Mike Kunz, district network manager at Collinsville, Illinois Community School District #10, says schools there have provided homebound students 2-way access to the classroom and teachers via Webcams and Skype.

Sometimes this has meant making security changes, such as making adjustments to the 3Com TippingPoint IPS the district uses. Virtual schooling definitely means having plenty of bandwidth available--the district recently bought a 3Com 10G switch to boost speeds--with the intent of rolling out videoconferencing in the future. But budgetary concerns are paramount now in the economic crisis hitting the state, Kunz points out.