Guidelines for School System Chief Technology Officers Guidelines.pdf · in powerful ways and reinvigorate student engagement. The latest mobile compung devices are capable of enabling

DESIGN GUIDELINES

March 2014

sponsored by

Guidelines for School System Chief Technology Officers

QualcommTechnologies,Inc.

Copyright ©2014 Consortium for School Networking. All rights reserved.

CoSN (Consortium for School Networking)1025 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 1010Washington, DC [email protected] www.cosn.org

CONTENTS

Foreword...........................................................

Informa=onTechnologyinSchools....................

DataandCapacity..............................................

NetworkDesignConsidera=ons.........................

AccessPointsandWirelessConnec=vity............

Connec=ngDevicestotheNetwork...................

Connec=ngfromOutsideofSchool....................

UnderstandingDeviceCapabili=es.....................

Conclusion:LookingAhead................................

ReferencesandResources.................................

Acknowledgments...........................................

SENDChecklist...................................................

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mailto:[email protected]


DESIGN GUIDELINES

“Wemustmakeourschoolsanintegralpartofthebroadbandandtechnologytransforma8on—par8cularlywhenthatsametechnologycanbeharnessedtodriveempowered,morepersonalizedlearning.Fromdigitaltextbooksthathelpstudentsvisualizeandinteractwithcomplexconcepts,toappsandplaAormsthatadapttothelevelofindividualstudentknowledgeandhelpteachersknowpreciselywhichlessonsorac8vi8esareworking,thistechnologyisreal,itisavailable,anditscapacitytoimproveeduca8onisprofound…InacountrywhereweexpectfreeWi‐Fiwithourcoffee,whyshouldn’twehaveitinourschools?”

—PresidentObama’sannouncementofConnectEd,June6,2013

Smart Education Networks by DesignGuidelines for School System Chief Technology Officers

Foreword

Weliveinanincreasinglyconnectedandtechnology‐infusedworld.Inrecentyears,theprolifera8onofincrediblypowerfulandalways‐connectedmobiledeviceshastransformedthewaywework,acquireinforma8onabouttheworldaroundus,entertainourselvesandinteractwithourprofessionalandpersonalcontacts.

Manyoftoday’sK‐12studentsarenotfarbehind.HavinggrownupintheworldofsmartphonesandthemobileInternet,theyapproachacquisi8onandintegra8onofinforma8onfardifferentlythanstudentsdidevenjustafewshortyearsago.1Thetrendisworthyofacknowledgment.Itiswidelyacceptedthatmostofthefastest‐growingcareerfieldsintheU.S.requireamasteryofavarietyofinforma8ontechnologyandcommunica8onskills.

Mobilecomputingtechnologies,ubiquitousconnectivityandcloud‐basedserviceshavetransformedprofessional,civicandpersonallives.Iftoday’schildrenaretobecollegeandcareerready,thesesametechnologiesshouldalsobeanintegralpartofthelearningexperiencesinK‐12schoolsandclassrooms.Thoughtfullydesignedandrobustnetworksarecritical,withsecureaccessfromamixofdevices.

One‐to‐onecompu8ng,coupledwithubiquitousconnec8vitypromisestotransformcurrentapproachestoteaching,bringcoreconceptstolifeinpowerfulwaysandreinvigoratestudentengagement.Thelatestmobilecompu8ngdevicesarecapableofenablinghighlypersonalizedandtargetedcurricula,providingintegratedlearningassessmentswithimmediatefeedback,andenablinghighlyinterac8veandcollabora8velearningprocesses.

We have a tremendous opportunity to effect significant and positive changes in our classrooms and in the academic lives of our students.

Page 2 Guidelines for School System Chief Technology Officers

TheSmartEducationNetworksbyDesign(SEND)initiativewilladdressthechallengesfacedbyschoolsystemsbyprovidingschoolsystemleaderswiththeknowledgetowiselyinvestineducationalnetworksfortodayandtomorrow.

Theini=a=vewill:

■Highlightnewandfuturetechnologiesinallaspectsofeducationnetworkdesignsuchasmobile,wireless,broadband,security,safety,identitymanagement,andcrisispreparedness.

■Identifybestpracticesinstrategicdesignofnetworksforeducationfocusingoncreatingscalable,affordable,reliableandresilientnetworksforschoolsanddistricts.

■Developvendorneutralresourcesandtoolsforschooldistrictstoassessthecurrentstatus,identifylongtermneeds,determinegapsandplanforsuccessfulimplementation.◼

1Willingham,DanielT.“HaveTechnologyandMul8taskingRewiredHowStudentsLearn?”.AmericanEducator,Summer2010:23.Print

Learningopportuni8esprovidedbynewwell‐designeddigitallearningenvironments,orinnova8ve8me‐shiXingteachingmodels,suchasflippedclassrooms,onlinecourses,orhybriddeliverymodelsaremakingaccesstoreliablebroadbandconnec8vityoutsideofschoolasimportantasitisinschool.Learningcannolongerbelimitedtotheconfinesoftheclassroomortheschoolday,andneithershouldaccesstolearningopportuni8esendwhenthefinalbellrings.

Asthelatestlaptops,tabletsandsmartphones,aswellasbroadbandconnec8vitybecomeaffordable,manyU.S.schooldistrictsareconsideringinves8nginsubstan8alupgradestotheirexis8ngITsystemsandinfrastructure,andexploringbuild‐outofthesupportstructuresforextensive1‐to‐1technologydeployments,eitherdistrict‐owned,student‐ownedorablend.

Design,deploymentandongoingmonitoringandmaintenanceofreliableeduca8onnetworksremainessen8altorealizingacademicgainsfrom1‐to‐1compu8ng,localorremotehostedcontent,learningmanagementresources,interac8velearningsimula8onsoraugmentedrealityenvironments.Unfortunately,amajorityofschooldistrictsarenotadequatelyequippedtosupportthesetransforma8vetechnologyprograms.AccordingtotheCoSNE‐RateandBroadbandSurvey2013,57%ofdistrictsdonotbelievetheirschool’swirelessnetworkshavethecapacitytohandlea1‐to‐1deploymenttoday.

Recognizingtheneedforthoughùl,well‐informedplanningandeffec8veexecu8onfromeduca8onITleaders,CoSN,withfinancialsupportfromQualcommTechnologies,Inc.,establishedtheSmartEduca8onNetworksbyDesign(SEND)ini8a8ve.SENDwillassistschools,districtsandstateboardsofeduca8onindesigning,deployingandmaintainingnext‐genera8oneduca8onnetworks—cri8calon‐rampstotransformedlearningenvironments.SENDwillprovidecrucialdecisionguidelines,planningtemplates,supporttoolsandotherresources.

SENDconversa8onthemesincludetheincreasinglysignificantrolesplayedby:

■1‐to‐1programs

■BringYourOwnDevice/Technology(BYOD/T)

■Iden8tymanagement

■Cloudservices

■Datasecurity

■Broadbandconnec8vityintheclassroom

■Alwaysconnected,24/7learningenvironments

■Mobilebroadbandconnec8vity(3G/4G).

Educa&onnetworksencompassanydeploymentofcomputerhardware,soUware,digitalcontentandresources,andlocalandmobileconnec=vityservicesintendedtomeettheneedsofteachers,schooladministrators,studentsandparents.Theymustbedesignedanddeployedtoproviderobust,

All of these critical ingredients to transforming our education system rely upon the presence of high-performing and highly reliable education networks.


reliableandsecureaccesstodesignatedresourcesandcontentbyauthorizedusersonapproveddevicesat8mesandloca8onsthatsupportestablishedlearningobjec8ves.

Personalcomputingtechnologyadoptionwithineducationwillbesuccessfulwhenthattechnologyisusedtosupportinstructionalmodelstransformedbyanytime,anywhereaccesstolearningcontentandcollaboration,aswellasintegratedstudentcomprehensionassessmentsandimmediatefeedbackmechanisms.Thesevitalelementsrequirehigh‐performingandhighlyreliableeducationnetworks.

ThroughSENDandothereduca8ontechnologyprograms,wehaveatremendousopportunitytoeffectsignificantandposi8vechangesinourclassroomsandintheacademiclivesofourstudents.ThisdocumentisbutoneaspectoftheSENDini8a8ve—toaccesstheSENDCTOChecklistwhichdrawsuponthekeytenetsoftheseguidelines,aswellasotherSENDresources,visithkp://www.cosn.org/smartednetworksandfollowTwikerhashtag#SmartEdNetworks.ForthelatestupdatesonotherCoSNini8a8vesvisit(www.cosn.org),followusonTwitter@COSNandlikeusathttp://facebook.com/mycosnCoSNisgratefulforQualcommTechnologies,Inc.(www.qualcomm.com)foundingsponsorsupport.

WehopeyoufindtheseguidelinesandotherSENDresourcesinforma8veanduseful.

InformationTechnologyinSchools

Likeallsegmentsoftheeconomy,schoolsusetechnologyinseveralwaystosupporttheirteaching,learningandoperationalobjectives.RapiddevelopmentofInformationandCommunicationsTechnology(ICT)createssubstantialopportunityforschoolstoinnovate,tofurtherengage21st‐centurylearnersandtoincreaseoperationalefficiency.

Ever‐increasingdigitalresources,broadeningconnectivity,mobiledevicesandpowerfulanalyticaltoolsareshapinganeraofhighlypersonalized,24/7,anytime,anywherelearning.Increasedaccess,mobility,1‐to‐1andBYODinschoolssupportpersonalizedlearningenvironmentsandotherinstructionalmethods.Accessremainsapriorityandthedirectionisclearandpersistent:24/7,ICT‐basedlearningwillcontinuetogrow.

Schoolsarecomplex,multi‐processoperatingentities.Inadigitalworld,theyhavebeenICT‐adoptersinmanyoperationalaspects,fromautomationofattendance,scheduling,communications,transportation,etc.,tostrategicdatauseforteachersandlearners.ICTplaysanimportantroleinmaximizingefficienciesandprovidingservices.UnderlyingandenablingallICT‐basedprogramsandprocessesareeducationnetworks.

Smartly-designed education networks are critical in supporting new instructional models and enabling anytime, anywhere access to learning.


http://www.cosn.org/smartednetworks

http://www.cosn.org/smartednetworks

http://www.cosn.org

http://www.cosn.org

http://facebook.com/mycosn

http://facebook.com/mycosn

http://www.qualcomm.com

http://www.qualcomm.com

Educa=on’sadop=on

InformationandCommunicationsTechnology(ICT)isanincreasinglyimportantpartofthecomplexfabricofeducation.Inglobaleconomiesandindustries,adoptionoftimesavingandmoreeffectivemethodsofaccomplishinggoalshasincreasedproductivityandloweredcosts—animportantfoundationalbenefitofICT.Moreimportantly,ICTenables personalizedlearning.ICTisalso“increasinglyrecognizedasakeysourceofinnova8on…Thisabilitytoinnovateisessen8alinthecurrentinforma8onrevolu8onthatistransformingeconomicandsocialtransac8onsinoursocie8es.”2Thisistrueacrosseconomic,socialandeduca8onstructures.Teachingandlearningprocessesmustembraceinnova8ontoimprovelearning.Already,fromsmartphonestoopen‐sourceinstruc8onalmaterials,theeduca8onallandscapeischangingdrama8cally.Educa8onnetworksunderliethatchange.

Fromseeminglyancientdial‐inmodemstotoday’salways‐onInternetofEverything,organiza8onsandsocie8eshavebeentransformed.Advancedtechnologyfromtheconsumerintotheenterprisehasfundamentallytransformedourdailylivesandexpecta8ons.Digitally‐inclinedparents,studentsandfutureemployerschallengeeduca8onalleaderstodeliverrealandrelevantlearning.

Tothatend,globaltechnologytrendsimpac8ngeduca8onnetworksinclude:

Already, from smartphones to open-source instructional materials, the educational landscape is changing dramatically. Education networks underlie that change.


22013WorldEconomicForum,TheGlobalInforma8onTechnologyReport2013,p.v.

1.Digi8za8on–themassadop8onofconnecteddigitalservicesandtheever‐increasingrepositoryofdigitalcontent.

2.Consumeriza8onofInforma8onTechnology–newinforma8ontechnologyemergesfirstintheconsumermarketandthenspreadsintoorganiza8ons.

3.UbiquitousAccess–Everyoneofus.Everywhere.Connected.3

Thesetrendsenableflippedclassroomsandhybridonlinelearningmodels,andempowercollabora8onamongteachers,learners,parentsandthecommunity—fundamentallychangingthewayourstudentslearn.TheyalsosupporttheSENDdesigngoalofany8me,anywherelearning.Indeed,thePewResearchCenter’sInternetandAmericanLifeProjectpresentsfourpointsabouttechnology’simpactonlearning:

■Broadbandfacilitatesnetworkedinforma8onandnetworkedknowledge

■Mobileconnec8vityalterslearningvenuesandexpecta8ons

■Socialmediaaidspeer‐to‐peerandlearningbydoing

■Newkindsoflearnersemerge.4

Asschoolsadoptthesetechnologiesforteachingandlearning,aswellasadditionaldigitalprocessesfordiagnosticassessmentsthatareformativeforinstructionandcomefromanalyzingdatastreamsgeneratedbylearningexperiences,theimpactonnetworkandsystemresourcesincreasesexponentially.The2012SETDAreport,“TheBroadbandImperative”5describestechnologyadoptiononthreelevelsandprovidesaframeworkforassessingschoolbandwidthrequirements—andthentheassociatednetworkandInternetresourcesbasedontheseadoptionlevels.

Educa8ontechnologyleaderscanusetheSETDAtoolindeterminingtechnologyadop8onlevelsoftheirrespec8veschools.Thentheycanplantechnologyresourcecapacityastheyprogressthroughdefinedadop8onlevels.Thetoolcanalsohelpschoolsunderstandtechnologyusageandresourcerequirements.

As schools adopt these technologies for teaching and learning, ...the impact on network and system resources increases exponentially.


3Internet.org.4hkp://www.pewinternet.org/About‐Us/Our‐Research/Use‐Policy.aspx5www.setda.org,TheBroadbandImpera8ve,FrameworkforAssessingBandwidth,p.22.

http://www.pewinternet.org/About-Us/Our-Research/Use-Policy.aspx




http://www.setda.org

http://www.setda.org


Documenting current states of technology adoption and identifying opportunities and expected growth patterns is vital in network design.

Schoolsmustbuildnetworksthatsupportuseofhigh‐bandwidthcontentbypowerfulmobiledevices(laptops,tablets,smartphones,etc.).Combinedwithaccesstodigitalmaterialsalignedtoinstructionalstrategies,arobust,well‐designededucationnetworkprovidesunlimitedoptionstoassistteachersandstudentsinachievingacademicgoals.

Documentingcurrentstatesoftechnologyadoptionandidentifyingopportunitiesandexpectedgrowthpatternsisvitalinnetworkdesign.Italsohelpsinplanningandinstructionalstrategy.Throughouttheseguidelines,wehaveworkedtoidentifytheimpactsoftrendsobservedinthemobileandcomputingindustries,andprovidedesignmodelsandcasestudiesthatbuildausefulframeworkforconversation.

Vision,mission,andgoals

Itisessentialthateverysuccessfulorganizationorendeavorhaveaclearandcompellingvision,acommonmission,andconcretegoals.Theseattributesapplyespeciallyintransformingteaching,learninganddistrictoperationsintoatechnology‐basedcultureofinnovationandefficiency.Thistransformationisfilledwiththechallengesaroundchange,adaptation,funding,andsometimesbreathtakingpace.Butitisatransformationofnecessityandinevitabilitywithbenefitsaccruingtoall.

Anecessaryandimportantdynamicintheprocessoftransformationistheestablishmentofthesharedvision,mission,andgoals.Theinvolvementofallstakeholders,supportedandledbystrongleaders,isarguablythemostcriticalfactorinthesuccessoftheeffort.Havingbroadinputandadiversityofinformedopinioninarigorousprocessofdeterminingthevision,mission,andgoalswillensurearobustanddurableoutcome.

Intheprocessofdevelopingthevision,missionandgoalsforthedistrict,schoolleadersmustbecarefultonotoverlookformalizingtheneedforqualitynetworktechnologiesandsupportmechanismsuponwhichmanyofthetransformativeserviceswilldepend.Allstakeholdersshouldunderstandandacknowledgetheimportanceofthenetwork.

Likeinallworthyendeavorsthataredevelopedandoperated,digitaltransformationandthenetworkunderpinningandsupportingthetransformationmusthaveadequateinvestmentandoperatingfunding.Thereissimplynoalternative.

Thereareincreasingandpromisingoptionsfortechnologyinfrastructure,allofwhichshouldbepursuedtodrivedowncost,buttherewillstillbecosttoprovideandsupportthenetwork.Thesecostsshouldbeconsideredasthenecessaryinvestmentthattheytrulyare.

It is essential that every successful organization or endeavor have a clear and compelling vision, a common mission, and concrete goals.


