Classroom Internet
Connectivity
The Challenge:
Most schools with Internet connectivity have limited the connection to either the school’s computer lab, or to one computer in each classroom. Children either file down the hall to the lab, disrupting the normal flow of learning; or they take turns clustered around the classroom computer in groups of two or three. Though the student’s learning experience would be both enhanced and more productive by having her own computer lesson at her desk, the cost of supplying a Cat5 connection and computer to each student makes the idea untenable.
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The Solution:
Using wireless LANs allows schools to integrate interactive online lessons inside the classroom. Wireless network access
throughout the school is much simpler, faster and costs a fraction of wired networks. A shared, mobile computer cart
containing wireless-enabled laptops and a printer can be wheeled to classrooms as needed, minimizing expense by not
requiring computers for each classroom. In fact, properly positioned access points can even provide wireless coverage
outdoors, providing further opportunities to incorporate the Internet into science, physics and other curricula that benefit
from experiments and observation outside the classroom.
For schools that do not have any Internet network connection – whether a single temporary classroom, or the entire
campus in older schools – an inexpensive wireless bridge can bring Internet access from a main administration building
to classrooms throughout the campus. Unlicensed band operation means quick deployment, with no need to obtain a
permit or need for expensive and time-consuming cable laying