Thank you everybody for contributing to the conversation. It has been very helpful.
---- Nicholas Urrea Information Technology UC Hastings College of the Law [email protected] x4718 -----Original Message----- From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Lee H Badman Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2009 3:52 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Restricting of wireless access in classrooms I'm agreeing with John- this is madness. What about the DAS systems boosting cell coverage? Do faculty get an on/off switch for that? Or for newspapers and magazines that also distract? And what about ad hoc networks, and MiFi cells? And iPods, and doodling? There are several ways to get to the internet, and many more to not pay attention (one of my sons makes the most elaborate little paper figures when he's bored in class- the more elaborate his creations are, the more his mind was elsewhere in class.) And let's not forget that more and more emergency notification systems rely on IP and you being reached in a hyper-connected world. As far as surgically killing off wireless in a specific room while leaving it untouched on the other side of garden variety sheetrock wall goes, I'm from Arkansas- you'd have to show me. And then I'd be looking for the smoke machine and magic mirrors! But it does make for interesting cultural discussion. Be forewarned- non-PC profiling ahead: I have to wonder how many of the complainants are older, or lacking in classroom management skills to begin with... -Lee Badman Skeptical in Syracuse ________________________________________ From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Rodkey [[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2009 6:03 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Restricting of wireless access in classrooms Build a Faraday cage around each classroom. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage ] Embed wire mesh in all walls, remove all windows, replace wooden doors with steel. Your financial people will look askance on this, and future technologist who are now required by the faculty to ensure high wireless signal levels in every square centimeter of campus (especially classrooms) will curse the day you were born, but you will have provided a solution within the limits you've requested. Seriously: you can't really talk with faculty about the ubiquity of wireless signals and the need to have a workable strategy and classroom discipline technique that allows for proper use of those signals? This is really the conversation that needs to be happening. As the saying goes, you need to win the hearts and the minds. Faculty need to win their students' hearts and minds on this front. Otherwise, you will have set the stage for a perpetual guerrilla warfare. John Rodkey Associate Director of IT Westmont College On Wed, Dec 2, 2009 at 11:02 AM, Urrea, Nick <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I'm compiling research to give to our Faculty Technology Committee. My question is has anybody successfully implemented a solution that restricts access to wireless internet in classrooms? Also if you have tried and were not successful in restricting wireless access in classrooms let me know. Why didn't the solution work. No opinions please about how students can just go buy a mobile broadband card from a cellular carrier, or installing microwaves in the classrooms, or that teaching techniques should improve. ---- Nicholas Urrea Information Technology UC Hastings College of the Law [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> x4718 ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