24/7learning

Trendsofdigi8za8on,consumeriza8onandubiquitousaccesshavethepowertotransformtheAmericanacademiclandscapefromsta8c,8me‐constrainedone‐wayindustrial‐ageclassroomdelivery—to24/7accesstocurrentcontent,collabora8onandreal‐worldlearning.Engaging,relevantandtechnology‐enhancedlearningintheclassroomandathomeiscri8caltodevelopinglifelonglearners.

Digi8za8onenablesaccesstosuchcontent.However,itdoesn’tautoma8callyequatetoadigital curriculumorevencurriculum‐alignedresources.Forthis,schoolleadersmustdevelopastrategyandplan—andtheplanmustincludesubstan=altrainingandsupportofteachersandtechnicalstaff.Examplesofdigitalresourcesinclude:interac8vetextbooks,onlineassessments,proprietarycontent(Waterford,PearsonLearning,etc.)onlinecoursesorMOOCs,andcloud‐basedtoolsandresourcessuchasGoogleDocsorMicrosoXOffice365.

Recentconsumertechnologyadoptiontrendsarechangingstudentpreferencesandexpectations;someresearchalsopointstoashiftinlearningstylesandabilities.

Componentscriticaltobroad‐baseddigitalresourceadoptioninclude:

■Anetworkdesignthatsupportsenterpriseandcloud‐basedservicesandassociatedubiquitousaccesssolu8ons

■Webaccountprovisioninganddevice‐agnos8caccesssolu8ons

■Deviceprogramsthatstrivetoensurethateverystudenthasacapabledeviceand24/7accesstodigitallearningenvironments.

1‐to‐1programsandpersonalizedlearningenvironments(PLEs)

The8mefor1‐to‐1learningtechnologyhasarrived.Educa8onnetworksmustsupportdigitalresourceaccessacrossallstakeholderswithanassump8onofoneormoredevicesperstudent.Legacydebatesoninstruc8onalvalue,costvs.value,andotherconcernshavegivenwaytodiscussionsofaccessingdigitalinstruc8onalmaterialssuchasdigitaltextbooks,buildingPLEs,andenablingany8me,anywherelearningforallstudents.Therela8vematurityofcomponenttechnologies—digi8za8onofcontent,widespreadadop8onofportable/mobileconsumerdevices,andnearubiquitousbroadbandconnec8vity—make1‐to‐1environmentsbothfinanciallyandtechnicallyfeasible.Beyondtradi8onaltechnologyrefreshofcomputers,schoolnetworksneedtobedesignedtoconsiderbothon‐andoff‐campusconnec8vity.Therefore,strategiesaroundsafelyconnec8ngschool‐owneddevicesfromhome,communityaccesspointsforInternet,andprogramstoensuredigitalequityareallvital

The relative maturity of component technologies ... make 1-to-1 environments both financially and technically feasible.


elementsof1‐to‐1programs.

On‐campusnetworkdesignmodelsmustplanfortheimpactof1‐to‐1andPLEsoninfrastructureresources.Performancespecifica8onsshouldbeassessedaspartofthetransi8onfrompreviousnormsofwireddesktops towirelessandmobileend‐userdevices,especiallywhenupgradingfrom100Mbpsto1Gbpsorfasterservices.

Anotherimportantplanningactionistodevelopanextensiveinventoryofdigitalresourcesandsystems,anduseservicelevelagreements(SLAs).As1‐to‐1andPLEs grow,sodoesthemissioncriticalityoftheirsupportingservices.Therefore,itisequallycriticaltounderstandexpectedservicelevelstosupportthedesiredclassroomexperienceanddesignnetworkinfrastructureandexecuteSLAstosupportthoserequirements.

Thesimultaneousemergenceofschoolsinves8nginnetworkandmobiletechnologiesandconsumer

adop8onof3G/4GandWi‐Fienableddevicescreatesanopportunitytoharmonizetheseintoaneffec8ve24/7learningmodel.Byusingschool‐andstudent‐owneddevicesathome,andthroughoutthecommunity,thepromiseofany8me,anywhere,1‐to‐1learningcanberealized.

BringYourOwnDevice/Technology(BYOD/T)

Consumeriza8on,thetrendwherebynewtechnologiesemergefirstintheconsumermarketandthenspreadtoorganiza8ons,isoneofthemostimportantdesigndriversforeduca8onalnetworks

By using school- and student-owned devices at home, the promise of anytime, anywhere, 1-to-1 learning can be realized.


andcanbeevaluatedintwophases.ThefirstismosteasilyunderstoodandseeninthewidespreadadoptionofApple’s“i”devicesandservices,thoughcontinueswithFacebook,TwitterandInstagram.Consumercloud‐basedservicesincreaseexpectationsofubiquitousconnectivityviamobileandWi‐Finetworksonarangeofpersonalmobilecomputingdevicesincludingsmaller,lighterlaptopcomputers,tabletsandsmartphones.Growthinconsumermobiledevicesisexpectedtocontinueseeminglyunabated.TheEricssonMobilityReportreleasedinJune2013predictsthattheglobalnumberofmobiledeviceswilldoubleinthenextthreeyears.6

Thesecondphaseistheinfiltra8onofconsumertechnologyintoorganiza8onsthroughwavesofBYOD/Tprograms.Thisadop8oncyclerepresentsafundamentalshiXfromearlierpersonalcompu8ngmodelswhereadvancedtechnologieswerefirstadoptedbyenterprisebuyersandonlygraduallymadetheirwayintoconsumerhands.Thus,consumer‐firstend‐devicedesignsarepoten8allylessrugged,lessconsistentinarchitectureandnotenterprise‐awareorready—allobstacleswithwhichtocontend.WhenaconsumerproductestablishesaconsiderableK‐12orbusinessfoothold,pressuremountsforthevendortomakethedevicemorecompa8bleforenterprisemanagement.

Newandadvancedtechnologiesareanormal,integralpartofstudentlivingandlearningoutsidetheclassroom.Naturally,thesetechnologieswillmigrateintotheclassroomasstudentsbringtheirmostfrequently‐useddevicesontoschoolgrounds.BYOD/Tpoliciesandstrategiescri8caltosuccessfullearningenvironmentsmustbedevelopedbytheschoolleadershipteamsoastoinformthedesignofnetworkinfrastructuresandsystems.Thesestrategiesshouldbedevelopedincloseconsulta=onwithteachers,asteachersplayavitalroleintheireffec=veuse.Therefore,ITandadministra=veleadershipmustallotampleprofessionaldevelopmentandinstruc=onalplanning=me.CoSNhasdevelopeda“LeadershipforMobileLearning”ini8a8vetoassistCTOsinthisimportantarea.Visit:hkp://www.cosn.org/mobilelead

Asalways,thenetworkdesignteamshouldfirstevaluatestatededuca=onalobjec=ves,strategiesandpolicies,andthendeploythetechnologyresourcestosupportthose.

ConsiderthesequestionsindevelopingaBYODstrategy:

■Whatisthestudentpopula8onthatwillu8lizeBYODforclassroominstruc8on?

■WhatarethedigitalresourcesthattheBYODwillu8lizeforinstruc8on?

New and advanced technologies are a normal, integral part of student living and learning outside the classroom.


6“AFocusonEfficiency”.Internet.org.September16,2013hkps://vcdn‐dragon‐a.akamaihd.net/hphotos‐ak‐ash3/851590_229753833859617_1129962605_n.pdf

http://www.cosn.org/mobilelead




https://fbcdn-dragon-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/851590_229753833859617_1129962605_n.pdf






■WhatarethetechnicalstandardsforBYODtoaccesstheresources?

■HowwillteachersbetrainedforBYODinstruc8onalusage?

■IsthereanadequatewirelessdeviceonboardingandresourceprovisioninginfrastructureinplacetosupportBYOD?

■IstheInternetinfrastructurereadyforaBYODini8a8ve?

Dataandintegra=on

Thesolepurposeofnetworksistohelpusersdevelopandcommunicateinforma8oninpowerfulandeffec8veways.Thisflowofinforma8onatpreviouslyunimaginablelevelsofspeedandquan8tycreatesefficienciesinourprocessesandinlearning.Learningmanagementsystems(LMS)andstudentinforma8onsystems(SIS)areessen8alcomponentstotheeffec8veopera8onofschoolsandtotheteachingandlearningprocess.Theevolu8onofthesesystemsintomorebroadlyreachingcontentmanagementsystemsischallengingnetworksandinforma8onmanagementprofessionals.Asmoreprocessesbecomedigital,theirintegra8onisparamounttofacilitateopera8onalefficienciesandestablishthenecessaryframeworkforpersonalizedlearning.Withhigh‐speedcommunica8ons,robustdevices,sophis8cateddigitalcontentandreal‐8medata—teacherscaninstruct,assess,remediateandextendlearninginunprecedented8mes,speedsandloca8ons.High‐capacitydatabaseswithpowerfulanaly8calcapacityretainsystemdatatoinformlearners,teachersandschoolleaders.

Thesebenefitsareamerevisionifthenetworksandcommunica8ontechnologiesthatwilldeliverthemaren’tmadereality.Educa8onnetworksmustbesmartlydesignedtorealizesuchpoten8al.

The sole purpose of networks is to help users develop and communicate information in powerful and effective ways.


PREPPINGFORPLE,1‐to‐1andBYOD>>WhetherplanningforaPersonalizedLearningEnvironment,1‐to‐1orBringYourOwnDeviceprogram,thepreparationissimilar.Allthreerequirestrong,on‐campuswirelesswithsolidbackboneconnectionstoarobustcentralnetworkandadequateInternetbandwidth.First,buildascalablenetworkbeforetryingtoimplementanyone‐mobile‐device‐per‐studentproject.Second,CTOsmustinvolvethecurriculumteamtoensurethedistrict'scurriculumwillbeadjustedtotakeadvantageofthetechnologyinstudenthands.Third,provideproperteacherandadministratortrainingatleastsixmonthsaheadofrollouttostudents.Lastly,discusstheprogramwithparents,theboardand(insomecases)localgovernmententities,businesses,andelectedofficialswhomaybeabletoprovideassistance.Solicitinggeneralagreementontheendgoalwillhelpkeeptheprogramsmovingforwardwhenissuesarise.http://www.pasadenaisd.org/◼—SteveWentz,PasadenaISD(TX)

DataandCapacity

Dataanditsmovementbetweenandamongusersistheprincipaldeterminantinplanningforanddevelopingnetworkcapacity.Today’sschoolsfaceadualchallenge:ever‐increasingdatarates(media‐intensive)andslower,agingnetworks.CoSN’srecentE‐RateandBroadbandSurvey2013hkp://www.cosn.org/e‐rate‐broadband‐surveyconfirmstheprac8calexperienceofschools:cri8calcapacityneedsareatallkeypointsofservice,Internet,wirelessandLAN/WAN.

Datacomesinmanyforms,fromsimpleemailtostreamingvideo.Thusnetworksmustbedesignedtoeffec8velyaccommodatetransferofsuchdataandprovideaposi8veuserexperience.Dataitselfis essen8altounderstand,buttheotheressen8alcomponentwhendeterminingcapacityisnumberofusersonthenetworkandwhetheraccessingviawiredorwirelessconnections.Together,thenumberofusersandthetypesofdatatheyareusingconstitutetheaggregatedatabeingtransmittedand,implicitly,minimumnetworkcapacity.

Asageneralguideline,CoSNagreeswithandsupportstherecommenda8onoftheStateEduca8onTechnologyDirectorsAssocia8on(SETDA)regardingminimumnetworkcapaci8esdetailedlaterinthisdocument.Itisalsoimportanttorealizethatmobilebroadband(3G/4G)technologiescansubstan8allyaddtoaschool’sInternetcapacity.

Bandwidthandcapacity

Bandwidthexpressesameasureofnetworkcapacity.Originallyaradioandtelevisiontermforthesizeofacommunica8onschannel,todaybandwidthdescribesthepipe‐sizeusedfordataflow.Normallyexpressedinvaria8onsofbitspersecondasin“megabits(amillionbits)persecond”and,morerecentlyasthetechnologycon8nuestodevelop,“gigabits(abillion)persecond,”the“bits”conceptisvital.Allperformanceconsidera8onsareafunc8onofbandwidthanditisthebitsthatcons8tuteourdata.

Aonegigabitconnec8on(portsonaswitchconnec8ngdevices,oranEthernetadapterinacomputer)generallymeansthespeedandcapacityofthedataflowisonebillionbitspersecond.Byhistoricalstandards,thisseemsanenormousamountofinforma8ontobetransportedandprocessed,however,experiencedemonstratesthatitdoesn’ttakemuchoftoday’scontenttoconsumethiscapacity.CoSN’srecentE‐RateandBroadbandSurvey2013hkp://www.cosn.org/e‐rate‐broadband‐surveyconfirmsschools’prac8calexperience—cri8calcapacityneedsareatallkeypointsofservice,Internet,wirelessandLAN/WAN.

Bitsanddata

Alldigitalmediaarestoredinbinaryform.Thistakesmanybitstocompletelydefineordescribetheinformationtorender(present)ittotheuser.The

Data itself is essential to understand, but the other essential component when determining capacity is number of users on the network...


http://www.cosn.org/e-rate-broadband-survey






numberofbits(or8‐bitbytes)neededtorepresentinformationtypesvarieswidelyanddependsonmanyfactors.Theseestimatesvaryduetotheamountofinformationonadocument(words,graphics,etc.)andthequalityorresolutionofthevisualmedia(photosandvideo).Somereasonableaveragesaredepictedinthetablehere.

Whiletheyprimarilysupportinstruc8onandlearning,educa=onnetworksincreasinglyprovidecri=calsupportfordataanalysis,administra=veservices,security,telephony,andbuildingservicessuchasligh=ngandHVACcontrols.Thus,datatransportandnetworkresponserequirementsmustbeconsideredinthedesignofthenetwork.Inpar8cular,“converged”systems—useofaschool’sdigitalnetworktosupportdatainthetradi8onalformandvoiceservices(telephony)andvideo(securityandevenTV)—arecommonlyimplementedinnewereduca8onnetworks.

Anothersignificant,relevantdesigntrendisInternetwebsitesessiongrowth.Alargeincreaseinsessioncountlevelshasimplica8onsforfirewallsandcontentfilters.Olderarchitecturesandequipment

werenotdesignedtosupportthisincreaseresul8nginadiminishedorineffec8veuserexperience.

Since2010,averagewebpagesizehasnearlydoubled.Rampantpagebloatmaynotbenews,butthatdoesn’tmakenewfindingsanylessalarming.AccordingtotheHTTPArchive,theaveragetop1,000webpageis1246KB,comparedto828KBinMay2012—a50%growthrateinjustoneyear.7

GrowthofInternetwebpagesize,includingsessioncount,andincreaseinnumberofusers—helpsexplainsubstan8algrowthinschoolInternetusage.

Wi‐Fi,mobile(3G/4G)anddata

Wi‐Fiandmobiledata(3G/4G)arethetwoservicessuppor8ngconnectedmobilelearning.Accesstoqualityconnec8vityforlearners,staff,andwhetheratschool,homeoraboutthecommunity,are

School networks nationwide have implemented various forms of Wi-Fi and are in-process on capacity upgrades.


7hkp://www.webperformancetoday.com,June5,2013

http://www.webperformancetoday.com

http://www.webperformancetoday.com

cri8callyimportanttothefabricofubiquitousorany8me‐anywherelearning.Thecapaci8esoftheseenvironmentsarevitalindesigningacomfortableuserexperience.AccordingtoCoSN’sE‐RateandBroadbandSurvey2013hkp://www.cosn.org/e‐rate‐broadband‐survey,“57%ofdistrictsdonotbelievetheirschool’swirelessnetworkshavethecapacitytohandlea1‐to‐1deploymenttoday.”

Wi‐Fi(802.11x)datacapacity

Schoolnetworksna8onwidehaveimplementedvariousformsofWi‐Fiandarein‐processoncapacityupgrades.Knownbytheirrespec8veIEEEstandards,nominalcapaci8esandsomedifferencesareshownonpage16.

The802.11acandrecentlyreleased802.11adstandardsshouldproveextremelyusefultoschoolsbydrama8callyimprovingWi‐Finetworkcapacityandreliability.Theseperformanceimprovementsareprimarilyachievedthroughu8lizingthelesscongested5GHzspectrumband,andaddingintelligenttrafficmanagementtechniques.

Mobile(3G/4G)datacapacity

Consumermobile(3G/4G)datatrafficvolumeshaveincreasedexponen8allyinrecentyearsandareexpectedtocon8nuetheirdrama8cgrowthrates.Consideringtheincreasingadoptionofsmartphonesandtheeverexpandinginformationandentertainmentusesthesedevicesaresupporting,thisiseasilyunderstood.Mobilenetworkoperatorsandtechnologyprovidersareconstantlyworkingtomakemorecapacity

While they primarily support instruction and learning, education networks increasingly provide critical support for data analysis, administrative services, security ...








available.Withmobiledata,thenotionof“capacity”canbethoughtofasacombinationoftechnologyandgeographicpresence.

