THE Journal — Wireless Technology
FCC Seeks Comments on E-rate Changes
For schools that rely on E-rate funding for telecommunications and Internet access, changes are afoot that could impact planning as soon as funding year 2009. The Federal Communications Commission is seeking comments on potential changes to the E-rate Eligible Services List that in some cases would narrow the list of eligible technologies and in some cases expand it. The notice was filed in the Federal Register Aug. 18, so comments are due in less than a month.
(8/22/2008)
Fargo District Deploys Computer Management and Monitoring Technologies
Fargo Public School District will be implementing NetSupport School (NSS), a classroom management program that allows the teacher or media instructor to control website access and record computer activities. The district has 14 public elementary schools, three middle schools, and two high schools, as well as an alternative high school. Enrollment is around 11,000, and district employs about 1,000 people.
(8/11/2008)
Saugus USD To Launch Student Writing Collaboration Project
Saugus Union School District in Santa Clarita, CA is launching a new writing program for its fourth-grade students that couples writing and science using ultra-mobile devices and collaborative learning software, among other technologies. According to information supplied to us by the district, the initiative is being funded through a $1.4 million EETT competitive grant the district recently won.
(8/5/2008)
2 New Jersey Schools Deploy WiFi for Online Education
Two schools in New Jersey's Cresskill Public Schools are deploying a wireless network from Meru Networks to provide mobile Internet access and to enable access to online educational materials.
(7/9/2008)
Stanford, IFL Introducing $50 Handheld to Mexico Students
Stanford University School of Education and Innovations for Learning, a Chicago-based nonprofit, have entered into a social entrepreneurship collaboration to bring the $50 Teachermate Handheld Computer to extremely underserved children in Latin America.
(7/7/2008)
Ruckus Launches Smart WiFi, Gives Districts Access To Next-Gen Wireless Networking
Ruckus Wireless announced the launch of its Smart WiFi for the education market Monday. The company's ZoneFlex Smart WLAN combines 802.11n technology, adaptive beam steering, and SmartMesh networking.
(7/2/2008)
Plainfield District in IL To Deploy Pervasive Wireless Network
Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 in Illinois has selected Aruba Network's wireless LAN technology and identity-based security for use across the district's 28 schools. The district has 29,000 students and 3,500 faculty and staff.
(6/10/2008)
Smart Wireless Classroom Audio System Set for August Release
Smart Technologies this week introduced a new classroom audio system. Dubbed "Smart Audio," the system provides wireless audio (using both microphones and third-party audio devices, such as MP3/4 players), along with integration with Smart interactive whiteboard systems.
(6/10/2008)
iPhone 3G, New Mobile Apps Debut at Apple WWDC 2008
During his keynote address at Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) Monday, CEO Steve Jobs debuted the company's new iPhone 3G, an update to the popular mobile phone and computing device set for delivery July 11. Developers also took the stage during the keynote to show off new technologies arriving for the platform.
(6/9/2008)
Suffolk County District Moves to Virtualized Infrastructure
Center Moriches School District in New York has revamped its infrastructure and adopted a new technology delivery model, opting to virtualize its servers and deploy a Citrix Application Delivery solution. The overhaul was handled by technology services provider DynTek.
(6/6/2008)
Pueblo SD Rolls Out WiFi for 1:1 Program
Pueblo School District No. 70 in Colorado has deployed a WiFi network across three of its schools to support the district's 1:1 computing initiative and to support various mobile devices used in the district. The deployment was handled by WiFi developer Xirrus.
(5/22/2008)
Washington County Deploys WiFi District-wide
Washington County School District in Utah is in the process of deploying a district-wide WiFi network covering 41 public K-12 schools that span more than 2,400 square miles.
(5/12/2008)
Next-gen WiFi Expected To Be in 99% of North American Campuses by 2013
Although the wireless standard 802.11n is found in less than 3 percent of North American universities currently, it will be available in 99 percent by 2013, according to a new study by ABI Research. According to the research firm, the increases are driven by a variety of needs and demands in both K-12 and higher education.
(5/5/2008)
Policy Server Integrated with 3Com Routers
LineSider Technologies, which publishes policy-based network infrastructure control and management software, has launched OverDrive, a policy server that integrates with 3Com Open Services Networking (3Com OSN) for MSR Series Multi-Service Routers. The OverDrive software lets users deploy and manage Internet protocol-based services across complex network environments.
