CTS 110: The Wi-Fi Connected Classroom

Teaching & learning is taking advantage of Wi-Fi. Are you ready for the connected classroom?

The Highly Connected Classroom
Students are bringing more Wi-Fi capable devices into the classroom. Professors have used the “closed lid” method with students for a while now to prevent distractions from happening during lectures.
Other professors have shifted their teaching to take advantage of technology. They use an interactive teaching method which involves students researching information and presenting their results in the class. With hundreds of students now actively utilizing Wi-Fi during class for teaching and learning purposes, we must ensure Wi-Fi is up to the task.
In this episode, I highlight topics I personally have gone through to create a highly connected classroom.

* Stakeholder buy-in
* Blending in with Aesthetics
* Planning
* Designing to meet requirements
* Configuration
* Monitoring

Navigating around the politics and funding is all part of the process. One we wish to ignore. In this episode I have some tips to get the project going. The most important part of a successful Wi-Fi deployment in a high density classroom environment is planning. Getting as much information as possible leads to a better design. Configuration cannot be left to defaults for high density classrooms. They need tuning and optimization to handle the capacity. And of course, let’s not forget to monitor our Wi-Fi networks. Be proactive instead of reactive.