*Note: All blogs will be wrote from the perspective that there is no wireless infrastructure in place. I am not saying that my way is 100% correct or other peoples are wrong, this is the way that I did it and why.
Planning
When we decided to participate in the grant, it was small, only about 50-100 ipods. Radford City currently already had a wireless infrastructure that was put in place for SOL testing. So adding a couple more devices is nothing to what was already there.
No one told me the amount of devices that we would one day receive (400+ ipods, 150 Macbooks).
So in the planning stage, you need to try to take the following in consideration:
1. Total number devices (future growth)
2. Location(s) that the devices will be used
3. Primary application/use of the wireless device
4. Who manages the devices
5. Classroom supervision
-- I am sure there are more, just can't think of any at the moment. I will add as I think of it.
Total number of devices
This is a major factor. Will the network infrastructure support an increased number of devices? A wireless access point can carry approx 40 devices without being loaded down and experiencing a delay. If you have large numbers of device extra APs are needed. Are the handheld devices going to connect to the internet? If so, then the bandwidth needed to supply adequate downloads many need to be increased. For example, if the teacher wants the students to watch a youtube video, a dozen devices each pulling video can put a hurt on network usage and slow everyone down.
So you may need to purchase extra access points(AP), and/or increase bandwidth to the internet.
Location(s) that the devices will be used
Will the handhelds be used all within one classroom, multiple classrooms, or throughout the whole school/division? If a low number of handhelds (<40) are going to be used in a single classroom and no where else, then a single access point should be sufficient. If the handhelds are going to be used in the whole school then multiple APs will need to be placed in the school to provide coverage. If the handheld are going to be implemented district wide, adjustments to the network will be needed (network segmentation, vlans, dhcp).
Primary application/use of the wireless device
Will the user will be using pre-downloaded applications or surfing the internet? Being in a K-12 school the students need to be protected from harsh content on the internet, unlike college students. Increasing the content filter licenses may be required to protect the students properly. Applications used in class need to be download before issuing to the class. Application download or ipod syncing is a different (HUGE) topic not discussed in these blogs.
Who manages the devices
This is a easy one, in our case who is in charge of the money and the accounts that purchase itunes applications. You would be surprised, especially with the new ambiguous Volume Purchasing Program, which is another (HUGE) topic not discussed in these blogs.
Supervision
With small kids they often do as they are told, but when you deal with teens they have a mind of their own. When students break the rules of the technology user policy, who is going to enforce it?
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Introduction
Radford City Public Schools participated in a grant venture with Pulaski County Public Schools, Radford University, New River Community College. The grant was headed by Dr. Dunleavy of Radford University and sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education.
The grants purpose was to investigate if wifi-enabled mobile device capable of delivering web 2.0 applications and educational instructional material would significantly impact on how educators teach in future classrooms.
The first requirement of the grant "wifi-enabled" is the chief purpose of the current and future blog entries. These blog entries will provide a "sort of" primer or "how-to" in accomplishing a wifi setup on different levels.
The grants purpose was to investigate if wifi-enabled mobile device capable of delivering web 2.0 applications and educational instructional material would significantly impact on how educators teach in future classrooms.
The first requirement of the grant "wifi-enabled" is the chief purpose of the current and future blog entries. These blog entries will provide a "sort of" primer or "how-to" in accomplishing a wifi setup on different levels.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
TO THE CLOUD.....
In future articles we will be discussing practical and impractical of implementing a wireless network to deliver network/Internet content.
Articles will be consisting of but not limited to the following topics:
Articles will be consisting of but not limited to the following topics:
- Network Segmentation
- Device proliferation
- Roaming devices
- Broadcast crashes
- Bandwidth Competition
- Network Tranlation (NAT/PAT)
- Wireless Access Points
- Single Access Points -vs- Multi-Access Points
- SSIDs
- Channel calculations
- Coverage areas/Deadzones
- Secuity (touched on)
- Wireless Network Management Devices
- Usage
- ?
- Benefits
- Device Connectivity
- Authentication
- Encryption
- Certificates
- Enterprise Security
- Managing Users
- Proxy
- Content Filter
- Issues Encountered
- Hardware
- Software
- Personnel
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Horizon Report - Technology's Future
Mobile Devices.
In the past five years the processing power of the average mobile device has increased exponentially, expanding the productivity of a user. Now a user can surf, email, chat, and take videos and pictures all from their phone. With the introduction of tablet computers, you can now read and write documents, video/audio conference, and share information with others.
Tablets have the ability to access the web, and many companies (i.e. Google, Microsoft) have produced web based applications that provide desktop functionality within the confines of the tablet/handheld device.
