Re: Wired or wireless in classrooms..

Geir Holmavatn wrote:

Hi,

We're in the process of deciding which kind of network connections we should
install in our high-school classrooms.

Every student have their own notebook and they need internet access in
addition to file- and print services.

The notebooks need power so they won't be completely wireless in any case.
With wired CAT6 we have plenty of bandwidth and control of whether or not
each classroom is connected to the internet.

With wireless we have limited bandwidth and a certain configuration hassle
(encryption etc) .  But going wireless is certainly more hype...

Any opinions and comments on our situation?

Geir




Our school system (10 schools) has WiFi in all schools and, in some schools,
WiFi in all classrooms.  The features are great, but maintenance is ugly.

Laptops do not need power cords.  We run our laptops on batteries.  In fact,
the major reason why we bought laptops instead of (cheaper) desktops is that
electrical codes made running extension cords all over existing classrooms
nearly impossible.  There are several large problems with laptop batteries:
(1) Batteries do not last long enough on days when the curriculum calls for
   heavy use.  We expected our grade 4/5 kids to carry extra batteries
   and to swap them when needed.  Bummer; better with H.S. kids, but expect
   some breakage. (H.S. and M.S. kids understand how, but they are very
   careless and will always be forced to mess with battery swaps while
   under time-pressure.)
(2) We put battery chargers in each wireless classroom, and we let young
   kids swap batteries.  Bummer; more breakage.  Also, we bought Brand-X
   offline battery chargers, and they were *very* unreliable.
(3) Batteries have a finite lifetime, and you cannot easily predict end of
   life for a given battery.  Guesswork and trying to stretch lifetimes
   costs extra maintenence time/money.
(4) Replacement batteries are expensive, and are a tempting target for
   budgetary line-item slashing.  Not a problem if your school system has
   unlimited funding.  ;-)

Laptop power cords are extremely fragile.  In an environment where kids
take a laptop from its nest to run on batteries for one class, then
re-nest after the class, those power cords need very frequent repair or
replacement.  In hindsight, we should have budgeted those wallwarts as
consumables and planned on near-annual replacement.

If you go WiFi, then make sure you only use laptops with integrated WiFi
NICs and built-in antennas.  In a school environment, plug-in (PCMCIA) NICs
and external (USB) NICs are rather frequently stolen, and are easily
broken in transit.  Also note that even built-in WiFi NICs seem to have
a shorter lifetime than other laptop components.

In our pilot program, our model was that the laptop belonged to the kid;
we allowed and expected each kid to take their laptop home at night for
homework, and to fire up their laptop in the classroom or in the library
or even out on the lawn.  Nice concept, but laptops are not quite as
robust as they appear.  Before you start a laptop program, think carefully
about insurance and the repair cycle; if laptops are necessary each day,
then you will need spare laptops as loaners.

All in all, I suggest using desktops instead of laptops and wired instead
of wireless -- iff it fits your curriculum.  Portability has its benefits,
but it is pointless to pay for portability unless your curriculum is planned
around it -- do not let your technology tail wag your educational dog.

{Someday, in a space far far away from Planet uSoft, computer users will
carry portable profiles -- and they won't believe that primative users
actually put heavy metal boxes on their shoulders to transport data.}

BTDTGTS (Been There, Done That, Got the T-Shirt)

--
Cheers, Bob
.

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