Thetechnologyindustryisconstantlyupgradingandevolvingboththetechnologyitselfandnetworkservices.Both3G(thirdgenera8on)andthemorerecent4G/LTE(long‐termevolu8on)technologiescurrentlyservethemarket.Thetableonthefollowingpage(p.17,top)reflectstheore8calspeedsofthesetechnologies.AsisthecasewithWi‐Fi,auser’sactualexperiencewillvarydependinguponon‐the‐groundcondi8ons.

Currentmobile(3G/4G)technologieshaveprovenveryeffectiveandreliableinmeetingtheconnec8vityneedsofmostK‐12curriculaoutsideoftheclassroom.Attheendof2012,80%ofNorthAmericanresidentshad4G/LTEserviceavailabletothem,frequentlyfrommultipleproviders.Thismayincreaseto95%ofresidentsby2019orpossiblyearlier.8

Asaresult,mobilebroadbandservicesarepar8cularlyusefulforensuringconsistent24/7accesswhenimplemen8ngdevice‘check

out’programsandbroader1‐to‐1ini8a8ves.Whilecostofservicehasbeenabarrierinthepast,mobile operatorsandeduca8on‐focusedserviceprovidershaveintroducedmoreflexible,affordableandeasily‐administereddataserviceplans.

Addi8onally,mobiletechnologycon8nuestoevolverapidly.Forthcomingdevelopmentsthathavethepoten8altoaddresseduca8onneedsinclude:

■LTEAdvanced–substan8allyincreasingthroughputbycombiningavailablespectrumspectrumallowingdensernetworksandincreasingantennacapacity

■LTEBroadcast–op8mizingcontentdistribu8onoverLTEnetworksusingbroadcastprinciples

■UseofLTEinunlicensedspectrum–co‐existswithexis8ngWi‐Finetworkswhileofferingextendedrange,greatercapacityandseamlesshandofftoWANs

The technology industry is constantly upgrading and evolving both the technology itself and network services.


8EricssonMobilityReport,June2013

■Smallcells–capableofsignificantlyboos8ngindoorcapacity,andbekermanagingalargenumberofconcurrentlyconnecteddevicesoverLTEandWi‐Fi.

Impactofvideofilesizesandquality

Previouslymen8onedexamplesofthesizeofvariousresourcesareallreasonablymanageablebymostnetworks,evenwirelessnetworks,withoneexcep8on:video.Successfuluseofvideoininstruc8onalse|ngsatschool,home,orinthecommunitydependsonthevideo,thenetworkandthedevice.Today’sdevicesprocessandconsumedigitalvideo,soitisuptothenetwork,wiredandwireless,todeliverthesefiles.Contentprovidersarewellawareoftheimportanceofmobileintoday’sconsumerandeduca8onmarketsandaremakingvideoformatandresolutionaccommodations.

Whetheruploadedforsharingordownloadedforconsump8onbystudents,videofilesizeandqualityisanimportantconsidera8on.Generally,thebeker

thequality(resolu8onandbitrate),thelargerthefilesize.Toop8mizeplaybackinwiredandwireless/mobilese|ngs,videocodecshavelongbeenused.CurrentlypreferredisMPEG‐4withH.264compression—arobust,interna8onal

standardwithsubstan8alflexibility.Manyhos8ngen88esrequirethisfortheirvideocontent.Below,forexample,arethevideorequirementsforApple’siTunesUservice:

Otherserviceprovidersandhostingentitieshavesimilarrecommendationsorsimplyacceptsourcevideoandthenre‐encodeitusingH.264tooptimizeforvarioususerenvironments(wired,wireless,mobile).Technologiessuchasadaptivestreamingalsosignificantlycontributetoaneasyandeffectiveuserexperience.

Instruc=onalcontent

Thereareamul8tudeofdigitalcontentprovidersservingtheeduca8oncommunity.Fromservices

Current mobile technologies have proven very effective and reliable in meeting the connectivity needs of most K-12 curricula outside of the classroom.


suchasApple’siTunesU,TeacherTube,orGoogle’sYouTube,MOOCsfromCoursera,edXandKhanAcademy—tomoreproprietarycontentfromlearningservicescompanies,aswellasdistrictteacher‐generatedandlocallyproducedinstruc8onalvideocontent,thedirec8onisclear:24/7digitallearningisheretostay.Suchservicesdependheavilyuponubiquitousandreliablenetworkconnec8vity.

Theprimaryques8onamongnetworkdesignersisafamiliarone–‘Dowehaveenoughbandwidth,bothInternetandlocal?’Theanswerdependsontheamountofdatainthesecourses,lessonsandlearningobjectsthatwillbesupported.Thisvariesbyprovider,formatandstudentlearning8me.KhanAcademyalonecontainsthousandsofvideos,onlineexercisesandotherservices.Mostprovidersuseacombina8onofHTMLcontent,documentsandvideointheirlessons—withvideobeingthemostchallengingfromanetworkcapacitystandpoint.

Asaguideline,anes=mateof5MBperminuteofvideoisagoodbasisforplanningnetworks.Thiscouldbeperstudentorperclass,dependingontheinstruc8onalse|ngandloca8on(schoolorhome).Thetransfermedium,wiredorwireless,thenbecomesavitalconsidera8on.

Datarequirementscalcula=ons

Inanyprojectorgoal,agoodideaistobeginwiththeendinmind.Innetworkdesign,“usecases”

informnear‐andintermediate‐termdesignrequirements.Withoutovergeneralizingorbeingsimplis8c,thegoalforthenetworkrevolvessolelyaroundmovingdatainwhatevervolumeandspeedthatisneeded,bothnowandinthefuture.

Inschoolse|ngs,theclassroomremainsthedominantloca8onforinstruc8onandlearning.Notwithstandingthetrendstowardflippedclassroommodels,and24/7learning,educa8onnetworkdesignersmusts8lleffec8velysupportthemoretradi8onalclassroominstruc8onmodel,whichpresentsitsownspa8alanddensityrequirements.Otheron‐campusse|ngstendtosimplybeless‐densevariantsoftheclassroomandcanbeenhancedasneededforBYODand1‐to‐1.Keepinmindthatwiththeintroduc8onof1‐to‐1programs,theen8reschoolbecomesalearningenvironmentwithakendingrequisiteconnec8vityandcapacityneeds.Asthesetrendsprogress,anylargephysicalspacecansuddenlybecomeahigh‐densityusearea,suchaslibrarymediacenters,lectureorperformancehalls,studentstudyareas(insideoroutdoors)—andevencafeterias.

Calcula=ngnetworkcapacity–students,contentandsimultaneity

Asteachersexercisetheirvariousindividualandartfulstylesofteaching,thescaleatwhichtechnologyisintegrated(bothin8meusedandnumberofusers)ultimatelydeterminesnetworkservicerequirements.Analysiswouldapplytoagivenclassroomandthen

In any project or goal, a good idea is to begin with the end in mind.


extendthroughouttheschoolanddistrictforaggregateschoolanddistrictes8mates.

Incalcula8ngthese,oneapproachistosetbothhighandlowu8liza8onboundsintheclassroom.Inahigh‐usescenario,perhaps30studentsareac8velyengagedwithtechnologyatanyspecific8me.Contenttypeaccessedanddevicesusedul8matelydefinetherequirement.Moststa8cinstruc8onalcontent—HTMLpages,textdocuments(MicrosoXWordorAdobePDFs)—arerela8velysmallinthecontextoftoday’sbaselinenetworks(100Mbps–1Gbpsswitched).Videoraisesthebarwithrespecttocapacity,especiallyinawirelessse|ng.

Usingapar8cularlychallengingexample—all30studentssimultaneouslystreamingavideoat,forexample700Kbps—theaggregateloadontheaccesspointservingthesestudentswouldbe21,000Kbps,or21Mbps.AdjustedfortheinherentcapacitylossinEthernetnetworks,thislevelchallengesthetheore8calcapacityof802.11gtechnology,butfitscomfortablywithinthecapacityof802.11ndevices.

Inthisscenario,considerthefollowing:

■Theclientmusthave802.11ncapabilityandcanacceptstreaming.Dependingontheclienttechnologyused,capabili8essuchasbuffersizeandcompu8ngcapacitycoulddrama8callyaffectuserexperience.Insomese|ngs,thepresence

ofanyotherwirelesstechnology,suchas802.11gcoulddegradethecapacityofthe802.11naccesspoint.

■Thevideoresolutionisstandarddefinition(640x480)at700Kbps.Ifhigherresolutionsareneeded(suchasbetterSDresolutionoranHDstream),thendatarequirementsareincreasedsuchthateven802.11naccesspointscouldbeineffective.

■Thecore(LANandWAN)networkservicesuppor8ngthesewirelesssessionsisassumedtobesufficient.Underlyingthewirelessnetworkisthebackboneorcorewirednetwork.Today’snetworksshouldaccommodatethis,buttherearemanydesignissuesandpoten8alcapacitylimita8ons,socalledchokepoints,whichcouldnega8velyaffecttheen8reexperience.

Althoughnotanexhaus=velist,networkelementssuchasswitch,wirelesscontroller,accesspointandInternetcapaci=es(ifInternetstreamed)allmustbedesignedandscaledaccordingly.

Schoolanddistrictcapacity

Justasnetworkdesignmustdeliveradequateclassroom‐levelservices,thesameistrueatcampus anddistrictlevels.Inearlierdiscussiononclassrooms,thehigh‐useassump8onwaschosenasthemostimportantscenario—butthatscenariocouldextendtoallroomsintheschool.Dependingonthenumberofroomsinaschool,letussay50

Education network designers must still effectively support the more traditional classroom instruction model, which presents its own spatial and density requirements.


roomsforanelementaryschool,75roomsforamiddleschool,and150roomsinalargehighschool—theaggrega8ondeterminestherequiredcapacityforswitchesandrouters.Simplyaggrega8ngtheseu8liza8onlevelsrevealsthat(assumingthereissufficientdeviceavailability),dataratesattheschoollevelare1Gbpsfortheelementary,1.6Gbpsforamiddleschooland3Gbpsforthehighschool.Theselevelsgenerallyexceedmostdistrictinfrastructuressince1‐Gbpslinkstoschoolsarecommon.Thischallengeis,nodoubt,thereasonsomeschooldistrictsaredeploying10‐Gbpsservice.

SETDArecommendsfor2014‐2015schoolshaveinternalcapaci8esof1Gbpsper1,000studentsandstaff—and100Mbpsper1,000studentsandstaffforInternetcapacity.For2017‐2018,theserecommenda8onsincreaseten‐foldto10Gbpsand1GbpsforinternalandInternetcapaci8esrespec8vely.AnimportantandtroublesomefindingfromCoSN’sE‐RateandBroadbandSurvey2013statesthat“43%ofdistrictsindicated

thatnoneoftheirschoolscanmeettheSETDArecommenda8on…”

Nonetheless,eveninthemosttechnologicallyadvancedschools—seldomareallstudentsusingthefastestdataandInternet‐intensiveapplica8onssimultaneously.Consequently,networkmanagersmonitorusageover8meandareadeptatpredic8ngandcalcula8ngpeakusageperiods,discoveringtheyuseconsiderablylessbandwidththanwhenallstudentsareusingthefastestdataandInternet‐intensiveapplica8onssimultaneously.Traffic‐andpacket‐shapingapplica8onsanddevicesfurtherhelptobufferpeakloadwithoutsubstan8alperformanceloss.AscaledreferencefortheSETDAguidelinesispresentedabove.

AdditionaltoolsforconsiderationinnetworkcapacityplanningaretwoU.S.initiativesonassessment:thePartnershipforAssessmentofReadinessforCollegeand

Just as network design must deliver adequate classroom-level services, the same is true at campus and district levels.


Careers(PARCC)andtheSmarterBalancedAssessmentConsortium.PARCChaspublished,“AssessmentCapacityPlanningTool.”Avaluableresource,thisdocumentisusefulinassessmentplanning.CoSNhasalsodevelopedresourcestoassistschoolsinplanningthroughits“BeingAssessmentReady”initiative.hkp://www.cosn.org/becoming‐assessment‐ready

Itisimportanttorememberthathowevercri=cal,assessmentisbutoneservicethattheschool’snetworkissuppor=ng.Allotherservicesmustcon=nuetobesupportedbythenetwork.Proxyservicessuggestedbyassessmentprovidersalsoofferaneffec=vewayofminimizingbroadbandneedsandprovidealevelofreliabilityandavailabilitytotesttakersandadministrators.Visit:hkp://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCCCapacityPlanningTool_3‐5‐13_Printablev1.0.pdf

NetworkDesignConsidera=ons

Withaninformedes8mateofthenumberofservices,amountofdata,thenumberofusersandtheiraccessmethods(wiredorwireless),adesignerhasthefundamentalvariablesnecessarytobeginbasicnetworkdesign.Addi8onalaspectsofdesigninclude:

■Security

■Topology

■Addressingschemes(planformorethanonemobiledeviceforsomestudentsandstaff)

■Resiliency

■Redundancy

■Applica8onneeds(qualityofservice)

■Adapta8ontoandintegra8onwithcloudservices

■Virtualiza8on

■Securingandimplemen8ngsufficientbroadbandaccess—aswellasprovidingfortheongoingnetworkmonitoringandmanagement.

Fromatechnologyperspective,weliveinexcitinganddynamictimes.Infrastructureisbecomingcloud‐based,andjustasotherenterprisesareseekingtheoptimalcombinationofon‐premiseandcloud‐basedservices,sotooshouldschoolsgivethoughtfulconsiderationtotheseservicesasaneffectiveoptionforsupportinggrowthormitigatingrisk.

Continuingmobilebroadbandmarketdevelopmentswilllikelyincreaseschooluseandintegrationofsuchservicesintonetworkdesign.Whetherinaschool‐sponsored1‐to‐1oraBYODprogram,designingforaccessanduseofserviceswillbecriticallyimportant.

Whendesigninganetworktoaccommodatetheneedsofallusers,especiallyinaBYOT/BYODor1‐to‐1ini8a8ve,theoldadage‘anounceof

Even in the most technologically advanced schools — seldom are all students using the fastest data and Internet-intensive applications simultaneously.


http://www.cosn.org/becoming-assessment-ready




http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCCCapacityPlanningTool_3-5-13_Printablev1.0.pdf




preven8onisworthapoundofcure’definitelyapplies.Gonearethedaysofsimplythrowingmorehardwareandinfrastructureattheproblemandexpec8ngthingstoworksmoothly.Thissec8onwon’tdelveintospecificpiecesofhardware,butoneshouldcomeawaywithusefulnetworkdesignconsidera8ons,eitherfortotallynewenvironments(greenfields)ortoupgradeanexis8nginfrastructure tosupportwireless.Whilethereisnosinglebestsolu8ontomeeteveryneed,theinforma8onpresentedhereoffersasolidcoreofconsidera8onsandguidelinesfromwhichtobasedecisions.

Performancerequirements

Theexpression“beginwiththeendinmind”ispar8cularlytruewhendesigningnetworks.Theclassic“RequirementsDefini8on”stepinbuildinganylargeprojectiscri8cal.Requirementsofthenetworkcanbethoughtofasbeingdeterminedbytheservicesthatusethenetwork,whicharetheapplica8onsthatbringtheinforma8onorservicetotheuser–avideoforateachertosharewithstudents,aphonecallbetweencolleagues,oran

onlineassessmentofprogressareafewexamples.Therearemanymoreapplica8onsandservices,eachwiththeirownneedsfromthenetwork.Itisthereforenecessary,asdeterminedbythevision,missionandgoalsmen8onedabove,todevelopaclearunderstandingandinventoryoftheapplica8onsandservicesandtheirpreciserequirementsfromanetworkingperspec8ve.Theserequirementswill,ul8mately,bereducedtoverytechnicalelements,but,aswasdiscussedinthesec8ononDataandCapacity,theendresultwillbeaboutvariousformsofdataandhowfastitmustbedeliveredoverthenetwork.Addi8onalrequirementsregardingahostofservicessuchasresiliencyofthenetwork,securingthenetworkandbackingupthenetwork’sdataaddfurtherrequirementstoinformthedesign.

Mostschoolshaveexis8ngnetworksand,inlargepart,havebeenabletodelivervaryingdegreesofserviceandmanyareonapathtowardthetransforma8vecapabili8esandteachingmodelsdescribedpreviously.Irrespec8veofwhereaschool

Assessment is but one service that the school’s network is supporting. All other services must continue to be supported by the network.


maybeontheirjourneytotransformation,theyall shouldalwayscomparetheirrequirementstotheirexistingconditions–usingasmuchdataaspossibletodescribetheexistinginfrastructureandproducingagapanalysisdetailingexactlywhatmustbedoneintermsofenhancingthenetworkinordertoachievetheirgoals.

