Onboard, Connect, Learn: Avoid Back-to-School Wi-Fi Headaches in a BYOD World

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“Our 1:1 initiative is really what we call a ‘digital conversion.’ We’re taking instruction from the traditional teacher lecturing the class to a personalized, collaborative, and differentiated learning program.”

Debbie Karcher CIO, Miami-Dade County Public Schools

Digital Learning Demands Constant ConnectivityThe time-honored rituals of testing—

Scantron multiple-choice test forms,

trusty yellow No. 2 pencils, and a frenzied

pace to answer as many questions

correctly as possible in 45 minutes—are

giving way to the new brave new world of

digital learning and online assessments.

But is your school’s Wi-Fi ready for this

year’s back-to-school digital learning

challenge?

Imagine two classrooms, each with

20 students, both given the same test

and 45 minutes to complete it. Except

Classroom A is given sharpened No. 2

pencils with their tests, while Classroom

B has a box of unsharpened pencils

sitting on the teacher’s desk and one

pencil sharpener for 20 students to

share. The students in Classroom A

will open their test booklets and start

their tests the second the teacher says

“Begin.” The students in Classroom B

will have an entirely different experience,

based on where they are in line for

pencils or the sharpener, or if they had

the foresight to bring a sharpened pencil

to the class in the first place. The end

result: the students in Classroom B

will not have the same opportunity to

succeed on their test as the students in

Classroom A, and they might not even

have the same opportunity as other

students in their own classroom.

This example may sound like a bad

episode of “K-12 Survivor,” but the

reality of today’s 21st-century learning

environment is driven by the availability

and accessibility of mobile devices,

digital content, and online assessments.

The amount of classroom instruction

and testing time is a finite resource,

and when those precious minutes

are wasted getting onto the school’s

One-third of U.S. Students Use School-Issued Mobile Devices

Whether the result of a

formalized 1:1 learning

initiative or an ad hoc

effort, mobile devices in the

classroom are a reality. Nearly

all middle and high school

students have access to

mobile devices and use them

for schoolwork.

Source: “The New Digital Playbook: Understanding the Spectrum of Students’ Activities and Aspirations,” Project Tomorrow, April 2014, http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/04/08/a-third-of-secondary-students-use-school-issued-mobile-devices.aspx

Today’s K-12 students tap into a wide range of mobile devices to enhance learning—both in and out of school. Principals, parents and teachers support this mobile learning trend by recognizing the benefits of increased access allowing students to learn anytime, anywhere. See how mobile devices enable new and customized learning that is un-tethered and digitally-rich.

Mobile Learning

Source: Speak Up 2013 National Research Project. In fall 2013, over 403,000 online surveys from K-12 students, parents, and educators representing over 9,005 schools nationwide were submitted through the Speak Up Project. Speak Up is an annual research initiative of Project Tomorrow, a national education nonprofit organization and is supported by these

innovative companies: Blackboard, Inc., BrainPOP, DreamBox Learning, K-12, Inc., Rosetta Stone Education, Schoolwires, and SMART Technologies.www.tomorrow.org/speakup/

Digital Reader

Tablet

Laptop

Smartphone

9-12

6-8

3-5

K-222%

89%

73%

50%

41%

66%

66%

62%

41%

50%

61%

58%

18%

39%

48%

39%

Gra

de

Grade 3-5

31%Grade 6-8

31%Grade 9-12

33%

% of students indicating they have access to a school provided device

Of those students with school provided devices:

Can take the device home

Cannot take the device home

25% 42% 36%64%58%75%

42% Communicate with peers/teachers

32% Take photos of

assignments

63% Look up information on the

Internet

40% Take an online test

43% Access online textbobobobooks

33333%%%% Play onlline

games

11%owndevices

22%school provided devices

44%do not have regular access tomobile devices

23%occasional use of devices checked out for specific activities

0

10

20

30

40

50

6052% in 2010

only 22% in 2010 only 3% in 2010

10%allow BYOD

41%say they will allow students to use their own devices at school this year

2013

2013

32%say students are not allowed to use their own devices within the district

2013

77%cite safety and district liability

70%cite student

equity in device access

ParentsTeachersPrincipalsImproves school

to home communications

Increasesstudent engagement

Personalizes learning

Extends learningbeyond school day

Provides way for studentsto review materials anytime

86%75%

55%67%

58%49%

62%55%

49%57%

54%63%

48%52%52%

Student Mobile Device Access

Principals Embrace BYOD, But Important Concerns Remain

1:1 Classroom Access – Teachers Say That Students...