But the same problem that all school systems face is procuring enough mobile devices to use in the classroom. I think in the future this problem will be eliminated, because almost all students in our school system already carry a smart phone that is capable of accomplishing many of these tasks. Students already want to use their personal devices in the classroom. I say let them. They can use their phones for different tasks, many phones will read e-books, so put their textbook on the phone. They can use the phone in class to communicate with the teacher (either through Twitter, or SMS). Phones also have built-in video cameras, why not do video conferencing with the student when they need help with their assignment or if they have a question. All this can be done and the school system never even bought a single device. Now if for instance you have a student that doesn't have a device, then one should be afforded to them.
Gesture-Based Computing
The article states that it is four to five years before it is adopted or perfected. I think it will be here sooner than is anticipated. This is why I think so, like all new devices I try to see how they work (what makes them tick). When the Nintendo Wii came out I had to have one. Well, the first night I threw my shoulder out. As I was on the mend, I wanted to figure out how thing worked, so I did some research online and found where people were reversing the roles of the controller and the light emitter bar. Since the Wii-mote is bluetooth, you could bind it to your laptop and use it as a device to move the mouse. Here is a link for the how-to: http://www.wikihow.com/Turn-Your-Wii-Controller-Into-a-Mouse
This has been refined throughout the years, and appears to be very operative now. From what I have noticed it appears that people are binding the Wii-mote to the ipad now. I would like to try motion control on a computer, I bet it would be pretty cool.
In the past five years the processing power of the average mobile device has increased exponentially, expanding the productivity of a user. Now a user can surf, email, chat, and take videos and pictures all from their phone. With the introduction of tablet computers, you can now read and write documents, video/audio conference, and share information with others.
Tablets have the ability to access the web, and many companies (i.e. Google, Microsoft) have produced web based applications that provide desktop functionality within the confines of the tablet/handheld device.
But the same problem that all school systems face is procuring enough mobile devices to use in the classroom. I think in the future this problem will be eliminated, because almost all students in our school system already carry a smart phone that is capable of accomplishing many of these tasks. Students already want to use their personal devices in the classroom. I say let them. They can use their phones for different tasks, many phones will read e-books, so put their textbook on the phone. They can use the phone in class to communicate with the teacher (either through Twitter, or SMS). Phones also have built-in video cameras, why not do video conferencing with the student when they need help with their assignment or if they have a question. All this can be done and the school system never even bought a single device. Now if for instance you have a student that doesn't have a device, then one should be afforded to them.
Gesture-Based Computing
The article states that it is four to five years before it is adopted or perfected. I think it will be here sooner than is anticipated. This is why I think so, like all new devices I try to see how they work (what makes them tick). When the Nintendo Wii came out I had to have one. Well, the first night I threw my shoulder out. As I was on the mend, I wanted to figure out how thing worked, so I did some research online and found where people were reversing the roles of the controller and the light emitter bar. Since the Wii-mote is bluetooth, you could bind it to your laptop and use it as a device to move the mouse. Here is a link for the how-to: http://www.wikihow.com/Turn-Your-Wii-Controller-Into-a-Mouse
This has been refined throughout the years, and appears to be very operative now. From what I have noticed it appears that people are binding the Wii-mote to the ipad now. I would like to try motion control on a computer, I bet it would be pretty cool.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Problem - Enter a better Mobile Device
After reading the article it got me thinking, in my school system we have used a whole assortment of handheld/mobile devices. And throughout the years the handhelds come and go, but each device that was purchased was always going to be the one that was going to make kids smarter. They fall short, for a number of reasons. Maybe the teacher doesn't want to support the device, or maybe the student just loses interest, whatever the reason the device has gone to the wayside. But I have always had a different thought, it wasn't the user that failed with the device, but it was the device that failed the user. Just for an example, everybody is on the iPod bandwagon. I don't think that the iPod is going to be the device that teaches our kids and makes them geniuses. I believe it will fall to the wayside just like the Palm did, not because it is a bad product, or poorly engineered, but mainly because it is being mismanaged. In my opinion, Apple as a company is a dictator with all its products. I truly believe they do not care about the users that purchase their devices. Apple has the mentality if we didn't think of it then you don't need it. Now, I am not an Apple basher it is just it is the latest to mobile party, other companies have the same mentality (i.e. Hewlett Packard, Dell). When you do make valuable suggestion to better their product and make it more usable, they retaliate by saying "Why would you want that?" or " I can't foresee that ever being used". Companies need to realize that they need to listen to the users, because customers are the driving force for them being in business.
Note: Just for example when the Iphone 4 came out there was a immediate problem with the wireless signal which would decrease and drop calls. Steve Jobs said, "Just don't hold it that way", never admitting that there was a design flaw. Eventually they did release a rubber cover that would insulate you from the phone antenna to increase reception.
Note: Just for example when the Iphone 4 came out there was a immediate problem with the wireless signal which would decrease and drop calls. Steve Jobs said, "Just don't hold it that way", never admitting that there was a design flaw. Eventually they did release a rubber cover that would insulate you from the phone antenna to increase reception.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)