Networktopology

Keyinsupportingthemobileuserisasolidinfrastructure.Generallythoughtofasthenetworkcore,thisincludestheconnectionstotheInternetandtoschoolswithintheschooldistrict.Manyoptionsareavailabletoschoolsindesigningnetworks,butthemostprevalentarestar,ringandhybrid(ring/star)options(seethefollowingdiagrams).Whilemanyfactors,principallycost,affectthetypeofdesignchosen,aguidingconsiderationshouldbetheabilityofthenetworktominimizeoutagesintheeventcommunicationsarelosttoagivennode.ThisisparticularlyimportantinenvironmentswherethedistrictcentrallyprovidesapplicationandInternetservicestoallschools.Schooldistrictsshouldreviewtheirexposuretosuchriskanddevelopstrategiestomaximizeresiliency.Desirableoptionsincludesecondarydatacentersandredundantorbackuppathstonodes.

Star:

Astarisacommondesignusedbymanyschoolstoday.Thisapproachgrewoutofthe“leaseddatacircuit”approachtobuildingnetworks.Historically,schoolsconnectedtothedistrictdatacenterusingleaseddatacircuitsinastar(or“point‐to‐point”)topology.Overtime,thesemayhavemigratedtodarkfiberorleased‐fibermedia.Simpletooperate,theyarestillinusebymanyschools.

It is necessary to develop a clear understanding and inventory of the applications and services and their precise requirements from a networking perspective.


Ring:

Correctlydesigned,ringsprovideamoreresilientlevelofavailability.Nodesontheringstayincommunicationwitheachotherevenifaserviceinterruptionoccursalongthering.This“self‐healing”propertyhasassociatedcostsbutmaximizesavailability.

Hybrid:

Togainreliabilityandminimizecosts—especiallywithschoolsincloseproximitytoeachother—considerahybridmodel.Similartostarornode‐off‐a‐ring,thismethodessen8allydeliversonebig“pipe”tothehubschoolwithsomewhatsmallerconnectionsto“spoke”schools—andeliminatesequipmentduplication,creatingsubstantialcostsavings.

Thereisnosingle“correctway”todesignanetwork.Sometopologiesbetterlendthemselvestoredundancyandrobustness,butthemethodof

Many options are available to schools in designing networks, but the most prevalent are star, ring and hybrid (ring/star) options.


bringingaconnectiontoadevicecanvarysignificantlyfromonelocationtoanother.

Manynetworktransportinfrastructureswereimplementedpriortonewtechnologyadvances;therefore,manycurrentdesignsonlyprovideasingle‐servicedeliveryloca8onandsingleroutefromthecampustotheservice.AlthoughsecondaryorredundantlinksarenotE‐Rateeligible,amul8‐linkormul8‐sitedeliverymodelshouldbeconsideredasschoolsplanforgrowthandcapacitystrategies.Amul8‐sitedeliverymodelcansimultaneouslysupportvirtualiza8on,disasterrecoveryandbusinesscon8nuityplanning

Dynamicsinthenewnetworkingenvironment

Designrequirementsforeduca8onnetworkshavechanged,ashavetheservicedeliverymodels,availableservicesforinforma8onandcommunica8onstechnologies,accessdevicesandaccessloca8ons.Inshort,everythinghaschangedduringthepastfewyears.Nowistheop8mal8metore‐evaluateandre‐buildthenetwork,ifpossible.

Afewrequirementstoconsiderwhenre‐designingthenetwork:

■TheInternetismission‐cri8calandwillcon8nuetogrowinuse

■24/7,mobile,any8mecompu8ngiscri8caltothesupportofPersonalizedLearningEnvironments(PLEs)

■Private,hybridandpubliccloudsareeduca8onnetworkrequirements

■Internetserviceswillgrowsubstan8ally,meaningthatassociatedschoolInternetinfrastructurecomponentsmustbesizedadequatelyandscalable

■TheWANandInternetservicedesigndirectlycorrelatestotheviabilityofmanagedservicesasa valuableop8onforschools

■Wirelessnetworkdesignisaboutcapacityandaccess

■Studentcompu8ng,BYOD/Tandmobiledevicesareuntrustedandwilllikelybetheprimarydevicesaccessingthenetwork

■Considerpoint‐to‐mul8pointnetworkdesigns.ThesenetworksareeligibleforE‐Rateundercertaincircumstances.9

■Describeanddefinethecurrentandfuturerolesformobilebroadband(3G/4G)withrespecttodistrictnetworkstrategies.WirelessInternet(3G/4G)servicesareeligibleforE‐rateundercertaincircumstances.10

■Securitymodelsarechanging

■SoXware‐definednetworkingwillimpactschoolnetworkdesignsand

There is no single ‘correct way’ to design a network. Some topologies better lend themselves to redundancy and robustness, but the method of bringing a connection to a device can vary.


9,10USACEligibleServicesListhkp://www.usac.org/sl/applicants/beforeyoubegin/eligible‐services‐list.aspx2014

http://www.usac.org/sl/applicants/beforeyoubegin/eligible-services-list.aspx





In a few short years, everything has changed. Now is the optimal time to re-evaluate and re-build the network, if possible.

■Virtualiza8onisanimportanteduca8onnetworkcomponent.

Arobust,full‐serviceeduca8onnetworkenvisionsmanypartnersandmethodsofdeliveringservicetoschoolsandotherloca8ons(seediagram,p.28).

NetworkaddressingschemesandVLANs

Goodplanningisessen8al.Networksmustaccommodateforthelikelihoodthatschoolswillhavemanymoredevices,andhencemoreaddresses,requiringmoreconnec8vitythaneverbefore.Security,managementandmonitoringmustalsobeintegratedintothedesign.Emergingbestprac8cesrecommendthatthenetworktobeassegmentedaspossibleandthatseparateVLANsforstudentsandstaffbeestablishedtoproperlysecurethenetwork—especiallyastheBYODmodel increasesinprevalence.Thenetworkdiagrambelowrepresentsahigh‐leveldesignforanadvancedschoolnetwork.

Inaddi8ontotheuseofVLANtechnology,designers mayalsotakeadvantageof“qualityofservice”(QoS)technologyavailableinnetworkingequipmenttohelptheirnetworkeffec8velydelivercri8caluserapplica8ons.Inthecontextofnetworkconges8on,QoSisusingapriori8za8onschemetoensure(asbestaspossible)thatcri8calservicessuchasphonecalls(VoIP)orcontentdeliverytospecificusersorapplica8onsarenotdelayed.Forexample,videoconferencecallsrequirehigher

alloca8onsthanaudiocalls,whileaudiocallsrequire higheralloca8onthandownloadssuchaswebpages ordocumentsforreadingoredi8ng.

Broadbandaccess

Internetserviceismissioncri8cal.TheConnectEDannouncementcallingforE‐Ratemoderniza8ontopriori8zeInternetservice,andtheFCC2011Transforma8onOrderoutliningoverhaulofourtelecommunica8onssystemstopriori8zeInternetaccess,reflecttheimportanceofInternetaccessinhomes,schoolsandcommuni8es.CoSN’srecentE‐RateandBroadbandSurvey2013revealsthatvirtuallyall(99%)ofschoolssurveyedstatedtheywillneedincreasedInternetbandwidthandconnec8vityinthenext36months,withover60%sta8ngthattheydonothavesufficientcapacitynoworwithin12months.OnewayoflookingattheimportantroleofInternetaccessinschoolopera8onsistoconsidertheInternetaswewouldanyotheru8lity—cri8calfordailyopera8onsandmustbefunded.FortheInternet,thisincludestheneedforallcomponentsnecessarytodelivertheservicetostudentsandstaff.

AsInternetdesignrequirementshavechangedsignificantly,soshouldnetworkdesignmodels.Capacityandmission‐criticalrequirementsalonecandrivedesignchange,however,astheInternetplaysaleadroleindisasterrecovery/businesscontinuity,inprovidingPLEs,invirtualizationandinservicesandforcommunicationsand


A robust, full-service education network envisions many partners and methods of delivering service to schools and other locations.


Networks must accommodate for the likelihood that schools will have many more devices, and hence more addresses, requiring more connectivity than ever before.

informationdissemination—itbecomestheprioritycapability.

ListedbelowaredesignguidelinesrelatingtoInternetservice:

1.Contractwithmul=pleInternetServiceProvidersifneededforredundancyandsufficientcapacity

■Havingmul8pleISPsincreasescapacityresilience,andservice‐providerflexibility■ObtainanAutonomousSystemNumber(ASN)hkps://www.arin.net/resources/request/asn.html

2.Designmul=pledeliveryloca=onswithintheWANforInternetAccess■Allowsforbetteropportunitiesfromalternativeproviders

Virtually all (99%) of schools surveyed stated they will need increased Internet bandwidth and connectivity in the next 36 months...


https://www.arin.net/resources/request/asn.html

https://www.arin.net/resources/request/asn.html

■Increasesresiliency■Supportssecondarynetworkopera8onsloca8onsandsecondarydatacenterservices.■BuildtheWANformul8pleservicedeliveryloca8ons■Considerpoint‐to‐mul8pointtransportservicesormodifyandaddfromtheexis8ngWAN■Mul8pledeliveryloca8onscanalsodoublecapacitywithoutmovingtoahigh‐capacity,expensiveservicetransportnetwork

3.Consideraprofessional,carrier‐neutraldatacenterastheaddi=onalservicedeliveryloca=on.■Carrier‐neutraldatacentersprovideopportunityforhigh‐capacity,low‐costInternet■Professionaldatacenterssupportdisasterrecovery,businesscon8nuity,InfrastructureasaService(IaaS),Internetandpower■Thedatacentershouldhaveaccesstohigh‐quality,high‐capacityInternetproviderstolowertransportcost

4.Considermanagedserviceop=onstoscaleInternetcapability■ManagedBorderGatewayProtocol(BGP)rou8ngservices,generallyneededinamul8‐providerenvironment,canbeprovidedbyanInternetServiceProvidereveniftheschoolhastwoproviders

■ManagedfirewallserviceforastudentInternetserviceprovidesscalabilityandreducedcapitalcost■Astudentfirewallservicemaynotrequirethesameruleandmanagementasthetradi8onalenterprisefirewall

5.Consideraffilia=onwithregionalorstatewidenetworksassociatedwithInternet2■Internet2permitscommercialpeeringservices,androutingpathwaystosuchcommercialentitiesasMicrosoft,Apple,Google,etc.,whicharethesourcesofmuchcloud‐basedandsoftwareupdatetraffic■Regionalandstatewidenetworksmayprovideothercost‐effec8ve,enterpriseservicessuchasIntrusionProtec8onServices(IPS),UnifiedThreatManagement(UTM),traffic/packetshaping,IPv6rou8ng,firewalls,etc■Duetotheend‐to‐endmanageddesignofInternet2,regionalandstatewidenetworksprovidedifferentlevelsofservicebyemployingIntranetrou8ngstrategies■Considerthesenetworkswhereavailable,formoreinforma8onseetheInternet2K‐20Ini8a8ve:hkps://k20.internet2.edu/

Whenbuildingnext‐genera8onInternetserviceorevalua8ngexis8ngserviceforscalability,allcomponentsoftheInternetservicemustbe

As Internet design requirements have changed significantly, so should network design models. ...The Internet becomes the priority capability.


https://k20.internet2.edu

https://k20.internet2.edu

assessedbasedoncapacity,memory,bandwidth,andspecifica8ons.1.DemarcorBorderGatewayProtocol(BGP)router—BGPisthemostpopularexteriorrou8ngprotocolasitallowsfordecentralizedrou8ng,whichisbeneficialinamul8‐homedenvironment)

2.Firewalls

3.Wirelesscontrollers

4.Contentfilters

5.Intrusionprotec8onsystems,stand‐aloneorpartofUnifiedThreatManagement(UTM)

6.Packetshapers,cri8calintrafficmanagementinaconstrainedbandwidthenvironment

7.Corerouter

8.Layer2switchesinDMZ,externalorInternetsegmentsontheInternetService.

Internetinfrastructureequipmentmanufacturershaveansweredtheneedforhigh‐performance,high‐capacityequipmentsuchasnext‐genera8onfirewallsandUTMsthatcanprocessInternetcontentwithincreasedsizeandsessionsperpageanddevices.

Following(seetable)isanexampleofamanufacturerplaòrmspecifica8onfromthreeyearsagoversuscurrentnext‐genera8onhardwareandcapability.Notethatnumbersrepresentedmightbetheore8calmaximumsandcouldbesignificantlylessasmorefeatures(filtering,an8virus,an8‐spam,etc.)areenabled.Ascostofthesecoredevicesisanon‐trivialconsidera8on,workcloselywithknowledgeableengineerstoavertopera8onoversubscrip8onfromdayone.

Mobile(3G/4G)

Securingaffordableandsufficientbroadbandaccess forlocal‐areaconnec8vityviaWi‐Fiistheprimary

All components of the Internet service must be assessed based on capacity, memory, bandwidth, and specifications.


focusofbuildingeffec8veeduca8onnetworksonschoolgroundstosupportrobustwiredandwirelessenvironments.However,ensuringcon8nuousconnec8vityaXerthefinalbellringsshouldalsobeasignificantconcernofnetworkplannersandschooladministrators.Severalstudiesandpilotprogramshavedemonstratedthatmakingcoursecontentavailableandprovidingameansofcollabora8onamongstudentsandwithteachersonacon8nuousandconvenientbasisdrivessignificantbenefitsforstudentsandadvancesinlearningeffec8veness.Theuseofmobile(3G/4G)connec8vitycanplayasignificantroleinensuringsuchcon8nuousaccessfor1‐to‐1programs.

Anywhere,any8meconnec8vityprovidesstudentswiththeopportunitytoinserttheirstudiesintorealworldse|ngs,wheneverthe8meorcontextisconducivetolearning.Furthermore,formanystudentsamobile(3G/4G)connec8onwillbetheironlymeansofconnec8ngfromhome.Somedistrictssharethatashighas70%oftheirstudentsdonothavebroadbandandWi‐Fiaccessathomeinsomeregions,makingmanyoftheadvantagesof1‐to‐1programsanddigitalcontentinaccessibletothisgroupassoonastheystepoffofschoolgrounds.Addi8onally,regardlessofwhetherthepropor8onofstudentswithoutaccesstoaWi‐Ficonnec8onathomeis70%or10%,networkplannersandschooladministratorsmustbediligentnottocreateadigitaldividebetweenstudentswho

As cost of these core devices is a non-trivial consideration, work closely with knowledgeable engineers to avert operation oversubscription.


haveaccesstolearningcontentandopportuni8eswhileinthecomfortoftheirownhomes,andthosewhodonot.

AsschoolsworktoensurethatallstudentsareInternet‐connectedathomeandinthecommunity,itisrecommendedthatnetworkplannersmeetwithmobilenetworkoperatorsoreduca8on‐focusedmobileserviceproviderstobekerunderstandserviceop8ons,coverageandcosts.Aspreviouslydescribed,mobile(3G/4G)networkswilloffergoodcoveragetothevastmajorityofhomesandpublicplaces,andmobileserviceprovidershavebeenworkingtodevelopandbringtomarketsolutionsthataddresstheneedsforcostandsecuritycontrols.Theinfographic(below,right)highlightstheimportanceofmobile(3G/4G)asasolutionforstudents.

Communityhotspots

Anotherstrategyforsuppor8ngoff‐campusconnec8vityisthesi8nganddeploymentofcommunityhotspots.Communityhotspotswereinfactlistedasoneoftheservicesthatwillbeconsideredinthemoderniza8onofE‐Ratefor2014.Theseareanopportunityforpublic/privatepartnershipswherebyschooldistrictscanextendhigh‐capacity,highlyavailableInternetaccesstostudent‐frequentedfacili8esorloca8onsinthecommunity.Suchcommunityhotspotscanserveausefulfunc8oninsuppor8ngoutofschoolconnec8vityinareaswherelargenumbersof

studentsmaybecongrega8ngandakemp8ngtoconnectsimultaneously,orat8meswhenlargevolumesofdownloadoruploadac8vitycanbemoreefficientlyandcost‐effec8velyoffloadedtoanavailableWi‐Finetwork.

Furthermore,technologiessuchasHotspot2.0–alsoknownasNextGenera8onHotspotsor(NGH)–willofferseamlessinterworkingbetween3G/4GandWi‐Finetworks.Thiscapabilityisidealforthestudentpopula8onsconsideredintheseguidelinesasitessen8allytakestheguessworkoutofselec8ngwhichnetworkadeviceshouldaccessatagiven8meandcontext.WithHotspot2.0,thedeviceiscapableofiden8fyingavailableWi‐Fi,3Gand4Gnetworks,understandinglikelythroughputspeedsofeachavailablenetwork,thendeterminingthebestpossiblemeansofestablishingaconnec8onbaseduponsecurity,performance,QualityofService,networkpolicies,andahostofotherfactors.

An infrastructure for learning is always on, available to students, educators, and administrators regardless of their location or the time of day.


11

11GlobalTrendsinPublicWi‐Fi—WBAWi‐FiIndustryReport,2013

Asitbecomescommerciallyavailable,Hotspot2.0orNGHwillprovideanothervaluabletoolforschoolstoseekingtoenable24/7learningfortheirstudents.

