Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


Moravian College Revamps Network for Anytime, Anywhere Learning

In an effort to meet student expectations for anytime, anywhere network access, Moravian College in Pennsylvania has deployed a Unified Access network from Alcatel-Lucent.

Last year, a student survey at the college found that many were unhappy with the performance, coverage and capacity of the institution's existing network. Connectivity frequently dropped as students moved from one location to another. What's more, a campuswide initiative to provide all students with Apple laptops and tablets was flooding the network with devices.

To address those concerns, Moravian worked with Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise and channel partner Advance 2000 to design an integrated wired and wireless network that can handle high levels of use anywhere on campus. According to a press release, the new technology accommodates all data, video and multimedia traffic on a single secure network, accessible by any device — all without overloading IT with network management and support. Overall, the college aims to create a collaborative, knowledge-sharing environment designed for tailored and interactive learning.

"Our vision was to assure each student would have modern technology to enhance their learning and living experience here," said Scott Hughes, CIO at Moravian, in a prepared statement. "When we committed to issuing multiple devices to our students, we realized they would also be bringing more from home. Students have high expectations of what wired and wireless networks should provide to support their research for classes and their social interactions. We needed a network that could effectively handle the academic load that would be placed on it and easily support the social and entertainment load the students would generate.

"With this new network, Moravian College can achieve its vision for a new education environment in which everyone has the same tools and same access experience regardless of where they are on campus or which network they are using. The classroom walls are totally removed with the availability of a full-blown modern wireless network. And teaching, learning and collaboration can happen anywhere on campus, anytime it's appropriate."

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Binary code flows through a digital pathway with red and blue lights in a dark background

    Survey: Enterprises Say They Are Ready for Agentic AI Failures, but Few Test Recovery Often

    Most enterprise organizations say they are ready to recover from disruptions involving agentic AI, but a new survey of more than 300 IT decision-makers from Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States suggests relatively few test those plans often enough to prove it.

  • holographic interface of a file manager, folder structure with documents and data

    Why Universities Need to Align Data Storage with Data Value

    Institutions need to move away from a reactive habit of expanding storage and towards a more deliberate data management model based on understanding and control.

  • abstract smartphone translucent screen displaying AI interface

    Apple Introduces Redesigned Siri AI

    At its recent Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple introduced Siri AI, a redesigned version of its voice assistant that Apple describes in its own announcement as "a profoundly more capable and personal assistant." The update is intended to make Siri more conversational, more context-aware, and more useful across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro.

  • large cloud icon on the right in an abstract world above a polygon with a dark blue background

    Cloud Security Alliance Expands Focus on Governance and Assurance for Agentic AI Systems

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) recently announced a series of CSAI Foundation milestones aimed at securing what it calls the agentic control plane, including a new catastrophic risk initiative, CVE Numbering Authority authorization, and the acquisition of two agentic AI specifications.