In the world we live in today where just about everything we do includes some sort of mobile device, it just makes sense to integrate those mobile devices into education. If we truly want to prepare students for their lives and careers as adults, then why not integrate the tools they will be using like iPads, smartphones, etc.
Mobile devices are being used in just about every industry, construction, healthcare, enterprise, hospitality, retail, etc. and they make great educational tools. They can provide a vast array of benefits to not only students but also teachers as well. I could list the benefits and endless possibilities these cool tools can offer for days, but we won’t cover all of those today. (for more on the benefits see 4 Benefits of Having Mobile Technology in the Classroom) Instead I would like to talk about getting school wireless networks ready to integrate these mobile devices, because whether you like it or not, they are coming!
Here’s a checklist of some of the items you’ll need to consider when preparing your school wireless network for wireless technology in the classroom.
1.) Is the signal strength strong, reliable, and distributed evenly thought the entire school campus without sacrificing network speed?
2.) Does your school wireless network have the ability to create a separate policy that identifies student devices on your existing network, giving them different access rules or web filtering?
3.) Do you have Next Generation Security which has application visibility allowing you to see what is being used on your network like social sharing and learning apps?
4.) Do you have a mobile device management solution that can help keep your schools wireless network secure, protect your students, and manage and secure all these mobile devices your students and staff are toting to class?
5.) Does your school have the bandwidth you need to support the growth of applications and devices in the next few years?
6.) Have you determined how the mobile devices will connect to the wireless network? Will they connect through a separate network or student guest network?
7.) Does your wireless network design incorporate high capacity load balancing to enable you to actively, shift users to and from access points?
So, the question is…is your school wireless network ready to support mobile technology in the classroom? If you weren’t able to answer yes to pretty much all of these questions, then the answer probably is “no”.
If you would like a free consultation to help you figure out just how ready you are and what the next steps are in planning for your schools classroom technology integration, just contact us here. We have helped schools all over the country implement successful solutions to incorporate mobile classroom technology. We are always happy to answer your questions or provide advice. Good luck!
