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Campuses Expanding Wireless Coverage
9/16/2004
Whetstone is still juggling the right amount of wireless coverage, the very best location for each access point, and the best wireless standard. One issue he has yet to resolve: How to best set up an auditorium-type space for wireless connectivity, given that the space will contain many users, all presumably attempting to access the wireless network at once. Another issue: Whether or not to allow printing, which commands large amounts of bandwidth, to be performed over the wireless network. Winona State has 250 printers across the campus, and Whetstone says he is "currently monitoring [printing jobs] to see if we should be blocking it or not." Some campuses have put in rate limits, so that if the bandwidth is there, the printing job proceeds; if not, the job gets, say, just 10 percent of bandwidth resources. "Or should we just shut them off altogether?" Whetstone asks. "We're experimenting a lot."
The same issue arises with file sharing, which can also be extremely resource-intensive - and may also be illegal or at least unnecessary. "Even services you can buy music from - should we block that?" Whetstone asks. "If you download a song, that takes a lot of bandwidth."
One big selling point for the school: The Gateway tablets were full performance computers as well as capable of converting to tablets. After evaluation by a select group of students and faculty, the school made the decision to introduce tablets. Part of the acceptance of the laptops also comes from the maturity of the software supporting it. Microsoft Windows XP operating system now has a full XP tablet edition that includes sophisticated tablet tools.
D'es Technology Attract Students?
For many IT administrators faced with increasing tough competition for students, the bottom line is this: Do students choose a school based on its technology infrastructure? That's a potential selling point with wireless, and indeed with any technology that entices students, and makes learning easier and more exciting. Administrators are giving a qualified yes -- though no one yet has a study in hand to prove it.
Temple's Silverstone, for one, is convinced that technology is one of the factors that attract students -- although he's quick to say that he d'esn't think it's the only draw. Still, "students absolutely look at the technology," he says.
Lack of a wireless infrastructure, suggests Indiana University's Voss, can become a negative incentive to students weighing the benefits of various schools. "In a day where half a percent drop in enrollment can have significant financial implications," Voss says, schools can't afford to take that chance.
At Winona State, Whetstone says of student and faculty reception to laptop computers, "I think it's very favorable." If he tried to reclaim the 4.000 wireless tablet notebooks just distributed to students and faculty - and already hugely popular -- he suggests, "I think we'd have a major riot. I don't think we could pull [them] from their hands."
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Linda Briggs is a freelance writer based in San Diego, Calif. She can be reached at lbriggs@lindabriggs.com.
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