The information superhighway is now even faster for students in Kentucky.

The Kentucky Education Network was officially launched Tuesday at Franklin County High School.

KEN is a seamless computer-based network connecting both kindergarten through 12th grade and post-secondary institutions. It's also the first network of its kind in the nation.

KEN allows all 174 Kentucky school districts increased Internet bandwidth " which speeds the sharing of information, applications and communications.

"We want there to be technological equity across the state," said Education Cabinet Secretary Laura Owens.

Owens said with technology changing the way teachers teach and students learn, KEN is a virtual way to open doors to the world to students.

"Technology is bringing real-world scenarios into the classroom," she said.

For example, students in Kentucky can use the Internet to view the night sky in Australia during class time or teachers can find audio and video clips for a specific topic by searching an "encyclomedia" database.

Highlights of KEN also include:

>Connecting all students with educational research resources that are not available locally.

>Increasing the opportunities for high school students to participate in dual credit courses for college credit.

>Delivering virtual instruction to underserved areas.

>Supporting data gathering for analysis and accountability of student and instructor performance.

Local schools are already employing technology awarded by the KEN network.

Some FCHS students spent Tuesday giving tours of classes using Internet lessons and computer technology for business, Spanish, science and math courses to those who attended the launch.

Dwayne Powell, FCHS Spanish teacher, said he hopes to use the KEN technology to connect students in his Spanish class to classes with actual Spanish speakers in places like Mexico.

Frankfort Independent School District has been using the Internet networking technology on the international Internet2 system for two years, the district's chief information officer, Tim Smith, said.

He said he's pleased the district will now be able to connect with others in-state because of KEN.

"I think it's exciting other sites are coming on board," Smith said. "The key is districts are starting to get access and tools they need."

Smith said the city and county school officials already are brainstorming about collaborating locally via KEN.

Both the city and county school districts have had high-speed fiber optics for Internet usage for 10 years, said John Higginbotham, cable superintendent for Frankfort Plant Board.

KEN was created through a joint budget request during the 2006 session of the Kentucky General Assembly. State legislators awarded $70 million to create KEN and to provide an Instructional Device Upgrade for Kentucky public schools' technology programs, according to a press release.

KEN is the collaboration of the Council on Postsecondary Education, colleges, universities, the Kentucky Department of Education, preschool-12 grade school districts, the Education Professional Standards Board and all agencies of the Education Cabinet.