School Provided Tablets or Laptops

Student Mobile Device Usage for School Work

Benefits of Mobile LearningBYOD = Bring Your Own Device

network and accessing information, the

results are felt unequally across schools

and districts. When these challenges

persist, and teachers lose too much

teaching time—or worse, are unable to

cover the curriculum—many teachers

simply abandon those best-laid plans for

tablets and digital content, and revert to

textbooks and paper.

If you’re a teacher, school administrator, IT

professional, or technology coordinator,

you’ve probably experienced nightmares

associated with the steady stream of new

devices that show up in the students’

backpacks on the first day of school or

after winter break.

Student Expectations vs. IT ResponsibilitiesDigital learning holds great promise, but the proliferation of educational technology

means the focus must stay on the learning and making the technology work must

not be a distraction. Students and teachers just want the school’s Wi-Fi to work.

IT administrators have other concerns, such as:

• Proper device registration

• Appropriate use of the Internet

• Network security

• Balancing network loads

• Compliance with network requirements and mapping to IT policies

• Connections to appropriate access point, SSIDs and VLANs

• Configuring 802.1X and certifications

Unfortunately, students and teachers often rely on in-class tech tutorials or self-

service instructions for Wi-Fi access. That might work marginally well for tech-

savvy high school students, but it can be a cumbersome process for middle and

elementary school kids. Most everyone hates reading technology instructions,

and districts’ self-service instructions are often out of date or incomplete for

schools that have adopted a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) approach and must

deal with a multitude of mobile device types.

Students need equitable access to digital media to support engaged learning,

but districts must also protect students from harmful content on the Internet,

whether that content is accessible from a school-issued or personally owned

device. Districts must also protect themselves against overly curious students,

and prevent unauthorized access to applications and systems.

“Complexity is your enemy. Any fool can make something complicated. It is hard to make something simple.”

Richard Branson – founder of Virgin Group

Common Core Online Assessments Are Here

When technology intrudes, learning is interrupted. And nowhere is uninterrupted access more critical than when it comes to the Common Core online assessments, which are required for the 2014–2015 school year and beyond. With online assessments, teachers, students, and families get the test results faster, making it easier to pinpoint gaps and make adjustments.

Schools must have enough test-taking devices—laptops, netbooks, tablets, or desktops—for every student, and districts must have reliable, secure connectivity so that assessments are not interrupted. But according to the Consortium for School Networking, only 57 percent of elementary schools and 64 percent of secondary schools report that 100 percent of their classrooms have wireless Internet connectivity.

Wireless registration, authentication, and access don’t have to be cumbersome and complicated. The Meru Education-

grade (MEG™) solution for BYOD management is Meru Connect, which streamlines onboarding processes so

that students get the quick, simple, and reliable connectivity they want. Meru Connect also automates many of the

requirements for maintaining and managing a secure, high-performance network. To see for yourself, compare a set of

typical multi-step, self-help instructions to Meru Connect’s three-step process:

A TA L E O F Two Logins

Or...Meru’s 3 steps for any platform ?

d. Enter your School Username (e.g. helpdesk) and

Password in the appropriate fields.

e. The Remember this network checkbox should be

checked.

f. Click Join.

The process still isn’t finished if users are setting up

their device off-campus! But this is as far as they can go.

Once on campus, it continues…

10. The Verify Certificate

prompt will appear–click

Continue.

11. A prompt will ask you to enter

your password–type in your

Computer Username and

Password.

12. Click Update Settings.

13. Click Apply in the lower-right-hand corner of the Network

Control Panel.

