Wireless laptop for classroom learning : A new environment in student computing / Aliza Abu Bakar

Educational technologists will want to consider how the use of wireless technology can
enhance education and, in particular, what staff development is required to help make
effective use of the new opportunities that wireless technology has to offer. More
specifically representing wireless technology is wireless LAN that is a method of
linking computers together without using cables. Until recently computers could only be
effectively networked using wires. However, this can now be done using radio signals
or infrared light.
This journal report discusses what a wireless LAN is and the issues that are involved in
determining whether a wireless LAN is appropriate for any institution. It describes how
to go about implementing a wireless LAN and looks at the educational opportunities
which the uses of wireless LANs open up for colleges and universities.
The educational benefits of wireless LANs are most likely to accrue in courses that
require all students to have a laptop. This so-called 'ubiquitous computing' with
wireless connectivity opens up new educational possibilities which are beginning to be
explored.
Evidence suggests that this technology enhances collaborative work and is bringing new
teaching methods into the classroom. In almost all situations wireless LANs will be
used in conjunction with wired LANs to maximize the benefits for the college or
university/school. Wireless LAN use will continue to grow and become more important
over the next five years, by which time it will be as unthinkable for a college or
university/school not to have a wireless LAN as it is for a college or university/school
not to have a LAN now. They will continue to supplement wired LANs, which will
always have an important role to play, both providing the backbone within campuses.