It’s a great idea to put digital devices to work in
classrooms, but the more digital devices we have, the more access we need. To get everyone online as classes demand,
schools need robust wireless and wired networks. When several classes in the
vicinity of each other are busy with lessons that require wireless, will some
students be denied access? Suppose your school installed enough access for the
number of students and staff in your school. Will this be adequate? Not if parents
and others coming into your school want to connect wirelessly and your students
come to school with their own personal digital devices. Think of the students
who have digital devices in their lockers and backpacks, and remember that some
students come to school with more than one device that seek access to your
network. Perhaps, you say that those coming into the school can only connect
with one device. How do you go about making sure this system works—passwords,
getting the Mac addresses of all authorized devices. . . . ?
The Center for DIGITAL Education, in an article by Tanya
Roscoria in December 2012, quotes Shane Buckley, CEO of Xirrus, saying, “build
out 10 times more capacity today than you think you need. By the time these
devices get deployed, you’re going to eat all that up straightaway.”
The Education Week
article, School
Districts Seek Faster Internet Connections, tells of how limits in
bandwidth cause problems with use of online video, educational games, video
editing, etc. The article also reminds
us that problems of slower access may be caused by outdated wiring, routers,
switches—all the ingredients that make access possible.
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