ARTICLE / Tech Deployment Playbook
NEXT GENERATION NETWORK ESSENTIALS
The Consortium for School Networking has a leadership initiative — Smart Education Networks by Design — that provides the tools for district chief technology officers to analyze and plan for the next generation network. According to SEND, there are quite a few things to consider when redesigning your network: • The Internet is mission-critical and will continue to grow in use. • 24/7, mobile, anytime computing is imperative to the support of Personalized Learning Environments. • Private, hybrid and public clouds are education network requirements. • Internet services will grow substantially, meaning that associated school Internet infrastructure components must be sized adequately and scalable. • The WAN and Internet service design directly correlates to the viability of managed services as a valuable option for schools. • Wireless network design is about capacity and access.
• Student computing, BYOD or technology and mobile devices are untrusted and will likely be the primary devices accessing the network. • Consider point-to-multipoint network designs. • Describe and define the current and future roles for mobile broadband (3G/4G) with respect to district network strategies. Wireless Internet (3G/4G) services are eligible for E-Rate under certain circumstances. • Security models are changing. • Software-defined networking will impact school network designs. • Virtualization is an important education network component.
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY
Devise a plan for teachers to pilot different devices that have been proven in education. Pilots are an essential way to determine what works best for your students and teachers. • Have teachers assess the impact of the device being used in the classroom? Have they seen significant gains in student engagement and achievement? • Embed professional development as staff pilot devices. • Create Professional Learning Communities for teachers to discuss the use of technology in a 1:1 environment. • While the pilot of devices is taking place, consider the impact to the network infrastructure.
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