(3/13/2008)
Mobile Broadband Internet Use Growing Dramatically
The number of computers using mobile broadband technology to access the Internet grew by 154 percent in the 4th quarter of 2007 versus the same period in 2006, according to comScore, a research firm. comScore, which measures online behavior, said the total number of computers going online through mobile broadband technology grew to 2.1 million from 854,000.
(3/7/2008)
Apple To Add Exchange Support to iPhones
Is Apple acknowledging the power and ubiquity of Microsoft's messaging platform? That might be a stretch, but the company has announced a forthcoming update to its iPhone 2.0 software, which will include built-in support for Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync.
(3/7/2008)
Apple Notebooks Get Faster Processors, Expanded Storage
Apple Tuesday rolled out updated versions of its MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook systems. The new models sport faster processors and expanded memory. The MacBook Pro models also add Apple's multi-touch trackpad technology.
(2/27/2008)
The 2 Mistakes Schools Make in Deploying Wireless Networks
When the School District of Philadelphia announced last fall that it was deploying wireless Internet access at every school in the district--some 268 campuses--it was hyped as one of the world's largest enterprise wireless local area networks. Aside from the scale of the project (which involves the equivalent of 14,000 access points), the news barely raised an eyebrow among K-12 administrators. After all, announcements of new school deployments of WiFi have practically become a monthly occurrence on THEJournal.com.
(2/12/2008)
Which Technologies Will Shape Education in 2008?
Mobile broadband, collaborative Web technologies, and mashups will all significantly impact education over the next five years, along with "grassroots" video, collective intelligence, and "social operating systems." This according to a new report released last week by the New Media Consortium and the Educause Learning Initiative, the 2008 Horizon Report.
(2/4/2008)
Macworld Expo: Apple Launches MacBook Air, Time Capsule
At the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco, Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the stage Tuesday to introduce the company's latest technologies. As rumored, Apple launched a new, super-slim version of the MacBook laptop computer, known as the MacBook Air. Jobs also introduced a new version of the AirPort Extreme Base Station known as Time Capsule, which combines an 802.11n router with a wireless backup storage solution.
(1/15/2008)
Marysville Schools To Deploy WiFi District-Wide
Ohio's Marysville Exempted Village School District (also known as Marysville Schools) is upgrading its network infrastructure with high-speed wired and wireless across the entire district. The objective of the upgrade, with equipment furnished by Extreme Networks, is to improve student performance and communications with enhanced bandwidth for voice and data and to open up support for distance learning.
(12/6/2007)
Abbotsford Rolls Out WiFi To Support Classroom Technologies
Abbotsford School District 34 in British Columbia (Canada) this semester began rolling out a new wireless network, one that, at present, covers about a quarter of the district's 51 sites. The move is part of an effort to improve access for teachers, who are increasingly using wireless technologies in their classrooms, according to information released by the district.
(12/5/2007)
North Vancouver SD Accelerates WAN with Silver Peak Appliances
North Vancouver School District in British Columbia (Canada) is optimizing its wide-area network through the use of Silver Peak NX appliances from Silver Peak Systems. According to the company, the district has used the systems to improve network performance, particularly for transferring data between schools and administrative offices and to improve performance for hosted applications.
(12/5/2007)
WiFi Bolsters Alabama District's 1:1 Tablet PC Program
Auburn City Schools in Alabama has found that a "no strings attached" approach to classroom networking has let new approaches to instruction take flight. The district has deployed a WiFi network to more than 1,000 tablet PC-equipped students and teachers at its junior high and high schools as part of a 21st Century Learning Initiative.
(11/26/2007)
Kansas School District Rolls Out 1:1 MacBook Program
In one of the poorer districts in the Kansas City, KS metropolitan area--where more than 75 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches--administrators and school board members have launched a project to ensure that their students have all the technological advantages that wealthier students have in their education. The district serving that area, Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS), is giving every high school student and teacher a laptop for use in the classroom and at home--and not just any laptop, but the latest generation of Intel-based MacBook laptops from Apple, which were distributed to students Nov. 6 and 7 district-wide, about 5,400 systems total.
(11/8/2007)
