Making the Case for Free Wi-Fi
By: Daniel Johnson
Many students returning to Arabia Mountain High school for the 2014-2015 school year were hit with a surprise when they tried to gain access to the school’s Wi-Fi network. The previous password ceased to work. The new network DeKalb County uses requires individuals to enter a myriad of personal information and even then it may or may not log you in.
Arabia Mountain High school loves to bill itself as a technology friendly school to the media, but how can that be true when the Wi-Fi remains locked and it’s password continues to be hidden to students? This is a school that has BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) days and “Technology in Use” door signs, but prohibits basic access to the internet, rendering most devices useless unless they are lucky enough to have a strong signal.
In one class, with close to forty students, the teacher puts a sponge on the board that is meant to be answered by students on their phones. In previous years with an open Wi-Fi, students were able to complete the task very quickly as it is an assignment that does not take long to complete. However now, only a handful of students are able to get a signal from their cellular provider. The teacher’s solution? Four slow computers in the back of the room. Four computers to service nearly forty students.
In a RESEARCH and engineering class things are even worse. We are supposed to do research (of course) and use the design process to solve problems. There are no computers in the room, so we have to use laptops. In previous years we used the Wi-Fi and things went smoothly. However now this is what we have to go through.
Ethernet wires snaking across the entire class, students tripping over and having to untangle them constantly. The school has abandoned common sense on this matter and for what gain? It does not save money. They haven’t done away with the Wi-Fi, merely locked it. It does not encourage productivity in the class room. It greatly inhibits it. If they are worried at kids looking at inappropriate things, they don’t have to. The new web security client allows the blocking of certain sites on mobile devices.
Ethernet wires snaking across the entire class, students tripping over and having to untangle them constantly. The school has abandoned common sense on this matter and for what gain? It does not save money. They haven’t done away with the Wi-Fi, merely locked it. It does not encourage productivity in the class room. It greatly inhibits it. If they are worried at kids looking at inappropriate things, they don’t have to. The new web security client allows the blocking of certain sites on mobile devices.