BackhaulorWAN/LANconsidera=ons

Generally,schoolshavedoneagreatjobinstallingnetworkstoprovideabaselineforconnec8vityandapplica8ons.Asdiscussedearlier,demandplacedonthosenetworksisincreasing.CoSN’sE‐RateandBroadbandSurvey2013indicatesthat,whilehavingmorebroadbandistoppriorityforschools,thisisquicklyfollowedbyaneedforwirelessandWAN/LANcapacity.Networkrou8ngandswitchingcapacitymustkeeppacewiththeneedsoftheapplica8ons.Providersareresponding,making10Gbpsand40Gbpscapabilityavailable.TheguidelinewithrespecttoWAN/LANis toanalyzeneedsandthenpurchaseasmuchaddi8onalcapacityaspossibleforuseoverthefinancialplanninghorizon.Addi8onally,virtualiza8onandtechnologiessuchasSoXwareDefinedNetworking(SDN)offerthepromiseofbekermanageabilityandaffordability.Inplanningfor

WAN/LANimplementationsorupgrades,schoolsshouldconsider:

1.Point‐to‐mul8pointWANsforincreasedcapacityandresiliency

2.Managedservices

3.Long‐termdarkfiberinfrastructuretosupportscalabletransport.


With respect to WAN/LAN, analyze needs and then purchase as much additional capacity as possible for use over the financial planning horizon.

Inevalua8ngserviceop8ons,schoolsshouldconsiderallofthecostsassociatedwitheachop8onandanysignificantdifferencesinperformancecapabili8es.

Theconnec8onbetweenwirelessaccesshardware(accesspoints,arrays,etc.)andtheirassociatedcoreconnec=onpointshouldbeatleast100Mbps,with1Gbps(orhigher)preferred.Akeydeterminingfactortoconsideristhedensityofclientsexpectedoneachaccesspoint(hereaXerreferredtoas‘AP’).Thegreaterthenumberofexpectedclients,ordensity,thehigherthebandwidthneededforthebackhaulconnec8ons.SomeAPsalsosupportuseofredundant(forreliability)orbonded(formorebandwidth)connec8ons,possiblyrequiringaddi8onalcablingrunsifpre‐exis8nginfrastructureisinadequate.

Addi8onally,manyAPsrequirecommunica8onfromacentralmanagementcontrollerandwhileoverheadshouldbeminimal,ifthereisamarginalconnec8ontobeginwith,opera8onofthenetworkcouldsufferasaresult.Bandwidth,evenat1Gbps,isrela8velyaffordableonmostschoolnetworkssothereisnoreasontounder‐designthisconnec8on.

Anotherpointofconsidera8onwiththebackhaulorLANcomponentofthenetworkisthefactthatmanyAPs(andotherdevicessuchasphones)nowdrawelectricalpowerfromnetworkcabling,knownasPoweroverEthernet,PoEorPoE+.Whilenega8ngtheneedforendpointpower,itmay

renderoldercablingunusable.Infact,ifpre‐exis=ngcablingisnotatleastCat5e,andpreferablyCat6,thenthecosttoreplaceoraugmentpre‐exis=ngcablingwillneedtobeconsideredwhendesigningyournetwork.Similarly,totalpoweravailabletowiringclosetsneedstobeevaluatedsincethesedevices(e.g.,APSandphones)arebeingpoweredbyswitcheswhichthemselvesaredrawingmorepower.

Keepinmindthataddingbandwidthisnota“fix‐all.”Simplyprovidingmorecapacityinanenvironmentmightseemlikeaquickcureforyour

A key, determining factor to consider is the density of clients expected on each access point.


SUSTAINEDSURPRISE>>ForsythCountySchoolsinGeorgiahasaverylargewirelessinfrastructuresuppor8ngmorethan45,000users.Atanygiven8meduringtheschoolday,nearly20,000uniquedevicesassociatewiththeirwirelesshardware.Nearlysixyearsintosuppor8ngdevicesinthismanner,they’vefoundthateventheirmostheavily‐usedarrays(wirelessAPs)onlyexperienceapproximately10‐15Mbpsofsustainedusageontheirbackhaul—evenwithupwardsof200devicesakached—manyarraysexperiencesignificantlylowerlevelsofsustainedusage.Consideringthehighrateoftechnologybuy‐in—bothfromthedistrictandthecommunityat‐large—theyweresurprisedtodiscoversuchsmallsustainedusageonbackhaullinks.Nevertheless,asanaggregatenumberforthedistrict,it’snotuncommontoseenearly800MbpssustainedusagedirectedtodistrictInternetcircuits.Thisisinaddi8ontothe22,000district‐suppliedcomputersthatmaybeinuseonthewirednetwork.◼

networkproblems,butitisimportanttodiagnoseandaddresstherootcauseoftheissue.Manyenterprise‐levelwirelesssolu=onsprovideintegratedrepor=ng,whichisinvaluableinproac=velyminimizingproblems.

SomeAPscanalsoperformapplica8on/webfilteringattheedgeofthenetworksoastoreducenetworktrafficonthebackhaulandInternetlinks,akeyingredientwhendetermininganddesigningbackhaulbandwidthorspeed.

Lastly,butveryimportantly,accordingtoCoSN’sE‐RateandBroadbandSurvey2013,26%ofdistrictsareusingslowercopperbackbonesand2.3%areusingwirelessbackbonesintheirschoolLAN.Ingeneral,theseneedtobereplacedwithfiberconnec=onstowiringclosets.Therearecosttradeoffsbetweennetworkelectronicscomponentsandsingle‐ormul8‐modefibersoschoolsshouldworkcloselywiththeirequipmentprovider

Staffing,trainingandleadership

Humancapitalandleadershipmustbeincludedinnetworkdesignandopera8on.Developinghumanleadershipcapacityfortechnologyiscri8calinthedesign,planningandcon8nuedopera8onofsuperiornetworksforstudentsandteachers.Workingwithtechnologyleaders,CoSNoffersarangeofsolidresources,mostrecentlyCoSN’sCer8fiedEduca8onalTechnologyLeader(CETL)program,whichisfocusedaroundaframeworkof

essen8alskillsandprovidesacomprehensivedevelopmentalandcer8fica8onprocessfortechnologyleaders.Findoutmoreat:hkp://www.cosn.org/cer8fica8on

AccessPointsandWirelessConnec=vity

Astheeffec=venessaffordedbymobilitycon8nuestoberealized,designandimplementa8onofwirelessservices(Wi‐Fiand3G/4G)becomecri8cal.Unlikethewiredenvironment,inwhichcapacityandreliabilitywasrela8velyassuredbecauseofdedicatedresources,wirelesstechnologyhasadifferentsetofdeploymentandusechallengescenteringoncapacity,especiallyinscenariosinwhichtherearemanyusersofdata‐intensiveapplications.Thisandotherchallenges,suchaswallsandbuildingmaterials,whichlimitreception,canbeovercomewithgoodanalysisanddesign.

Beyondthephysicalsignalandcapacityconsidera8ons,wirelesstechnologyalsocompelsthedesignertoincludeaddressplanning,security,andidentitymanagementintothedesign—especiallyasprivatelyowneddevicesarelikelytobeused.

Designques=ons

Contrarytopopularbelief,properlyimplemen8ngawirelessnetworkisneitherquicknoreasy.Itis

Adding bandwidth is not a ‘fix-all’ ... it is important to diagnose and address the root cause of the issue.


http://www.cosn.org/certification




en8relypossibletobuyaconsumer‐levelproductfromthenearestelectronicsstore,connectittothenetworkandbeginofferingawirelessconnec8onforstudents,however,doingsowouldbecour8ngfailure.Thoughùlanalysisanddesignarecri8cal;startwithaplanandthengoaboutdetermininghowbesttoimplementthatplan.

Someques8onstoinformdesign:

■Howmuchcoverageandatwhatdensi=es?

Istheintenttoprovidecoveragejusttoclassroomsortotheen8recampus?AXerdecidingwhichareastocover,apropersitesurveyisthenextstep.Oncecoverageareasaredecided,asurveywillshowwhereAPsneedtobeplacedtoprovideadequatecoverageforexpecteduserdensi8es.SpecialcareshouldbegivenindeterminingAPplacement.BesuretoallowenoughcoverageoverlaptocompensateintheeventofanAPoutage.

■Whattypesofdeviceswillbeallowedtoconnect?

Thebroadarrayofend‐userdevices(notebooks,handhelds,tablets,gamesystems,e‐readers,etc.)presentsachallengeindesigningandadministeringnetworks.Whileitmightseemreasonabletoassumethatifthenetworkcanhandleonetypeofdevice,itcanhandlethemall,thatisnotnecessarilythecase.Somedevicesrequirecertaincondi8onstobepresentonthe

networktofunc8onproperly.Strategieshereincludetes=ngmanyofthecommondevicestoensuresuccessfulaccessand/ortolimitdevicestoaspecifictype.Notdoingsosetsuppooruserexperienceandmayimpactthenetwork.

■Areyoustar=ngfromscratch,oristhereapre‐exis=ngwirelessnetwork?

QuiteoXen,implemen8nganewwirelesssolu8onismucheasierthanintegra8ngnewhardwarewithapre‐exis8ngsetup.Nevertheless,shouldapar8alsolu8onalreadybeinplace,carefully

Thoughtful analysis and design are critical; start with a plan and then go about determining how best to implement that plan.


SMARTSUPPORT>>Adistrictdecidednottosupport802.11b‐onlydevicesonthenetwork.Eventhough802.11gwasbackwards‐compa8blewith‘b’,any‘g’radiowouldhavetoslowdownto‘b’speeds(impac8ngallconnecteddevices)ifa‘b’deviceassociated.As802.11bdeviceswereonthewanewhenthedistrictimplementeditsBYOTsolu8on,itwasassumedtheimpactwouldbeminimalwith,atworst,afewhandheldgamingsystemslosingconnec8vity.FastforwardafewyearstoChristmas2012:thelatestKindleFire,whichsupported802.11g,wouldnotakachtotheBYOTnetwork.Workingcloselywiththewirelessvendor,itwasdiscoveredthattheKindlerequired802.11bsupport,eventhoughitwasn’tgoingtouseit.Sincethenetworkhad802.11bsupportdisabled,theKindlerefusedtoconnect.ThevendordevelopedaquickpatchtofooltheKindleintothinkingthenetworksupported802.11b,eventhoughitdidnot.Acloserela8onshipwithone’swirelessvendorand/orVARcanbeawisemove.◼

considerhowthetwodisparatesolu8onswillinteroperate.Inplanningapar8alnewimplementa8on,selecthardwarethatcanscaletoalargerinstalla=on.

■Whatconstruc=onmaterialsareusedinthebuildings?

Thoughtechnologypersonnelmightnothavedirectinputintobuildingmaterials,goodrela8ons withtheschool’s’facili8esdepartmentprovidesgreaterunderstandingofpoten8alproblemareas.

■Whichdistrictresourcesareavailable?

Theanswercangreatlyimpactthedesign,complexity,andcostofaninstalla8onandisfurthercomplicatedbytheownershipofthedevice–schoolorstudent.Anappropriateguidelineisdesigntoprovidestudentaccesstoservicestheywouldnormallyhaveinanin‐schoolwiredenvironmentwhenusingschool‐owneddevices.WithBYOD,providesimilarbutweb‐enabledservicesdeliverablesecurelythroughmobilebrowsers.

Withlimitedinternalresourceaccess(prin8ng,fileshares,etc.),consideramobiledevicemanagement(MDM)solu8on.AnMDMcanhelpassurethatclientsmeetaminimalsecurityposturewhileauthen8ca8ngaccesstodesiredinternalresources.UsingMDMtoregulateisonlyoneop8on;considerusingavirtualdesktopproducttoprovideasecureenvironmentinwhichuserscansafelyinteractwithschoolresources.Of

course,theseop8onscanaddcostandcomplexityaswellassomemeasureofresourceoverheadintheformofhardware,soXware,andpersonnel.

Anotherop8on:simplyallowonlyInternetaccessbyblockingallinternalaccess,anddirectalltrafficouttheInternetgateway.Whilethisisthemostsecureop8on,ithasthenega8vesideeffectofpreven8ngaccesstopoten8allyneededinternalnetworkfiles.

■Howcleanistheradiofrequency(RF)spectrum?

Asurveyoftheschoolbyaqualifiedwirelessprofessionalwillprovideanassessmentofhow“clean”theRFspectrumisatanygivensite.Evenifthereisnopre‐exis8ngwirelessnetwork,thespectrummightnotbeasfreefromconges8onasonemightthink.Besidesever‐presentbackgroundnoise,ifaschoolisinornearaneighborhoodorurbanarea,impingementfromoutsidewirelessnetworksisalmostassured.Sincethe2.4GHzand5GHzbandsareunlicensed,meaningthatnolicenseisrequiredtooperateequipmentinthesebandsprovidedmaximumpowerlevelsaren'texceeded,thereisn’tmuchthatcanbedonetomi8gateinterferencefromoutsidesources.Properchannelplanningandlayoutisessen8alinprovidingthebestpossibleconnec8oninachallengingenvironment.Over=me,thegrowthofnewerstandardsrelyingonthe“cleaner”5GHzshouldhelpmi=gateconges=onissuesevidentin2.4GHz.

In planning a partial new implementation, select hardware that can scale to a larger installation.


■HowwillrogueAPsbemi=gated?

Nomakerhowsecurethedesign,therewillalwaysbeunauthorized,orrogue,networkswithwhichtocontend.ArogueAPcanhaveadeleteriousimpactonawirelessnetwork—asasourceofinterference,apathtoavoidnetworkfilters,asecurityissue(inthecaseofanimpersonatedSSID)andincertaincircumstancesasanunprotectedthreatvectorformalicioussoXwareoruserstogainaccesstotheinternalnetwork(intheeventauserconnectstotheroguewiththeirwirelesscardwhilesimultaneouslyconnectedtotheinternal,wirednetwork).Asmartdesignincludesfeaturesto“sequester”roguetraffic—boththerogueitselfandanyconnectedclients—effec=velyneutralizingtheoffender.Whilethiswon’tcleanthespectrum,itdoes“enforce”expectedbehaviorbymakingroguesunusable.

AddressingkeychallengesinWi‐Fideployments

ThereisafiniteamountofRFspectrumavailable,especiallyinthe2.4GHzband(usedby802.11b/g/n)withonlythreenon‐overlappingchannels(1,6,11)availableforuse.Overlappingisthetermusedtodescribethe"bleedingover"ofasignal'sprimary

frequency(or"centerchannel")intoneighboringfrequencies.Wi‐Fichannelsinthe2.4GHzspectrumwilloverlaptwochannelsoneithersideofthecenterchannel(i.e.,channel6willalsoimpingechannels4,5,7,and8—asthosearethechannelswithinthetwo‐channeloverlaponeithersideofthecenterchannel).Thisiswhy,eventhoughthereare11channelsinthe2.4GHzspectruminNorthAmericaforwirelessnetworking,onlythreechannels‐1,6,and11‐don'toverlapwitheachotherandshouldbeusedtoimplementthemostrobust2.4GHznetwork.

Forexample,ifthereisalreadyawirelessAPrunningonchannel6.Thismeansthatchannels4,5,6,7,and8arebeingused(centerchannel6,plusthetwoneighboringchannelsoneithersideof6).Ifanaddi8onalAPistobeaddedandnotinterferewiththeexis8ngAP,channel1orchannel11must

Proper channel planning and layout is essential in providing the best possible connection in a challenging environment.


beselected.IftheAPweretobeconfiguredtorunonchannel2,itwouldimpingeonchannels0*,1,2,3,and4(*there'snotreallya'channel0'—itisjustbeingusedasa"placeholder").Sincechannel6alsoimpingesonchannel4,thencenterchannels2and6areoverlapping,whichcancreatecommunica8onproblems.Thoughtherearenorulesmanda8ngtheuseofonlychannels1,6,or11fornetworkinginthe2.4GHzspectrum,usinganythingelsecanseriouslyaffectcommunica8onsandnega8velyimpactawirelessengineeringplan.Itisalsoconsideredtobebestprac8cetousechannels1,6,and11,aswellasbeinga“goodneighbor”whenotheren88esmightbewithincloseproximity.

Asagreatmajorityofconsumerhardwareusesthe2.4GHzbands,conges8onrapidlydegradesperformance.Fortunately,thereisanotherbitofunlicensedspectrum:the5GHzbandwithupto23non‐overlappingchannelsavailableandusedby802.11a/n/ac.Thoughini8allyfarlesscommonintheconsumerandbusinessspace,thewidespreadadop8onofdual‐band802.11n(andtheforthcoming802.11acstandard)hasmadedevicesthatsupportthe5GHzspectrumsomewhatmorecommon.Nevertheless,agreatmajorityofdeviceswills=llprefer2.4GHzunlessconfiguredtoprefer5GHz.Notonlycanthe2.4GHzspectrumbemorecrowdedwithclients,it’salsocongestedbynon‐802.11trafficfromBluetoothdevices,gamingsystems,personalhotspots,microwaveovens,andevenimproperlygroundedelectricalsystems.

