignite in partnership with the National Science Foundation.
Jenn and Janice lead the workshop participants in activities designed to visualize the scope of Gigabit technology including crafting an offline art project representing the internet, “Perform the Net,” and a sticky-note wall-to-wall team transfer competition demonstrating gigabit packet speed, “The Gigabit Difference-Speed Match.”
Gigovate
After reviewing some of the Gigabit Cities education projects– CERN+KC Gigabit Challenge and Gigtank 4K: Scaling from Micro to Macro Microscopy among many others—attendees worked on Gig Idea storyboarding templates and Gigovate outlines imagining gigabit speed solutions to local challenges and opportunities. Further resources can be found here.
Eileen M. Kane 
Thanks so much for attending, Eileen. It was great meeting you!