Student Access

TechCrunch reports on big news on the Google front today. It's about 'Froyo', the new Android 2.2, and it has huge implications for web access in schools:

Froyo will have built in USB tethering so you can share your data connection with your laptop... And even better: you can turn your Android phone into a portable wifi hotspot as well.

@concretekax asks four great questions this morning on his blog that all school admins and teachers should be thinking about right about now:

• Will this type of technology make cable connections obsolete
• Is paying to put Wi-Fi hotspots in school buildings also a waste of money?
• Will schools allow students to use this technology or pay waste money on equipment to block the signals?
• Will this help end the filtering debates and make CIPA irrelevant?

Are you ready for students creating their own wi-fi hotspots? You better be. Because this is the type of thing that more than anything suggests what the future looks like: it's mobile, it's accessible, what used to be public is personal and what used to be personal is public.

Better get to work on those new digital health classes you are going to be offering. You'll have a couple extra bucks to pay for 'em now that your Internet blocking software is obsolete.

Is It Too Much To Expect Wi-Fi at a Conference in the Year 2009?

Sitting in a local coffee house three blocks from the Baltimore Convention Center.

Reason? Well, hot coffee and free Wi-Fi, of course.

And because only one of those things was offered at the convention center.

***

Had a talk over there with one of the organizers about the failure to provide access during the ed conference today. And she agreed wholeheartedly that there was indeed great irony in the fact that none of us bloggers or Twitterers could connect during the morning presentation on social networks.

I'm not going to throw around blame; a lot goes into the planning and production of any conference and there will be successes and failures along the way. But I am going to ask three questions of both conference organizers and the sites that offer services to them.

First to the organizers:

1. Do you understand why a Wi-Fi connection is not a luxury, but an empowering and enhancing vehicle for driving meaningful discussion at your conference?

2. Do you understand that teachers are now partaking in professional development on a daily and individualized basis via Twitter and online media, and therefore expect to be able to tap into, share, and dialogue with their personal learning networks the worth and value present in your conference rooms?

3. Do you understand that by failing to provide free Wi-Fi to your conference-goers, you are closing off your conference from any meaningful real-time discussion with the broader education community -- a discussion with the potential to dramatically increase the value of your conference for participants and therefore increase their desire to actively take part in future editions?

Now, to the conference site:

1. What are the physical costs associated with opening up your network to your conference goers? From what I noticed, the network at Baltimore's convention center was in place -- in other words, all that was needed was a password. So, is there a real cost to opening access, or are conference goers just expected to pay a gatekeeper fee?

2. Do you understand the value inherent in having your site associated with free access; and do you understand the future implications of being designated as a site opposed to free access?

3. Do you really believe that you are the only game in town? (That was harsh... what I really meant to say was: Do you see it as a smart business plan to bilk your clients out of every last dime?) Or are there real roadblocks to your technological capacity as a site and you are actually not presently equipped to provide authentic access to a 21st century conference-going crowd?

Conferences are changing. People are paying attention to the access and associated value on a site-by-site and conference-by-conference basis. Furthermore, the folks most likely to provide value at a conference are the folks who can bring outside networks into the fold of the discussion.

Conference organizers and conference sites ignore this at their peril.

A Crossroads in Rural Wi-Fi?

Ate dinner last night at a local Mexican restaurant in Crossville, Tennessee.

And one thing that came to mind was that I’ve been woefully inconsiderate of the digital realities in our rural communities.

Now, Crossville -- which bills itself as the 'Golf Capital of Tennessee' -- is relatively populated compared to some of the old mountain roads I got lost on finding the town. From the looks of it, the resorts and golf courses must bring in the bulk of the local economy; though from my view of the trees on the side of a mountain, I didn't get to see that part of town. Instead, I spent most of my time in the forest and in the gas stations and by local restaurants stealing Wi-Fi.

And I'm wondering what digital life is like for folks here in the dales of Tennessee. On the one hand, you can't pull into a truck-stop or a fastfood joint's parking lot without catching the local feed; but out there on the roads and in the hills, there's barely cell reception.

Through much of eastern TN, I was spotting signs for something related to a TN Tech something-or-other. I'd really like to know what that's all about. Because I think the rural Wi-Fi issue might even be more difficult to address than the digital divide in the underprivileged communities in our cities. At least in places like West Baltimore, folks are living close enough together that WiMax and similar coverage systems can get to all of ‘em.

But in the dales of rural Tennessee?

I’d love to hear from some teachers in really ‘off-the-map’ communities about issues facing their schools with regard to tech and especially to Wi-Fi access. I realize that I really don’t understand what’s happening here and I’m asking you for your voices and experiences.

I’m also understanding that ‘off-the-map’ is anything but a fair description of these communities. In Crossville last evening, there was a steel guitar concert going down at the main street theatre and though the old strip mall where we found the restaurant was full of check-cashing joints and a sub-par outlet grocer, the food and the service was top-notch.

If anything, I’m the one who’s been ‘off-the-map’.

- Written in Malvern, Arkansas 12:38AM July 16, 2009

Wi-Fi Fail at NECC 2009

The Washington Convention Center had better get working on its Wi-Fi problem; there are dozens of bloggers ready to pounce (that is, if they could just get connected).

McLeod blogs livid.

As reported earlier, folks have been complaining about the intermittent service. But now, things have taken a turn for the worse. I am hearing that there is now no service in the Bloggers' Cafe. I've been moving around the building (I'm currently in Ballroom A waiting for a presentation from the worldwide SCRATCH community) and I've had spotty access at best.

Let's get it fixed, folks.

Another Wi-Fi City

A reader writes:

Here in Minneapolis, we have a city-wide Wi-Fi system. There is a charge. However, there is something called a 'Community Garden' that is free to anyone with a wireless card. Mostly for community resources and schools. I'd love to see full access given to families that are enrolled in Minneapolis public schools.

It's great that Minneapolis has gone Wi-Fi!

In terms of the benefit to students, it's really going to be important that they can get connected OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL because that's where things are really gonna happen -- things like the self-discovery of personal responsibility towards one's work and research, a recognition of the global nature of knowledge, and -- perhaps most importantly -- PERSONAL EPIPHANY.