Nevertheless,even5GHzhaslimita8onssinceitshigherfrequencyismorepronetosignalloss(the5GHzsignalismorereadilyabsorbed—or‘akenuated’byobstruc8onsbetweentheAPandthedevice)andgenerallyhasashorterrangethan2.4GHzdevicesatthesamepoweroutput.Carefulplanningisrequiredwhendesigninganinfrastructurethatwillsupportboth2.4GHzand5GHzspectrum.

Designfortheneededdensity(capacity)

Designinganetworkforahigh‐densityuserenvironmentcanpresentmanyini8allynon‐apparentchallenges.Oneoftheseisthepeoplethemselves.Thehumanbody,whichisabout60%water,isasignificantsignal‐absorp8onmaterial.Whenperformingasitesurveyandusingpredic8veanalysis,manyunderes8matetheamountofsignal

Though there are no rules mandating the use of only channels 1, 6, or 11 for networking in the 2.4 GHz spectrum, using anything else can seriously affect communications...


TRAFFICTRENDS>>OfficialsatForsythCountySchools,withnearly20,000concurrentwirelessdevicesontheirnetwork,havenoticedthat,whilethenumberof5GHz‐capabledeviceshasindeedincreasedontheirnetwork,ithasn’tkeptpacewiththeoverallgrowthrateofwirelessdevicesonthenetwork.Obviously,evenwithdual‐band802.11n(andpre‐802.11ac)devices,thegreatmajorityofdevicesarestilloperatinginthe2.4GHzspectrum.Thoughthisshouldbegintrendingmoreinthedirectionof5GHzdevicesinthefuture,inthenear‐term,therewillstillbesignificant2.4GHztraffic.◼

lossoccasionedbysimplybyhavinglargenumbersofstudentsinaclassroom.Thisissueisn’toXenfoundinmanycorporateorofficescenariosasit’snotnormaltohave30+peopleregularlygroupedtogetherinarela8velysmallspace.Thiscanbemi=gatedbyhavingAPsclosertotheusers,eveninves=nginoneAPperclassroom.Acau8onarynote:suchdensity,especiallyinthe5GHzbandswill beeffec8vebutmaynega8velyimpacttheRFspectruminthe2.4GHzbands.Thus,athoroughsitesurveyiscri8calindesigningarobust,andfault‐tolerantwirelessnetwork.Someguidelinesforexis8ngwirelessinfrastructureareasfollows:

Buildingmaterialsandbuildingarchitecturemaner

Construc8onmaterials,aswellasfurnitureandfixtureplacementinaroom,cansignificantlyimpactsignalquality.Thoughsignallosswillevenoccurinemptyspace,signalspassingthroughoneormorewalls,filingcabinets,interac8vewhiteboardsordoorswillencountermoreloss.Addi8onally,mirrorsinadancestudio,ormorecommonly,sound‐absorbingmaterialsinamusicclassrequirespecialaken8on.Userswillalsoneedtohaverealis8cexpecta8onsinawirelessenvironment.ProvidingaWi‐Fisignalcouldbeconsidereda“besteffort”medium.Allotherthingsbeingequal,awiredconnec8onwillalwaysbemorereliableandfasterassomanymorevariablescanimpactwirelessservice.Eventhetypeofdevicecanchange thequalityofserviceanduserexperience.

AdevicecouldbeveryclosetoanAPands8llnotreceiveausablesignal.Dependingonthereflec8vityofnearbysurfaces,it’spossibleforasta8ontoreceiveprimaryandreflectedsignals.Ifthesignalsare180degreesout‐of‐phase(meaningthecrestofonesignalmatchesexactlywiththetroughofanother),itcaneffec8velycancelitselfout.UnderstandingRFenvironmentalcharacteris8cscangoalongwayinassis8ngwithdesigningforop8mumconnec8vity.

Addressplanning,design,andmanagement

Aspreviouslymen8oned,asdevicecountincreases,thenumberofpublicIPaddresses—andtheirassociatednetworkaddresstransla8on(NAT)andportaddresstransla8on(PAT)thatareavailabletotheconnec8onisofcri8calimportanceinasmartnetwork.WiththeexplosivegrowthofBYOT/BYODhardware,it’snotunusualforausertocarrymul8pledeviceswiththemandevenusethosedevicessimultaneously.Further,eachopenapplica8onmightopenacorresponding10‐20portsassignedforthedura8onofthesession.Ifauserhasfourapplica8onsopen,theneachdevicemighthave80orsoportsassigned.Carryinganaverageoftwodeviceseach,that’s160portsassignedperstudent.Ina2,000‐studentscenario,thatcouldtranslateto320,000portsallocated.SinceeachpublicIPaddresscanonlyhaveapproximately59,000assignedports,thatcouldmeansixpublicIPaddresses wouldbeneededtosupportthatnumberofusersinthatscenario.Thatmightseemlikeanextreme

Construction materials, as well as furniture and fixture placement in a room, can significantly impact signal quality.


scenario,buttherehavebeeninstancesofexhaustedaddresstablesresultinginsporadicInternetaccess,evenwithplentyofbandwidthavailable.

TheCer8fiedWirelessNetworkProfessionalAssociationofferscertificationprogramsandtrainingguidestohelpleadersandengineersindesigninganddeployingwirelessnetworks.Its“CertifiedWirelessNetworkAdministratorGuide”http://www.cwnp.com/certifications/cwnaisanexcellenttool,bothinstudyingforanindustrycertificationandasareferenceguideforeffectiveimplementationandmanagementofwirelessnetworking.

Responsibili=esofstudentdatasecurity

StateandfederalguidelinesandlawssuchastheFamilyEduca8onalRightsandPrivacyActof1974(FERPA),theChildren’sInternetProtec8onAct(CIPA)andtheChildren’sOnlinePrivacyProtec8onActof1998(COPPA)addressstudentdatasecurityrequirementsandconcerns.Addi8onally,theProtec8onofPupilRightsAmendment(PPRA)protectsrightsofstudentsandparentsregardingsurveys,analysisorevalua8onsconductedbytheUSDepartmentofEduca8on.

Familiaritywiththoserequirementsiscri8calinnetworkdesign.Datasecurityshouldbeahigh‐levelconsidera8onandshouldnotbeminimizedduetocostconcerns.WiththeBerkmanCenterforInternetLaw,CoSNisbuildingaToolkitonPrivacy,whichwillincludeasummaryofFERPA.Addi8onal

resourcescanbefoundintheHarvardLawSchoolpublica8onPrivacyandChildren’sData:AnOverviewoftheChildren’sOnlinePrivacyActandtheFamilyEduca8onalRightsandPrivacyAct.hkp://cyber.law.harvard.edu/publica8ons/2013/privacy_and_childrens_data

Encryp=onandsecurityconsidera=ons

Whendeployingwirelessnetworks,encryp8onmustbeapartofthedesigndiscussion.Thoughthereareseveralencryp8onmethodologiesfromwhichtochoose,WEPiseasilycompromisedandshouldneverbeconsidered.Ifencryp=onischosen,use

With the explosive growth of BYOT/BYOD hardware, it’s not unusual for a user to carry multiple devices with them and even use those devices simultaneously.


NOTEBOOKNOTES>>In2008,ForsythCounty(GA)initiallyrolledoutcoveragetosupportnotebookcomputers—whichgenerallyhavearobustantennadesignandcanbeusableeveninarelativelyweakWi‐Fienvironment.Withtheproliferationofhandheld/tabletdevices,itbecameapparentthattheirantennadesignwassignificantlylesscapablethanwhatwasfoundinnotebooks.Inalargenumberofareasnotebooksfunctionedjustfine—buttabletdevicesdidnot.Itwasdeterminedthattheminimumusablesignalforhandhelds/tabletswas‐65dBmRSSI,whereas72dBmRSSIisadequateforlaptops(thefartherthenumberfrom‘0’,theweakerthesignal).RSSI(receivedsignalstrengthindicator)isameasurementofpowerpresentinareceivedradiosignal.Thestrongerthereceivedradiosignal,thefastercommunicationcanoccurbetweenclientandAP.◼

http://www.cwnp.com/certifications/cwna%20




http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/publications/2013/privacy_and_childrens_data




WPA2tosecurewirelessconnec=ons.WPA2canbecombinedwithotherop=ons,suchascer=ficate‐basedauthen=ca=onorRADIUS,tofurther=ghtensecurity.

Moresophis8cateddesignsandimplementa8onscanalsointelligentlyassigndevicestopar8cularnetworks/VLANsdependingoncriteriasuchasusercreden8als,theexistenceofpar8cularmanagementsoXware,andothercondi8ons.Thisprovidesanextralayerofprotec8ontotrafficand/orinternalresources,thoughitdoesaddtocostandcomplexity.OneapproachisaWPA2‐protectedSSID,withthekeydistributedviaAc8veDirectorygrouppolicies,coupledwithcer8ficate‐basedRADIUSauthen8ca8on(cer8ficatepushedtoclientsviagrouppolicies)fordistrict‐supplieddevices.Thesedeviceswouldhavefullaccesstointernalresourceslimitedonlybygroupmembershipoftheauthen8cateduser.

Securityisavitalconsidera8on.Whetherprotec8ngabuilding,anautomobileoranetwork,propersecurityprovidesforintactandcon8nuedopera8ons.Usersexpecttheirdataisassecureascanbereasonablyassuredwhileusingaschool’snetwork.CTOsandsystemadministratorsmustensurethatdistrictresourcesareaccessedonlybythosewithappropriateauthority.Lawsandguidelinescompeladistricttoapplycertaincontrols toprotectemployeeandstudentinforma8on.Forthecoreofthenetwork,threatmi8ga8ontechnologiessuchasintrusionpreven8onand

intrusiondetec8onservices(IPS/IDS),an8‐virusandan8‐malwareservicesareessen8altoasafeandsecureopera8onofthenetwork.Theseconsidera8ons,individuallyandinconcert,informandspecifynetworksecuritydesign.

Bestprac=ceswouldsuggesthavinganetwork(VLAN)dedicatedsolelyforBYOD/Thardwareevenifthedesireistogivethosedevicesaccesstothesameresourcesasiftheywereusingschool‐supplieddevices.Segrega8ngthenetworksallowsformoregranularcontrolofthetrafficonalesstrusted,oruntrustednetworkthroughfirewallpolicies,accesscontrollists,andothermeansofthetrafficonthisuntrusted(orlesstrusted)network,shouldtheneedarise.

Combiningsuchnetworksegrega8onwithatoolsuchasMDMcanfurtherensuresecuredata,asonlyproperlyauthen8cateddeviceswillbeallowedonthenetwork.

Addi8onalprotec8onfromundesired“snooping”wouldincludeuseofawirelessproductprovidingsomelevelofsequesterednetworkconnec8on:theclientcanaccessallallowednetworkresources,butclientsareprecludedfromaccessingeachother.This helpsdissuadesomeofthemorecurioususersfrom“exploring”thenetworkbeyondwhat’sintendedbytheschoolordistrict.However,thismaypreventsomelegi8mate,in‐building,point‐to‐pointservices(suchasanetworkedvo8ngdevice)fromopera8ng

Data security should be a high-level concern and should not be minimized due to cost concerns.


iftheyusetheschool’swirelessinfrastructureasatransportmethod.

IdentityandAccessManagement(IAM)

Smartnetworkdesignanddevelopmentmustincludemethodsofgrantingusersappropriateandsecurenetworkaccess.Withtoday’scomplexfabricofmultiplesystems,usermanagement,includingprovisioning,de‐provisioningandgrantingspecificauthorizations,isbothessentialandincreasinglyresourceintensive.EffectiveIAMdesignandoperationstrategiesarejustasimportant,inmanyrespects,asthedesignofhardwareandsoftwarecustomarilyconsideredpartofthenetwork.Althoughthereisnosinglebestwaytodesignaschool’sIAMmethod,resourcesexisttoassistthedesignerandCTOinformulatingasmartapproach.CoSNisacontributingmemberoftheNationalK‐12FederatedIdentityandAccessManagementTaskForce(seehttps://spaces.internet2.edu/display/K12FedIAMTF/Home)—andhasdevelopedthedocument,SingleSign‐On,MultipleBenefits:APrimeronK‐12FederatedIdentityManagementandAccessManagement.http://www.cosn.org/FederatedIdentity

ConnectingDevicestotheNetwork

What’sthepointinhavinganetworkifnottoallowdevicestoconnect?Theques8on,then,ishowbesttoaccomplishthiswhileensuringbothinfrastructureanddevicesecurity.

Authen=ca=onofdevicesandusers

Howareyouplanningtoauthen8catedevicestoyournetwork?Areyousimplygoingtoallowanydevicetoconnectwithoutregardtouserordeviceiden8fica8on?Thatmayprovidesupporttothelargestnumberofdevices,butcanmeanthatCTOsandnetworkadministratorshavenospecificandiden8fiableknowledgeaboutusersanddevicesontheirnetwork.Aneffec=vedesignapproachistoauthen=cateviawebpageredirec=onwhere,whenthemobilebrowserislaunched,auserisrequiredtopasscreden=alsforauthen=ca=on.Integratedintotheschoolsdirectoryservicesorsecuritysystems,thiscanhelpensureallusers,beforeInternetuse,agreetoa‘TermsofService’(whichcanneutralizethe‘Ididn’tknowIwasn’tsupposedtodothat!’argument).Thisredirectionmayhavesmalllimitationssuchasnotsupportingalluser‐supplieddevices,orprecludingguestsfromusingthenetworkunlessprovisionsaremade,butprofessional,responsiblenetworkmanagementandsecurityalwaystrumpssuchoutcomes.

Smart network design and development must include methods of granting users appropriate and secure network access.


https://spaces.internet2.edu/display/K12FedIAMTF/Home




http://www.cosn.org/FederatedIdentity




Ifanauthenticationmethodischosen,canusersopt‐out?Ifso,willtheybeaffordedanysortofaccess?Whilethereisnosingle100%correctsolution,carefulplanningandconsiderationshouldmakeitpossibletofindsomethingthatworksforyourschooldistrict.

Managementofdevices

Withasecurewirelessnetworknowavailabletostudents,howcanonesmoothlymanageahardwareinflux?Whilethereisnoone‐size‐fits‐allsolution,smartdesignsincludedeployingsomemanagementtools.

■Bandwidthmanagement‐Isthereapar8cularapplica8onorsiteconsuminganinordinateamountofbandwidth?Blockitwithcommonfilteringtools,butsomelegi8mateeduca8on‐relatedcontentmaybecomeinaccessible.Abenersolu=onwouldbetolimittheamountoftrafficthatcanflowtoandfromthebandwidthhogandestablishpriorityforcri=caltrafficsuchasemail,andonlinetes=ng.Newer‐genera8onfiltersandfirewallseasilydothis,oXenprovidingsignificantbandwidthsavings.

■Mobiledevicemanagement(MDM)‐Partofanoverallstrategytomanageallnetworkdevices,MDMsolutionsareveryuseful,givingdistrictsgranularcontroloverauser’sdevice,fromgrantingaccesstothedistrict’snetworktolocationtrackingandcameraaccess.Theycanalsoassistin

softwareinstallationsincludinglicensemanagementandsecurity.

■Technicalsupportofpersonally‐owneddevices‐Howmuchtime,effortandmanpowerareyouwillingtodedicatetostudent‐supplieddevices?Doesyourdistricthavethecapability,ordesire,toprovidesupportforhundredsifnotthousandsofdisparatedevicetypes?Areyoureadytoberesponsibleforanyuser‐suppliedhardwareproblemsif,forexample,theyareinanywayrelatedtodistrictstaffperformedwork?Givencostsimplicitinahigh‐supportmodelforuser‐owneddevices,athoughtfulapproachmaybetoleavesupportforanyBYOT/BYODhardwaretotheenduser.

Webandcontentaccessmanagement

Responsibleandappropriatecontentmanagementisanotherimportantconsidera8oninnetworkdesignandisaconstantchallengefornetworkmanagers.Compliancestrategiesexistbothforstudentprotectionandlegalnecessity.InwirelesssettingsinwhichBYODisencouraged,itisimportantthattheschoolcontinuetoensurepersonally‐owneddevicesusingschool‐providedInternetserviceonlybeallowedtoaccesscontentdeemedappropriatebytheschool.Thismayrequireadditionaltechnologyororchestrationofotherdirectoryandfilteringstrategies,butitiswisetopreventstudentsfromaccessinginappropriatecontentinallsettings,notjustwhileonthedistrict’snetwork.

How much time, effort and manpower are you willing to dedicate to student-supplied devices?


ConnectingfromOutsideofSchoolSupportforany=me,anywherelearning

Mobiledeviceavailabilityandadop8oncon8nuestoriseintheworkplace,consumerspaceandincreasinglyineduca8on.Mobiledevicesincorpora8ngwide‐areaorcellularconnec8vityareturningintomul8‐purpose,highlycapableportablecomputersenablinggreaterinterac8onwithincreasinglyimmersiveandalways‐availablelearningexperiences.Wheneffec8velyandsecurelysupported,theyhavethepoten8altodeliverhighly‐customizedandgenuinelytransforma8velearningexperiencesbothinsideandoutsidetheclassroom.

