What Wi-Fi brings

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Wi-Fi brings a plethora of opportunities and benefits for educational institutions that implement the modern technology. Before Wi-fi, many schools were developing LAN lines, typically that of the T-1 line, throughout the school buildings. In upgrading older buildings to having land lines can be a very pricey process. What wi-fi immediately brings is a decrease in cost for implementing a service that allows internet and network access [Olsen 2000] The cost of establishing a wireless network is much more cheaper than that of a wired network. Furthermore, wi-fi allows for an easier and more efficient process for more people to connect to the network than wired networks. Wired networks are constrained by the fact that one line equals one user. With wireless networks, one access point can serve multiple users at a time. "The shift to laptop computing also means that students--many of whom shuttle back and forth between work, campus, and home--can conviently access all campus services on the same computer where they write papers, surf the Internet, send and receive email, regardless of where they are" [Gordon 2004].

For general purposes, wi-fi unquestionably brings a strong sense of convenience for practically all its users--whether faculty or students. The ability to easily access infromation or school services anywhere on campus is a unique benefit that cannot be offered as effieicently and as wireless does with the right systems. Granted, wired networks theoretically allow this too, it does not quite the same degree of convenience and ease of access to digital information. This type of convenience offers limitless opportunities to benefiting its users. These vary from better communciations to easier access to class files.

Educational wise, wi-fi provides a number of ways that both currently and potentially help benefit students and faculty.

Currently, the convenience factor plays into effect in numerous ways, but especially with situations that require group meetings for projects. For programs such as the Haas School of Business, group work are the norm and often these projects require the use of research through the electronic resources offered by the library services. Wi-fi allows for additional flexibility that allow groups to work more efficiently and meet at variety of locations. It prevents groups from being constricted to working at the library or a computer lab on campus. Also, it allows students to be able to work on their studies wherever they desire. Because people have different studying habits, the mobility factor of wireless allows students to learn at the location that's best for them. For lectures, wireless also can "enrich classroom discussions by, for example, allowing students to important information from the Internet and share it with the rest of the class" [McWilliams 2005]. These types of examples for the convenience factor inevitably furthers the learning experience for many students.

Potentially, wi-fi offers limits opportunities for applications in bolstering the quality of education to students. Many schools throughout the nation are expermenting with a variety of ways to apply the advantages of this technology to further educational purpose.

• Real-Time Feedback and Questions. At the University of California San Diego, many of the faculty who taught large classes were faced with the problem that the student body was becoming increasingly quiet. According to William Griswold, a professor for Computer Science, "many students were unwilling to raise their hands in front of 150 of their peers." Griswold has developed an in-class applicated called ActiveCampus that "aims to encourage participation by having students, professors, and TAs connect with the system through their PDA's or laptops, then allowing students to submit anonymous questions during the class period that can be viewed by all students" [Fordan 2004]. In this process, the silent communciations doesn't interrupt the professor and allows the instructor flexbility in how and when he or she chooses to answer the questions. Morever, it also "empowers" students to ask everything from adminsitrative types of questions to advanced inquiries--all of which usually are uncomfortable subjects to raise in large lecture hall.
  
• Virtual Spaces for Group Sessions. At numerous institutions, many professors looking to take advantage of the technology are attempt to implement a type of infrastructure that allows for virtual classrooms. Professor Stark from UC Berkeley "envisions virtual problem-solving sessions for his Statistics 21 class" [Lee, 2003]. "It's a very different kind of active learning and a very different kind of interaction between students than would be possible otherwise," Stark said. "We're trying to break down the walls of the classroom."
  
• Audience Response Systems. For a Chemistry 1A course at the Unversity of California Berkeley, hundreds of students fill into large class of Pimental Hall. As the lecture engages, the lecturer, Mark Kubinec, has tried something a little different. The concept he brings is by asking questions through out the lecture to illustrate certain concepts and having the students answer them through these little remote-control devices. Technology has allowed the answers of the class to be displayed within minutes. He then asks the students to converge among themselves and answer accordingly. Soon, the answers start narrowing onto correct answer through a process known as "peer instruction" [Univeristy of California Teaching, Learning, & Technology Center 2004]. This method allows for interaction in large lecture classes for students and for the instructor. Though, this technology does not specifically use Wi-Fi, it provides a foundational framework that could lead to more advanced techniques furthing interaction through wireless technology. Again, this technology gives anonimiyt to those students who are afaid to speak, creative a more interactive environment for students to learn. Several professors at Berkeley have found this program useful for increasing interest and interaction in large-enrollment classes.

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