14. Exit System Preferences.

15. You are now connected to the secure wireless network.

Steps for setting up secure wireless for Mac OS 10.7X – 10.8X

1. Click on the Apple icon in the upper-left-hand

corner and select System Preferences.

2. Select the Network Control Panel.

3. Select Wi-Fi.

4. Select Edit Locations

under the Location

pull-down menu.

5. Click the Plus icon in the

lower left-hand corner.

6. Replace “Untitled” with

name of school.

7. Click Done. (NOTE:

When you are on campus,

please use the “School

Name” location; otherwise, select “Automatic” when you are

off-campus with your laptop.)

8. Select Join Other

Network... under the

Network Name pull-

down menu.

9. Configure the Find

and Join a Wi-Fi Network

window in the following way:

a. Type aps-school

name in the Network

Name field.

b. Select WPA2 Enterprise

in the Security pull-

down menu.

c. Leave the default Mode to Automatic. (Only for Mac

OS X 10.7.X)

15 steps or 3 steps.

Whichdoyouprefer?

Authenticate usingWeb authentication

Step 1Download an appletto configure 802.1X

Step 2Automatically connect

with 802.1X

Step 3

Encrypted

Access Point

Supported Platforms

Wireless Network Best Practices

Even though students and schools have

competing priorities when it comes to

Wi-Fi access, there are several steps you

can take to achieve a happy balance:

1. Manage expectations. Students

should know ahead of time about

the steps required for access, and

why they are important (especially

authentication and security) . They

also should be made aware that

Wi-Fi accessibility and reliability

will not be uniform across all

school facilities. Consider creating

maps showing red, yellow,

and green areas that indicate

connectivity levels/quality.

2. Implement “smart” technology.

Automating secure connections

increases efficiency and ensures

security processes and protocols

will always be followed.

3. Segregate Wi-Fi traffic.

Create separate “branches” for

students, faculty and guests to

improve network performance

and to manage authentication and

security issues.

4. Devote appropriate resources.

Wi-Fi networks carry more than

90 percent of your “digital traffic,”

but many schools provide the

equivalent of less than one full-

time engineer for service and

maintenance.

Simplify Wi-Fi for Mobile Device

Managing the influx of mobile devices for students, teachers, parents, and visitors has never been easier. To find out more about how to eliminate back-to-school Wi-Fi headaches in your district, contact Meru Networks at www.merunetworks.com, or speak with one of our expert consultants at 877.952.6725.

Meru Education-grade (MEG™) Solutions

MEG wireless is a unique platform that makes it easy to onboard BYOD devices. MEG seamlessly integrates technology with instruction, so interrupted learning—having to reauthenticate devices, unequal network access, getting disconnected during online assignments—becomes a thing of the past.

MEG can help you overcome the challenges of providing equal access to Wi-Fi, and thus support digital learning initiatives by keeping teachers and students connected and engaged throughout the day. They’ll get the maximum benefit from learning-essential applications:

Onboard students easily with automated secure client provisioning using Meru Connect.

Connect any device reliably anywhere: in class, in the hallways, or outside using Meru’s broad portfolio of 802.11ac access points, controllers and network management software.

Learn by deploying flipped classrooms, conducting online assessments, collaborating on a project on a shared screen, and other 21st century teaching and learning techniques, anytime under Wi-Fi coverage with predictably good performance even in peak usage.

AcademicApplications

Learn

OnboardBYOD

Management

WLANSolutions

Connect

Corporate Headquarters894 Ross Drive Sunnyvale, CA 94089T +1 (408) 215-5300F +1 (408) 215-5301E meruinfo@merunetworks.com

Meru delivers an all-wireless network that fully supports the enterprise, delivering a consistent, interactive experience for all users. No matter what applications they are running. No matter how many other users are on the network. For more information, visit www.merunetworks.com or email your questions to: meruinfo@merunetworks.com.

Copyright © 2015 Meru Networks, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. All other trademarks, trade names, or service marks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. Meru Networks assumes no responsibility for any inaccuracies in this document. Meru Networks reserves the right to change, modify, transfer, or otherwise revise this publication without notice. 1.15 WP1003.2 US