Variouspilotprojectshavedemonstratedthatsuppor8ngtheabilityofstudentstoaccesslearningcontent,interactwithteachers,mentorsandpeersany8me,anywherehasabeneficialandtransforma8veimpactonlearningeffec8veness.Forecastsforsubstan8aluseofblendedlearning(50%ofcoursesby2019)furtherconfirmthemainstreamingofthisnewmodelintoK‐12.

Thesepilotsandagrowingnumberofotherexperiencesdemonstratethatstudentsandteachersbenefitfromgainingaccesstolearningcurriculaandotherresourcesthatwillresideonschoolnetworksona24/7basis,inoroutoftheclassroom.Thereareavarietyofpossibleapproachestoachievethisresult,frommatchingWi‐Fidevicestoportable4Ghotspots,issuing

mobiledeviceswithbuilt‐inmobilebroadbandconnec=vity,orBYODwhicheffec=velyallowsparentsandstudentstoselecttheirpreferreddevice,andmanagingconnec=vityrequirementsdirectly.

Supportfor24/7accessiblelearningprogramsconsidersequitableaccesstolearningcontentandopportuni8esforallstudents,regardlessoftheavailabilityofconnec8vityathome.Someschooldistrictsmayhaveasignificantpropor8onoftheir

Mobile device availability and adoption continues to rise in the workplace, consumer space and increasingly in education.


MEANINGFULK‐NECTIONS>>Apilotprogramini8atedintheinterestofexploringwhetherprovidingstudentswith24/7connec8vity(viasmartphones)couldplayaroleinenhancingstudentengagementandlearning,ProjectK‐Nectaddressedtheneedtoimprovemathskillsamongat‐riskstudentsinNorthCarolinawhoscoredpoorlyinmathanddidnothavehomeInternetaccess.AlgebraIdigitalcontentalignedwithcurrentlessonplanswascreatedandstudentswereencouragedtolearnfromeachotherinandoutoftheclassroom.Studentsdidsobyusingsocialnetworkingapplica8onsonthesmartphone,aswellasotherInternetresourcessuchaswww.algebra.com.Studentsatoneofthepar8cipa8ngclassesincreasedtheirproficiencyratesby30percentontheend‐of‐courseexamwhencomparedtoclassesnotinProjectK‐Nectbuttaughtbythesameteacher.Thecompletecasestudyavailableathttp://www.qualcomm.com/media/documents/wireless‐reach‐case‐study‐united‐states‐project‐knect‐english◼

http://www.algebra.com

http://www.algebra.com

http://www.qualcomm.com/media/documents/wireless-reach-case-study-united-states-project-knect-english






studentsloseaccesstoInternetconnec8vityassoonastheystepofftheschoolgrounds.Inthesecases,theuseofmobilebroadband(3G/4G)technology,suchastheKajeetSmartSpotdiscussedinthesidebarfromDetroitPublicSchools,ormobilebroadband(3G/4G)capabledevicesisoXenthemosteffec8vemeansofensuringthatdistrictITpoliciesarenotexacerba8ngadigitaldivide.

Whilethecostofmobilebroadbandserviceisavalidconcern,stepscanbetakentolimitabuseandcontrolexpenditures.Further,manymobilenetworkoperatorsareexploringeduca8on‐specificplanstailoredtostudent,parentandschooladministratorneeds.Someschoolsanddistrictsarepartneringwithwirelessvendorstoprovideamobilebroadbandsolu8on,completewithCIPA‐compliantfilters.

Inresponsetomobiledeviceprolifera8onamongconsumers,includingbothparentsandtheirschool‐agedchildren,schoolITmanagersaredesigningnetworkstoaccommodatemobiledeviceaccessfromdistrict‐andpersonally‐owneddevicesasthenorm,ratherthantheexcep8on.Networkadministratorswillneedtocarefullybalanceteacherandstudentpreferenceswithnetworksecurityandstudentsafetyconcernsinimplemen=ngeffec=vemobiledevicepolicies.Mobiledevicespresentaddi8onalchallengesofaccessingnetworkresourcesnotonlyfromwithinaschoolcampus,butalsofrombeyondtherela8vesafetyofon‐campusfirewalls.Ideally,IT

administratorsshouldbeabletomanagemobiledevicesinthesamemanner,usingthesamepoliciesregardlessoftheloca8onornetworkaccessmethodbeingusedbyaspecificdeviceatanygiven8me.

Mobiledeviceandaccessmanagement

Thoroughandthoughtfulnetworkplanningiscriticaltoefficientlysupportingmobiledevicesandprotectingagainsttheiruniquerisks.InconsistentmanagementtoolsandpoliciesacrosstheWireless‐LANandmobilebroadband—whichoftenresultfromaddressingmobileandpersonally‐owneddevicesasanafterthought—willsubstantiallyincreasecomplexityfornetworkmanagersanddriveupITcosts.

Well‐definedaccesspoliciesthatconsidermul8pledevicetypes,opera8ngsystemsandusecasesarecri8caltoasuccessfulmobiledevicestrategy.Thevendorcommunityoffersanumberofhelpfulmanagementsolu8onsandshouldprovidesupportforthefollowingneedsandguidelines:

■Ensuringdevicesaccessingthenetworkaren’tinappropriatelymodified(“jail‐broken”or“rooted”)andarefreeofmalware,soUwarethatcannega=velyaffectschoolnetworkperformance

■Ensuringthatconnec=vityisprovidedonlytoposi=velyiden=fiedandauthorizedusersondevicesmee=ngdistrictorschoolrequirements

Well-defined access policies that consider multiple device types, operating systems and use cases are critical to a successful mobile device strategy.


■Maintainingvisibilityintoallusers,devices,andapplica=onsrunningonthenetwork

■Ensuringthetransferofcontentaccesspoliciesfromin‐schoolseqngstoexternalwirelessseqngsbothWi‐Fiandmobilebroadband

■Enforcingdevice‐levelsecuritymeasuressuchasremotewipe,enablingmanagementoflost,stolenorotherwisenon‐compliantdevicesatany=me.

UnderstandingDeviceCapabili=es

Mobileandportablecompu8ngdevicesareincreasinglyatthecenterofmanyaspectsofourlives.In2012,totalglobalmobile(3G/4G)connec8onsreached6.6billiondevices,ownedbyapproximately3.2billionindividualsamidatotalglobalpopula8onofjustover7billion.Recentresearchintoconsumerhabitsindicatesthatamajorityofuserslookattheirmobilephonesatleast1508mesperday.Furthermore,inaTIMEmagazinemobilitypoll1284%ofrespondentssaidtheycouldn’tgoasingledaywithouttheirmobilephones,and66%ofuserssleepwiththeirprimarymobilephonerightnexttotheirbeds.

Withmovesbywirelessoperatorsanddevicemanufacturerstomakesmartphonesandtheirassociateddataplansmoreflexibleandaffordable,

Recent research into consumer habits indicates that a majority of users look at their mobile phones at least 150 times per day.


OFF‐CAMPUSBROADBANDEQUITY>>DetroitPublicSchools(MI)usesacombinationofprivateandpublicfundingtoprovidelow‐incomefamilieswithlaptopsandeducationbroadbandaccessoff‐campus.Detroit’sCIOandChiefStrategicOfficer,DianeJones,recentlyspokeabouttheirprogramonEducationTalkRadio.DetroitprovidedstudentswithCIPA‐compliantbroadbandviatheKajeetSmartSpot™,aportableWi‐Fihotspotusing4GLTEtechnologyanddistrictpolicymanagement.StudentswhonowhaveInternetaccessathome,feeltheyareequaltotheirclassmatesintechnology.>>TwostudiesbyProjectTomorrowexaminedtabletusebyfifth‐gradestudentsinChicagoPublicSchools(IL)andeighth‐gradestudentsinFairfaxCountyPublicSchools(VA).Thestudiescontrastedtechnologyattitudesanduseinmoreaffluent,connectedcommunitieswithchronicallychallengedlow‐incomefamiliesforwhomthetabletwasboththeirfirstcomputingdeviceandtheirfirstinternetconnectioninthehome.AwebpanelwithbothdistrictsdiscussedthefindingsinDecember.Thetabletsusemobilebroadbandtoprovideanytime,anywhereaccessmanagedbytherespectiveschools’policies.UnderaseparateprogramdubbedAccess4All,FairfaxisalsoprovidinglaptopsandKajeetSmartSpotsforstudentcheckout.>>Withoff‐campusaccessnowshowntobeaffordableviamanagedrestrictionofbandwidthintensivenon‐academicuse(primarilyconsumerstreamingmedia),moredistrictsacrossthecountryarepursuingsimilarprogramsincludingForsyth(GA),GreenBay(WI),Tucson(AZ)andEctor(TX).Recognizingthepersistentdigitaldivide,somecommunityprojects,suchasProjectL.I.F.T.inCharlotte(NC),arealsoworkingwiththeirschoolstoprovideaccess.Whether1‐to‐1orBYOT,thedigitalrevolu8onisinherentlyreliantonstudentconnec8vity,bothonandoffcampus.◼

12“10WaysMobileTechnologyisChangingOurWorld,”Time27Aug.2012.Print.

smartphoneadop8onisforecasttocon8nueonitscurrentstrong‐growthtrajectory.In2012alone,1millionnewsmartphoneuserswereaddedeveryday,manyaged24andunder.Tabletcomputersare similarlyupwardlytrendingwithmostforecastsprojec8ng25%‐30%annualgrowth,comparedtolaptopandmobilePCswithanexpectedgrowthrateofonly2%peryear.13Further,totaltabletsales surpassedthatoflaptopsduring2013.14

Akeytake‐awayfromsuchsta8s8csisthatsmartphonesandtabletcomputerswillbehighlyfamiliarandheavilyuseddevicesforthemajorityofstudents.Studentsarebringingthesedevicesintotheclassroomandakemp8ngtoaccesswhatevernetworksarevisibletothem.Keepinmindthattheseare,ineffect,highlycapableportablecomputers.Theprocessingpoweroftoday’sleadingsmartphonesalreadyequalsthatofmostPCssoldin2009,andeasilysurpassesthecompu8ngpoweroftheen8reApollo11projectwhenitsuccessfullylandedamanonthemoon.

Asdevicecapabili8esandconnec8vityop8onsincrease,andcostsdecline,itbecomesrela8velystraighòrwardforstudentstoaccessagrowingabundanceofrichdigitalcontentandonlineresources.Insuchanenvironment,robustandreliableeduca8onnetworksbecomeacri8calenablinginfrastructureelementforteachingandlearningeffec8veness.Furthermore,network

designersandplannersneedtooperateundertheassump=onthatboththetotalpopula=onofdevicesandthevolumeofdatatrafficdrivenbythosedeviceswillincreasedrama=callyoverthenextseveralyears.

Sowhatcanwedowiththisinforma8on?Wecanstartwiththeassump8onthatsmartphonesandtabletswillbeincreasinglypowerfulandpresentamongstudentpopula8onsinthenearterm.Whenincorpora8ngeitherdistrict‐procuredorstudent‐owneddevicesintothelearningcurriculum,itisimportanttothoroughlyevaluateandunderstandtheusecasesandrequireddevicecapabili8esofteachersandstudents.Addi8onally,recognizethatdeviceinterac8onmodels,featureusageandrequirementsmayvarysignificantlyfromoneclassroomtothenext.

Whilethecurrentminimumdevicerequirementsandrecommenda8onsoftheonlineassessmentstandardsorganiza8ons,thePartnershipforAssessmentofReadinessforCollegeandCareers(PARCC)andtheSmarterBalancedAssessmentConsor8um(SBAC)serveasausefulreferencepointformakingdevicedecisions,theseshouldbeconsideredastar8ngpoint,notanendpoint.Theminimumandrecommendedsystemspecifica8onspublishedbyPARCCandSBACcanbefoundontheirrespec8vewebsiteshkp://www.parcconline.org/andhkp://www.smarterbalanced.org/orattheStateEduca8onalTechnologyDirectorsAssocia8onhkp://SETDA.org.

We can start with the assumption that smartphones and tablets will be increasingly powerful and present among student populations in the near term.


13Gartner,Inc.andInternationalDataCorporation(IDC),September201314Gartner,Inc.andStrategyAnaly8cs,June2013;IDC,May2013

http://SETDA.org

http://www.parcconline.org/

http://www.parcconline.org/

http://www.smarterbalanced.org/

http://www.smarterbalanced.org/

http://SETDA.org

http://SETDA.org

Transforminglearningthrough24/7access

Whilethequalityandreliabilityofnetworkaccessinschoolisessen8alandwellunderstood,enablingthesamelevelofaccessandstudentlearningexperiencesfromoutsideofschoolisbecomingequallycri8cal.Studentswhoarecon8nuouslyconnectedareabletoextendtheirlearning8meusingthesametools,resourcesandapproachesthathavebeenintroducedintheclassroom.Theycanconvenientlycontactandcollaboratewithpeersandteachers,accessonlineresources,andusebuilt‐indevicefeaturestoproducehighlyengagingmul8‐mediadeliverables.Itisimpera8vethateducatorsandITdecision‐makersrecognizeandaddresstheimportanceof24/7connec8vityformobileandportablelearningdevicesaXertheschooldayends.Optionsmightincluderaisingawarenessoffixedbroadbandandmobilebroadband(3G/4G)vendorsthatsupportkeyeducationrequirements,andhelpingtoidentifyandinventoryapprovedconnectivityoptionsfrompublicinstitutionssuchaslibrariesandcommunitycenters.AchallengethatITleadersmustalsoaddresswhensuppor8ngoutofschoolconnec8vityisthatstudentdataprotec8onmeasuresandonlineaccesscontrolsneedtoremainasenforceableastheyarewhenadeviceisconnec8ngfromtheclassroom.Asoutlinedpreviously,therearemul8pledevicemanagementsolu8onsofferedbythevendorcommunitytohelpaccomplishthisobjec8ve,withmoresolu8onsthataddresseduca8on‐specificusecasesbecomingavailable.

Costconcernshavemo8vatedmanydistrictstospecifyorfavorWi‐Fionlydevices,howevertheinabilitytoensureconsistentnetworkaccessbeyondschoolgroundshasprovenchallenginginsomerecentlarge‐scaledeploymentsofWi‐Fionlytablets.Giventhatexperience,theusefulnessofmobile(3G/4G)orwide‐areawirelessconnec8vityshouldalsobecarefullyconsidered.Severaldistricts,forexample,arepurchasingmobileinternethotspotsforstudentswithouthomeconnec8onsasaninterimstep.Asmobiledevices

It is imperative that educators and IT decision-makers recognize and address the importance of 24/7 connectivity for mobile learning devices after the school day ends.


LEARNINGPOWEREDBYTECHNOLOGY>>Aninfrastructureforlearningisalwayson,availabletostudents,educators,andadministratorsregardlessoftheirlocationorthetimeofday.Itsupportsnotjustaccesstoinformation,butaccesstopeopleandparticipationinonlinelearningcommunities.Itoffersaplatformonwhichdeveloperscanbuildandtailorapplications.Aninfrastructureforlearningunleashesnewwaysofcapturingandsharingknowledgebasedonmultimediathatintegratetext,stillandmovingimages,audio,andapplicationsthatrunonavarietyofdevices.Itenablesseamlessintegra8onofin‐andout‐of‐schoollearning.Itfreeslearningfromarigidinforma8ontransfermodel(frombookoreducatortostudents)andenablesamuchmoremo8va8ngintertwinementoflearningabout,learningtodo,andlearningtobe.◼

—U.S.DepartmentofEducation,OfficeofEducationalTechnology,TransformingAmericanEducation:LearningPoweredbyTechnology,Washington,DC,2010.

becomemoreaffordableandmobilenetworkoperatorsofferincreasinglyflexibleconnec8vityplans,thebarriersthathavepreventedadop8onofdualWi‐Fiand3G/4Gdevicesinthepastarebeginningtofall.

Addi8onally,asmoreparents,teachers,administratorsandstudentsexperiencetheadvantagesofalways‐onconnec8vityfrompersonally‐ownedmobiledevices,demandforany8me,anywhereaccessisexpectedtoincrease.Flippedlearningmodelsandotherdigitallearningapproachesthatrelyupon1‐to‐1compu8ngwillalsodrivetheneedformoreconnec8vityop8ons.Finally,digitalequityconcerns,whichincludeuniversalaccesstoconnec8vity,andthenecessityofensuringthatallstudentsareabletoaccesscontentfromhomehavehelpeddemonstratetheeffec8venessofmobile(3G/4G)connecteddevicestocomplementwiredbroadbandplusWi‐Fi.

Followingaresomeusefulques8onstoaskwhenmakingrecommenda8onsonspecifica8onsforeitherdistrict‐procureddevicesortostudentsandparentsseekingguidanceon‘school‐ready’devices.

