Introduction and Overview of Wireless Technology: • 802.11b (or WiFi) is the current standard in today’s wireless networking environment. • 802.11b is a standard based technology, meaning that one manufacture’s wireless equipment which adheres to the standard will be interoperable with that of another manufacturer. It is important to note that some manufacturers have added additional functionality to their products. As these features or functionalities are not part of the standard, so they may not work with products from other vendors. http://www.presentationslive.blogspot.com/ For the most part, schools march their children to a computer lab once a week where they are then suppose to learn “how to use the computer.” Kids aren’t getting the opportunity to use computers and explore their full potential. They are using them as no more than over-priced typewriters. Use of Wireless Laptops in the classroom, gives students the opportunity to use the computer to take notes, organize projects and research without leaving their seats. Wireless allows for ubiquitous use of technology in the classroom and building as a whole. It helps to foster discovery-based learning, making the school day less boring. Wireless fosters wonderful opportunities for human interaction by offering one on one or small group collaboration. Wireless allows for learning by doing, instead of learning by being told. It allows homogeneous schools to bring more diversity into the classroom. It allows us to build bridges of understanding between people of different cultures around the world, and to help us realize how much we have in common and appreciate our differences. www.presentationslive.blogspot.com With wireless connectivity, teachers no longer have to worry about having lab time in order to use the computers, the classroom now becomes the lab. Advantages: Ease of Movement Laptops allow for easy movement within a classroom or anywhere around the campus. o Due to size and portability, laptops provide enough computers in a classroom to make the use of a computer a helpful teaching utility. o When a technology lesson is over, the laptops can just be put away. Other lessons can then continue with little interruption. Ease of movement is likely to encourage more frequent use. The current model in schools is to place just a few computers in a fixed position in the classroom. Wireless laptops have the potential of allowing more computers per classroom, thereby allowing large projects that require a machine per user basis to be possible. The mobile nature of wireless laptops allow computers to be where they are needed, at any time of the day. Because of this, computer technology will be better utilized by teachers and students. The traditional thin distribution of computer and technology contributes to the lack of use by large numbers of teachers. If teachers don’t have computers - or enough of them, to utilize them effectively in their lessons- then they simply won’t use them. Wireless laptops can help to make the use of computers a reality for all teachers. Strategic Deployment Wireless laptops make it easy to put computing power where it will do the most good and optimize both use and quality of purpose. o Moving computers where they are needed allows a school to cut its hardware budget while slowing down the purchasing and replacement cycle. Instead of having a few computers in every classroom being used infrequently, fewer laptops can be purchased which will be utilized more often. Flexibility Wireless notebook computers can be used in many different ways to support a lesson, with form following function and purpose. o Laptops can be deployed across a classroom in many different ways, thereby allowing them to fit the contours of the different rooms without causing any additional cl