OHS Information Technology

CAT5e Copper Cable

You have probably seen one of the cables pictured above somewhere in your house.  If not, turn your computer around and there is most likely one plugged into it or if you have a wireless connection, look at your router and there is one of them there.  This cable is one of the ways information is transfered throughout our nation.  It is made up of 8 smaller wires that have to be connected exactly the right way in order for it to work properly.

If one connection is not in the right spot or is not connected properly, the wire does not work.  When you send an email, at some point that message will travel through some copper cable before it gets to where you sent it.  If that cable is not properly connected, the information goes no where.  Think about how important that is to the society we live in.

In Dean Work's Information Technology classes, Opelika High School students are learning how computers work and how to create the cables that carry the information we depend on and they are doing an amazing job at it.  This semester Opelika High School certified 39 students as "Copper Cabling Specialists"  This means that there are 39 more people (teenagers right now) in this world that can ensure the information our society depends on continues to get where it needs to be.

You might also know that fiber optic cables are another way information is transfered.  This is mainly because of our societies growing demand for bandwidth and speed.  Opelika City Schools plans on offering students the opportunity to earn a certification as a Fiber Optic Cabling Specialist beginning with the 2016-2017 school year.