Week Thirteen--Chapters Eleven and Twelve

Question 2: What advantages can broad bandwidth and wireless networking offer schools? Describe the current technologies available for wireless connectivity.

A broadband network connection is extremely valuable in today’s classroom. With the growing amount of educational resources available on the internet, and our increasing dependencies on web and network connected applications, a fast connection to the internet is indispensable. WiFi (wireless fidelity) technology is used to distribute a connection to a network (usually broadband) amongst devices in a certain area. WiFi is in some cases replacing hard-wired ethernet networks since it is easier to install, repair, and expand. In places that had no networking before, WiFi is chosen over ethernet since it is cheaper to implement. WiFi technologies have steadily improved and now are often just as good as their wired counterparts. Newer iterations of WiFi now feature very fast data throughput, as well as adequate range, and security measures. Some people worry WiFi security since it seems very open in nature. However, there are many precautions one can make to make sure your network is as secure as you would like it to be. This openness allows greater freedom.

Bluetooth technology is often related to the use of a PAN (personal-area-network). Many modern cellphones, computers, printers, and other devices have a bluetooth chip built in. This allows communication with other bluetooth devices. Bluetooth has a much shorter range than WiFi, but is still very useful for wirelessly transmitting data. The short range of bluetooth devices may make them very suitable for the classroom, since there would be less interference from other devices next door. It does seem to me that the author may have been a little over-zealous about the future of Bluetooth. While it is certainly useful (and, in fact, in use in many places), many of the examples of use given in the book have found solutions in WiFi, new web-services, and high-speed cellular networks.

I find wireless technologies to be one of the most exciting things happening in technology today. As we continue to be more wireless we gain more and more freedom from the restrictions we impose on ourselves by our reliance on technology. We are now more free to set up our learning environments however we like. We are also able to produce cleaner more efficient workstations. Doesn’t everyone hate that mess of wires behind the computer? There is now no reason why we should’t be almost completely wireless in only a few years!