As a faculty member who also closely follows developments in the wireless industry, I thought I would share my perspective.
I teach an intro networking course to 120 students per semester. I try to "edutain" whenever possible but it is impossible for me to compete with the Internet for the attention of most students. Network guys/gals need to understand this. If you think you can command the attention of 120 students staring at laptops and smartphones in class, give me a call and I will hire you. I also know enough about wireless to know that dealing with this problem at the physical layer is probably not practical, for many reasons -- financial, technical, and behavioral. If there is any hope for a technical solution, I could envision a system that ties together class rosters, authentication, and location services. But even with that, you don't have any control over commercial wireless services. My current policy is no laptops or smartphones in class. I give students a 10-minute grace period at the start of class for urgent communication. Some students complain about this policy but the majority understand why I do this and feel it helps them focus on course content. The most valid complaint comes from students who take notes in class on their computer. I'm somewhat sympathetic to that, but if you've ever sat next to someone in a meeting who is taking notes on a laptop, you know that the keyboard clatter is distracting, sometimes infuriating. I encourage students to take notes by hand or record the lectures for later transcription, which helps with retention of course content. In my wireless course, which only has about 25-30 students, I have been more hesitant to implement a no-tolerance policy, but even there, I think the only way I could get away with that is to change my presentation style so that I spend more time in the back of the room checking screens and scolding abusers. Alas, one wonders whether there is a solution that will be acceptable to all. Last semester, our Dean implemented a no-laptop policy for faculty meetings, offering to reduce the meeting time by 30 minutes as an incentive. Before this policy, it was a very strange experience, with over half of the faculty attendees working away at their computers while we were supposed to be deliberating about important issues. The policy seemed to be working pretty well until the iPad was released. Now we have faculty coming to the meeting with iPads. It's not a laptop, right? dm Dave Molta Associate Professor Director, BS in Information Management and Technology Assistant Dean for Technology Syracuse University School of Information Studies 212 Hinds Hall Syracuse, NY 13244 315-443-4549 [email protected] On 11/19/10 10:30 AM, "Hanset, Philippe C" <[email protected]> wrote: Luis, Cellular networks (usually licensed spectrum) are not under the same regulations as Wi-Fi (usually unlicensed spectrum). In the US, for instance, one cannot interfere with the licensed spectrum (jammers etc...), and when it comes to the unlicensed spectrum (e.g. Wi-Fi), you have to comply with Part15 of the FCC. Can you interfere with cellular networks in Nicaragua or Costa Rica? (I would double check...otherwise students will remind you!) The point I want to make with Cellular access (Macro towers, DAS, etc..), is that students that cannot join the Wi-Fi network in classrooms will find other wireless technologies to get access (Smartphones, tethering laptops, air-cards.... or just a book, but not the textbook!). So, students that can afford cellular-data access can still be distracted. This could be an interesting research. The hypothesis would be "Is it about who you know or what you know" or TextBook VS FaceBook ;-) Philippe Univ. of TN On Nov 19, 2010, at 9:45 AM, Luis Fernando Valverde wrote: Yes, we do. The idea is to block any source of wireless connection to the WiFi network. lf From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Hanset, Philippe C Sent: Jueves, 18 de Noviembre de 2010 07:42 p.m. To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] WiFi blockers in classrooms And do you plan to block air-cards on cellular as well with that jammer? Philippe Univ. of TN On Nov 18, 2010, at 4:06 PM, Luis Fernando Valverde wrote: I understand your points of view and I agree with some of your comments. However, we use our classrooms for multiple academic activities (MBA programs, seminar and in-company events), and we need to find a simple device to block the signal in a 10-20 meters radius / classroom. So, the adjacent classrooms can work with the signal of their own access points (some professors require Internet signal to teach their sessions – internet dynamics, simulations over the internet, cloud computing services, etc.). I have heard that this is implemented in some universities in the USA, Europe and Asia (for instance, I was told that in the Indian School of Bussiness’ classrooms there are switches to enable/disable wireless signals. I emailed them, but I haven’t received answer yet). Luis Fernando From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Greg Schaffer Sent: Jueves, 18 de Noviembre de 2010 03:00 p.m. To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] WiFi blockers in classrooms They also use cloud document management such as Google docs and would need the connectivity if storing notes out there. Instructors need to manage the classroom, not take tools away, IMO. Greg On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 2:52 PM, Methven, Peter J <[email protected]> wrote: If you have some lead laying around, you could line the rooms and turn the APs off during lecture times... But as other respondents have said it's not really a technology issue, you design your WIFI for full coverage for a reason. Students use laptops to take notes like we all used to use notepads. Similar to using notepads to draw on when bored in a lecture or write notes, our current students use their laptops to use facebook etc. The issue lecturers should look at is why their students are so bored in their lectures that they are losing interest! Many Thanks Peter Peter Methven Network Specialist Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh Scotland EH14 4AS (+44)0 131 4513516 This email has been sent from a mobile phone, please excuse any creative spelling or grammar that may have occured! On 18 Nov 2010, at 20:35, "Russ Leathe" <[email protected]> wrote: We can push out different SSID’s with ACL’s that limit what an authenticated user can access. However, our AP heatmap shows leakage from AP’s above and below the floors where the classroom are. So, in a nutshell, it wasn’t worth it (blocking that is). Especially true once you incorporate emergency notification via 802.11x. I would agree with other colleagues comments, it’s an academic/classroom/Professor issue. Northeastern, I believe, did not roll out 802.11x in the classrooms, because the Professors did not want it. The idea behind this decision was “you don’t need wifi to take notes”. I hope this is helpful, Russ From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Luis Fernando Valverde Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2010 2:31 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] WiFi blockers in classrooms Hello, Has anybody used jammer WiFi blockers to block to block wireless network access in classrooms in order to help students to concentrate on course instruction? I would like to know which blockers are being used with success to do this? Can somebody tell me which is the best and cheaper solution (something so easy as turn a switch on/off)? Thanks, Luis Fernando ----------------------------------------------------------- Luis Fernando Valverde Director de Tecnología de Información INCAE Business School Tel: +506 24 37 2338 Fax: +506 24 33 9101 [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> www.incae.edu <http://www.incae.edu/> ----------------------------------------------------------- Error! Filename not specified. "El medio ambiente es del interés de todos. 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