Entire school district will soon be wireless
By Kristine Thiessen - South Delta Leader
Published: September 11, 2008 4:00 PM
As soon as next month all schools in the Delta School District will be plugged in for a wireless connection to the Internet.
Superintendent Steve Cardwell sees a future where students and staff adapt to new ways of learning and sharing knowledge.
“It’s about the communications opportunities, the research capabilities, the ability to link up with other schools, other students in other sites,” he says.
He envisions students, Grade 5 and up, participating in web casts, and teachers hosting video conferences for students with experts in their fields, like a scientist in the Arctic.
Cardwell reiterates his vision of young learners with laptops “gathered under the proverbial oak tree,” accessing the Internet anywhere on the property.
While wireless network access has become increasingly common for post-secondary campuses and coffee shops, from the University of B.C. to Starbucks, to have the Internet at the fingertips of high school and elementary students is largely untested.
While some teachers may worry laptops will bring a host of distractions, Cardwell believes this will not be the case.
“Actually, there are a number of school districts (in North America) where the entire district has laptops or certain grade levels have laptops and they’ve found that it’s not,” he says.
He cites the state of Maine as an example, which has provided laptops to its middle school students.
And he says there’s evidence laptop access does not come at the expense of skills such as handwriting.
“Also, it’s not just about typing words on a computer . . . All these doors just open,” he says. “The ability to create podcasts, wikis, there are all these opportunities.”
The next step for the district, says Cardwell, is finding a way for students to have equal access to the technology.
Other challenges he forsees range from network security, to providing technical support, to teachers adapting to the technology in the teaching and learning environment.
To get the ball rolling Cardwell sent out a call last week to teachers interested in using laptops in the classroom and keen to get training on how to design lessons which incorporate the technology.
In his letter to staff Cardwell said, “I am seeking expressions of interest from teachers and school administrators to work with me in utilizing wireless laptop computers along with productivity and multimedia software with our students.”
He goes on to note, “This is, of course, a dream without a major funding source! I am considering various options, which could include a ‘lease to own’ opportunity for parents/students and/or school/district. I would seek to capitalize on existing mobile laptop carts, and would find a way to handle cases of hardship.”
As for the cost of setting up the wireless connection, Cardwell says the district received a deal through company called Ruckus interested in moving into the Kindergarten through Grade 12 sector.
