1. Wireless Communication for Education [Lessons from the Wake Forest Story] TechLearn’s Conference Regents Park College, London June 28, 2002 By David G. Brown, Professor/VP/Dean/Former Provost Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C., U.S.A. http://www.wfu.edu/~brownhttp://www.wfu.edu/~brown brown@wfu.edu 1

2. 3700 undergrads 92% residential 1300 average SAT 500 each: Med, Law, MBA, PhD $950M endowment 26th in US News & World Report Rhodes Scholars 2

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4. IBM Laptops for all Printers for all New Every 2 Years Own @ Graduation 31,000 Connections Standard Software 99% E-Mail Start 1995, 4 Year Phase In +15% Tuition for 37 Items +40 Faculty and 30 Staff THE WAKE FOREST PLAN IBM A30, Pentium III, 1.13GHz Processor, 30GB Hardrive, 384 MB RAM 15”ActMatrix Screen, CD-RW/DVD, Floppy, 56k modem, 16MB Video Ram, 10/100 Ethernet, USB&Serial&Parellel&Infrared Ports Standard Load Includes— MS Office, Dreamweaver, SPSS, Maple, Acrobat, Photoshop, Shockwave, Flash, Net Meeting, Real Producer & Player, Media Player, Windows XP Moviemaker, Apple QuickTime, Netscape & Explorer, Netscape Calendar & Communicator, Windows XP Professional 4

5. Wake Forest is Wired Backbone is wired 200+ Podiums & Projectors 31,000 Ports for 6,000 users 60% of classroom seats Always top 20 in Yahoo’s Survey 5

6. Wireless at Wake Forest Wireless Access in All Public Places (2MB802.11) Wireless in 20% of Classrooms, Central Administration Building. Not Residence Halls 25% Students Own Wireless Cards 6

7. Wake Forest’s Experience Use in Class is Too Slow (Bandwidth) Biggest Gain From Computers is Communication Computer Use is Between Classes (not during) Few Administrators Use Wireless Value Added by Wireless is Minimal Wireless Blackberry is Disappointing Students Often Drop Wireless Card Rental Biggest Gain From Wireless is Convenience 7

8. Communication-Interaction 8

9. Examples of My Students Using Their Wired Laptops in Class Recite Main Point of Previous Session React/Feedback During LectureReact/Feedback During Lecture Access Relevant Websites/Databases Answer One Minute Quiz Email Reaction to Classmates Practice Use of the Computer Create Team Presentations 9

10. Examples of Use of Wireless Identity Checking at Parties Medical Students Access Patient Records while on Hospital Rounds Physics Students Work in Teams During Lab Session Romance Language Students Work in Teams During Class Students Connect with Internet When in Classroom WITHOUT Wired Access 10

11. Conclusions From the Wake Forest Experience Coming Soon! 11

12. What We’ve Learned So Far About Technology and Teaching 1.More Learning results From Better Communication! 2.Students relish Buffets! 3.Blended Courses are Best! 4.Ubiquitous Access is Essential! 5.Simpler is Better! 6.Professor becomes Personal Trainer! 12

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14. Conclusions Fully Interactive Learning Can’t Take Place Until Everyone is Connected! If the Most Economical Means of Connecting is Wireless, Do It! Go For 802.11A if You Can Afford It Tom Franklin is an expert worth hearing 14

15. Conclusions Wireless is currently a technology still in search of a killer application. The Killer Applications will likely be--- –Email & Instant Messaging EVERYWHERE –Global Positioning We’ll be closer when we have signals from the sky & community computing Wireless may slip in the back door by becoming the backbone of campus systems In the meantime, boutique applications will intrigue all of us. 15

16. As Wake Forest sees ahead… Wait for 802.11A (agree with Franklin) Move from Wired-with-Wireless-Add-On to Wireless-with-Wired-Add-On No Big Rush to Wireless 16

17. Actions for You to Consider If not wired, go local wireless. Include voice wireless (cell phone) Support boutique uses as “add on” Encourage community-wide computing Stand ready to leapfrog the pioneers Invest cautiously Celebrate the brave innovators! 17

18. David G. Brown Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, N.C. 27109 336-758-4878 email: brown@wfu.edu http//:www.wfu.edu/~brown fax: 336-758-4875 18