1.Istheschoolanddistrictcommittedtolearningpoweredbytechnologyintheschoolsiteandafterformalschoolhours?2.Howmanyteachershaveincorporatedorplantoincorporateflippedlearningtechniquesintotheircurricula?

3.Doteachersandstudentsintendtousemobiledevicesoutsideoftheclassroom,inoutdoororfieldtripsettings?4.WhatproportionofstudentscurrentlyhasaccesstoWi‐Fiathome?5.Howcantheschoolandcommunityhelpensureallstudentshaveequitableaccesstolearningopportunities?6.Willtherecommendeddevicesenablecontinuousaccesstolearningresourcesandfrequentopportunitiesforstudent‐teacherandstudent‐studentinteraction?

Conclusion:LookingAhead

Adop=onof1‐to‐1compu8ngisbecomingincreasinglyprevalentwithinK‐12classrooms,driveninlargepartbytheprovensuccessofflippedandhybridlearningmodels,thegrowingavailabilityofdigitalcontentandinterac8vetextbooks,aswellasthemovementtoonlineassessmentsasaresultofCommonCorestandards.Inthisenvironment,Educa8onNetworkshavebecomeinsomewaysthe mostcri8calinfrastructurecomponentofschoolopera8onsandaprimarydeterminantofthemethods,contentandteachingstrategiesthatteacherswillbeabletouseeffec8velyintheclassroom.

WebelievethatthemajorityofU.S.schoolsandschooldistrictsareatacri8caljunctureintheirtechnologyplanningandinvestmentlifecycles.Educa8onleadersandITdecisionmakerscaneasily

We believe that the majority of U.S. schools and school districts are at a critical juncture in their technology planning and investment life cycles.


beoverwhelmedbytheaccelerationofchangeobservedinclassroominstructionaltechniques,theoftenwidespreadproliferationofconsumerdevicesontheircampuses,andthepromiseoftransformativeteachingandlearningeffectiveness offeredbymakingmobilecomputingtechnologiesanintegralpartofinstructionalmodels.Studentengagementandacademicachievementdoeshave thepotentialtobetransformedby24/7accesstoqualitydigitalcontent,aswellashighlyinteractive,personalizedandcollaborativelearningmodels.However,robust,reliableandhighlyavailableEducationNetworksareanecessarypreconditionofrealizingthispotential.Furthermore,networkdesignersmustconsidernotonlymeetingthebandwidthdemandsthatareapparenttoday,butmustalsothinkaboutestablishingthefoundationsforfuturelearninginnovations.Additionalchallengesthatneedtobeaddressedbywell‐plannedEducationNetworksincludeensuringequitableandefficientaccesstolearningcontentandopportunitiesbothinsideandoutsideoftheclassroom,regardlessofastudent’shomeaddressoreconomicstatus.TheSENDGuidelinesforSchoolSystemChiefTechnologyOfficersliststhefollowingcorerecommendations.

CoreRecommenda=ons:

☑Recognizethateducationnetworkshavebecomeoneofthemostcriticalinfrastructurecomponentsofanyschool’soperations

☑Recognizethat1‐to‐1,ormany‐to‐1technologyprogramsarequicklybecomingmainstream,andplanforbandwidthcapacityaccordingly

☑StarteveryEducationNetworkplanningandupgradeprocessbycloselyconsultingwithteachersandadministratorsregardingintendedusesoftechnologiesintheclassroomandensurethatnetworkhardwareandservicesarecapableofsupportingpeakloads

☑Planforsubstan8altrainingandsupportofteachersandstaffaspartofanytechnologyrollout

☑Understandthataccessingcontentandresourceswhileoutsideoftheclassroom–fromhome,classfieldtrips,andinthecommunity–isascri=caltoeffec=velearningasin‐classconnec=vity

☑Ensurethatrigoroussecuritymeasures,regardlessofthetypeofconnection,arebuiltintoyournetworkdesign–thisisbothforthepurposesofpreven8ngunauthorizedaccesstonetworkcontentandresources,aswellascomplyingwithfederalandstatestudentprotec8onlaws

☑Makedesignchoicesthatlayafoundationforthefuture,bothintermsofscalabilityandtheeasewithwhichnewdevicecapabilitiesandtechnologiescanbesupported.

Recognize that education networks have become one of the most critical infrastructure components of any school’s operations.


ReferencesandResources

“E‐RateandBroadbandSurvey2013.”CoSN(Consor8umforSchoolNetworking),October,2013.hkp://www.cosn.org/e‐rate‐broadband‐survey

“TheBroadbandImpera8ve:Recommenda8onstoAddressK‐12Educa8onInfrastructureNeeds.”StateEduca8onalTechnologyDirectorsAssocia8on,May,2012.hkp://www.setda.org/web/guest/broadbandimpera8ve

“PrivacyandChildren’sData:AnOverviewoftheChildren’sOnlinePrivacyActandtheFamilyEduca8onalRightsandPrivacyAct.”BerkmanCenterforInternet&SocietyatHarvardUniversity,November,2013.hkp://cyber.law.harvard.edu/publica8ons/2013/privacy_and_childrens_data

“KajeetandProjectTomorrowAnnounceResultsfromLandmark1‐to‐1MobileLearningStudy”,Kajeet,Inc.,November,2013.hkp://www.kajeet.com/4u/educa8on/aboutUs/news/press/Results‐from‐Landmark‐1‐to‐1‐Mobile‐Learning‐Study.html

“AssessmentCapacityPlanningTool.”PartnershipforAssessmentofReadinessforCollegeandCareers,March,2013.hkp://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCCCapacityPlanningTool_3‐5‐13_Printablev1.0.pdf

“Cer8fiedWirelessNetworkAdministratorOfficialStudyGuide.”Cer8fiedWirelessNetwork

Professional,May,2012.hkp://www.cwnp.com/cer8fica8ons/cwna

SmarterBalancedTechnologyStrategyFrameworkandSystemRequirementsSpecifica8on–Feb6,2013Update)hkp://www.smarterbalanced.org

Na8onalK‐12FederatedIden8tyandAccessManagementTaskForce.hkps://spaces.internet2.edu/display/K12FedIAMTF/Home

hkp://www.cosn.org/FederatedIden8ty

“LeadershipforMobileLearning”.CoSN.hkp://www.cosn.org/mobilelead

Make design choices that lay a foundation for the future, both in terms of scalability and the ease with which new device capabilities and technologies can be supported.




http://www.setda.org/web/guest/broadbandimperative








http://www.kajeet.com/4u/education/aboutUs/news/press/Results-from-Landmark-1-to-1-Mobile-Learning-Study.html














http://www.cwnp.com/certifications/cwna




http://www.smarterbalanced.org

http://www.smarterbalanced.org











AcknowledgmentsCoSNthanksthefollowingorganiza8onsandindividualsfortheircontribu8ontotheseGuidelinesaspartoftheSmartEduca8onNetworksbyDesign(SEND)ini8a8ve:

WethankQualcomm,Inc.foritsgeneroussupportofthisprojectanditsstrongcommitmenttoimprovingeduca8onandaccessatalleduca8onallevels.

CoSNtakesfullresponsibilityforthecontentsoftheGuidelines.Wearegratefultoalloftheeduca8ontechnologyleaderswhotookthe8metoadviseandreviewthisdocument,especially:

Kris8nAtkins,QualcommTechnologies,Inc.,CAPaulBain,QualcommTechnologies,Inc.,CAIanByerrum,AckermanSchoolDistrict,CASteveClagg,AuroraPublicSchools,COGordonDahlby,EdTechLeadershipConsul8ng,IAChrisDede,HarvardUniversity,MAMarkFinstrom,HighlineSchoolDistrict,WAPollyGifford,Educa8onPartnersSolu8on,Inc.,TXCurtGodwin,ForsythCountySchools,GAVinceHumes,PennsylvaniaIntermediateUnit5,PAJuliaJaffe,QualcommTechnologies,Inc.,CARichKaestner,CoSNConsultant,ORKeithKrueger,CoSN,DCHowardLangford,DaltonSchoolDistrict,GAKarenMcGonigle,NorfolkPublicSchools,VAVickiMealer‐Burke,QualcommTechnologies,Inc.,CABaileyMitchell,former,ForsythCounty,GA

BobPiersant,JamesIrwinCharterSchool,COHaroldRowe,re8red,CypressFairbanksISD,TX,2012CoSNCTOoftheYearMikeSakerfield,MonroeCounty,INDeniseShorey,eLuminosity,COJimSiegl,FairfaxCounty,VASusanSilveira,QualcommTechnologies,Inc.,CAIreneSpero,CoSN,DCRonenStern,QualcommTechnologies,Inc.,CAVanceTester,QualcommTechnologies,Inc.,CATomRolfes,NebraskaDepartmentofEducation,NEJohnWilliams,MetropolitanNashvillePublicSchools,TN

AdditionalthankstoVictorRivero,EdTechDigest,CO,forhiseditorialanddesignsupport.

ProjectDirectorGordonDahlby

ConsortiumforSchoolNetworking,Washington,DCKeithKrueger,CEO

Accessing content and resources while outside the classroom ... is as critical to effective learning as in-class connectivity.



USE:ForCIOs,CTOs,superintendentsandother

schooltechnologyleadersindesigningsmarteducation

networksinyourcommunity

Describecurrentstate Describedesiredstate/goal

Describeac=onsteps/resourcesneededandperson/positionresponsible

☐Ensurethatallstakeholdershavepar=cipatedindeveloping

aclearvisionofdigitaltrans‐forma=onwithgoals&have

recognizedtheimpactupon&importanceofthenetworkin

suppor=ngthevision&mission.p.8

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☐Provideclarityinthedistrictactionplanstobuildnetworks

thatallowforarobustintegrationofthepoweroftechnologynot

onlyintothecurriculum,teaching&learningpractices,butalsointoprofessionaldevelopment&intheadministrativepractices&

systemsthatservethestaffandthepublic.p.8

▪▪▪▪▪

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☐Networkdesignshouldbedeterminedbyrequirements

stemmingfromthevision,mission&goals.Thekeyusersofthe

system‐theteachingandlearningfunction&thedistrictoperations

function‐generallydeterminetheserequirements.p.25

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☐Conductagapanalysistodetermine&informthefunc=onal&technical

enhancementsnecessaryforthenetwork.p.26

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☐Collect&examinedatasuchasinventory&itsage,elaborated

networktrafficanalysisatmultiplepointsinthenetwork&timeofday&year,helpdeskrecords,etc.Ifthedistrictdoesnothavenetworkdataorthecapacitytocollectit,consider

contractingtogatherthesedataoveranextendedperiod.p.26

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☐ALIGNMENT&INTEGRATIONwithdistrictvision,mission&goals

SENDChecklist:

☐DEFININGPERFORMANCErequirements

☐GAPANDDATAanalysis

☑ page1of5



Describeactionsteps/resourcesneededandperson/positionresponsible

☐WAN/LANtopologyorservicesareresilient.Consider

privatefiber‐basednetworksorscalableservicesfromproviders.

Establishrisktolerance&performancemetrics.p.26

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☐Thenetworkcoreshouldbescalable&ofsufficientcapacity

fortheplanningperiod.Allcomponentsinthenetworkcore

mustbecorrectlysizedtoaccommodatetheservices

needed&trafficanticipated.Considerdesignssuchthat

componentswithinthecoreabletobeupgradedasneeded.p.36

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☐Thenetwork"edge"(schoolsandclassrooms)shouldhavefiberconnectionsto&betweenwiringclosetswithCategory5e(legacy

connections)orCategory6cablingfornewwiredconnections

(computers,accesspoints,etc.).Newwirelesstechnology

mayrequiretwoEthernetCategory6cablesinordertomaximizeperformance.p.37

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☐Forwirelessapplications,ensurethatsufficientpower

throughPoweroverEthernet(PoE),PoE+,orvendor‐specificpowertechnologyisavailable.p.37

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☐Wirelesseffectivenessisdeterminedbycoverage

&capacity.Awirelesssurveyisessentialforallspacesinwhich

mobileaccessisplanned.Consider802.11n&802.11acasthebestin‐schooltechnology&mobilebroadband(3G/4G/LTE)

foraccesswhenawayfromschool.pp.34,42,49

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☐Understandthebarrierscausedbycertainconstructionmaterials.Innewconstruction,consultwiththeengineersto

mitigateimpairmentsforcertainwavelengths.p.45

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☐DESIGNforsuccess

SENDChecklistforschooltechnologyleaders☑ page2of5




☐Internetcapacityshouldbesignificantandmaybeobtained

frommultipleprovidersifnecessary.Stateandregional

networks,possiblywithInternet2connections,areoptionsifavailableinthecommunity.

Considermultiplecarriersorotherstrategiesforredundancy.p.30

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☐Internetservice,&relatedorsupportivetechnologies,mustnowbeviewedasanyotherimportantutilityusedbythe

schoolbyprovidinganadequatelineitembudgettomatchthe

neededcapacity.p.30

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☐ConsiderseparateVLANSforstudents&ensuresufficientaddressspacesincemultiple

devicesperpersonareincreasinglycommon&softwareapplicationsarerequiringmore

addresses&ports.Reviewsegmentationofemployee

network&studentnetworkswithVLANstrategiestoincreasesecurityofessentialdistrictdata,

systems&confidentialityrequirements.p.35

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☐Designforandimplementend‐to‐endQualityofService

(QoS)tosupportlatency‐sensitiveapplications.p.30

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☐Monitortheperformanceofthenetworkatallcriticalpoints&interveneasnecessary.p.30

▪▪

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☐AutomatethemanagementofmobiledevicesusingMDM

technologies.pp.40,47

▪▪

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☐ImplementanIdentityandAccessManagement(IAM)systemtohelpsecurethe

network&minimizeoperatingexpenses.p.46

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☐ADEQUATE&ROBUSTINTERNETisessential


☐MANAGING&OPERATINGthenetwork




☐Usetechnologywhereappropriatetoensurethat

districtiscomplyingwiththelawe.g.,CIPA,COPPA,FERPA,HIPPA,

PPRA,etc.&thatdata,eitherpossessedbythedistrictor,increasingly,bypartners,are

secure.p.44

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☐Implementrigorouswirelesssecuritymeasuressuchas

WPA2,RADIUS,etc.asmobility&BYODbecomeprevalent.

p.45

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☐ImplementIntrusionPrevention/Detection

technologiestominimizethreatsastheuseofInternet‐basedresourcesincreases.p.45

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☐Evenwiththeimplementationofsmart

networkdesigns,thedistrictcommitmenttofundtraining

andongoingsupportiscritical.Teachersaretheprimary

providersofdigitaltransformationandtheymust

betrainedandadequatelysupported.Similarly,technicalsupportstaffmustalsoreceive

training.pp.14,46

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☐Supportingthevision,mission&goalsofdigital

transformation&thesmartnetworksnecessarytoenable&

sustainthetransformationrequiressufficientbudgetfunds,

acontinuinginvestmentinsuccess.p.8

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☐PROTECTINGprivacy&data


☐TEACHERtraining&technicalsupport

☐BUDGET&investment


ProgressionofK‐12NetworksSENDChecklistforschooltechnologyleaders☑ page5of5

Checklistac8vity:Whereareyou(thedistrict)onthisprogression?

Capa

cityand

Services

Time,Technology,andInvestment

☐LimitedmobilityandBYOD

☐Wirelesscoverage,not

capacity

☐Someservervirtualiza=on

☐Adequatebusinesscon=nuity☐Someonlineinstruc=onal

services

☐Limiteddirectoryintegra=on

anddevicemanagement☐Marginallyadequateinternet

☐100M/1GBandsome10GB

Core

☐Category5and5ecabling

☐FiberWAN‐star/ring/hybrid

☐VoIPorplanningtoimplement

☐Fullmobility(1:1)andBYOD

☐WWANsupportformobility

☐Wirelesscoverageandcapacity

☐Manyonlineresources,

coursesandinstruc=onalserviceswith24/7availability

☐Virtualschool

☐Cloudini=a=ves:IaaS/SaaS/

EaaS☐Completeservervirtualiza=on

☐Fullbusinesscon=nuitywith

datareplica=onasneeded

☐Deepdirectoryintegra=onfor

authoriza=onandmanagementofservicesand

devices

☐Substan=alinternetcapacityfrommul=pleproviders

☐1GB/10GB+core

☐Category5eand6cabling

☐FiberWAN‐star/ring/hybrid

☐Unifiedcommunica=onsand

VoIP

☐Limitedornowireless

☐Noservervirtualiza=on

☐Nobusinesscon=nuity

☐100MB/1GBcore

☐Limitedinternet

☐Category3or5cabling

☐LimitedornofiberforWAN/

LAN☐Analogvoice,POTS

Copyright ©2014 Consortium for School Networking. All rights reserved.

CoSN (Consortium for School Networking)1025 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 1010Washington, DC [email protected] www.cosn.org



Documents

Guidelines for School System Chief Technology Officers Guidelines.pdf · in powerful ways and reinvigorate student engagement. The latest mobile compung devices are capable of enabling