Key points:
- Adopting and preparing for the future of technology in education isn’t simple
- See article: Reliable internet and Wi-Fi in schools should be top priority
- See article: How 5G connectivity supports K-12 innovation
- For more news on Wi-Fi in schools, visit eSN’s IT Leadership page
Raise your hand if your school is one hundred percent ready for whatever technology inventions and adoptions will come over the next three to five years. This means you know exactly what technology will best benefit your students and teachers, you know exactly what it will cost to upgrade, and you know exactly how to update your technology without any interoperability or other issues.
If we were in a room right now, some people would actually have their hands raised. Are you one of the few, or do you need to know what they know? If the latter, let’s take a look at how to prepare for emerging trends in education and the future of technology in education.
We can all agree technology is indispensable
While everyone has their own opinions of technology, we can all agree that technology and edtech resources aren’t going anywhere. They have a place in our schools and many school objectives can’t be achieved without it. Technology in the classroom helps enrich lesson plans, and there’s the not insignificant point that students need to be familiar and comfortable with technology if they are to succeed post-school. Also, technology is used to communicate with parents, keep schools secure, ease the responsibilities of staff and administrators, control building systems, and more.
It’s because of this that adopting and preparing for new innovations in education–and for the future of technology in education–isn’t a simple process. It involves far more than picking up the latest mobile device and downloading one or two educational apps. There are thousands of edtech options, as well as other applications, IoT devices, and infrastructure needs to consider.
For example, now that the bottlenecks in the supply chain are behind us, technology adoption can happen faster. However, before any change to a school’s network, IT needs to be able to answer a few important questions. If a school wanted to transition to WiFi 6E, now that the technology is more readily available, IT would need to know:
- Does the network design need to change? Will access points (APs) need to be moved at all to support the 6GHz spectrum, which provides different coverage than the 2.4 and 5GHz spectrums?
- Do we have the ability to monitor three frequency bands, nonstop?
- Can interoperability and other issues be identified and resolved in real time?
- Which departments or floors in a school will most benefit from the upgrade? What are current and long-term utilization trends?
Ultimately, what schools require is visibility into current and future technology needs.
What technology is the future of education? Automated Wi-Fi monitoring is an ever more integral tool
With so many different needs dependent on technology, technology itself and both the wired and Wi-Fi networks that it depends on are critical to schools across the nation. Maintaining these networks in an optimized state, and prepping them to be always future-proofed, are tasks only possible with automated Wi-Fi monitoring. It’s these solutions that let people “raise their hands” when we asked our opening question. Here’s why.
Automated Wi-Fi monitoring provides:
- 24/7 analysis of the entire network environment
- Proactive alerts at the first sign of a potential problem
- Automatic recommendations for quick problem resolution
- Historical analytics to identify long-term performance and behavior trends, and predict future needs
- Device recognition
Replicating these deliverables without an automated solution would require an IT team of thousands that could monitor every single device and application, 24/7, and analyze thousands of data packets every second. This is not possible.
Why are these capabilities needed? Because schools that want to optimize their current networks and cost-effectively prepare for the future of technology in education need networks that are completely free of mystery and user experience issues. They need:
- Complete, real-time visibility into the performance and security of every device connected to the Wi-Fi (provided with 24/7 analytics)
- The ability to resolve problems before user experience is impacted, and significantly reduce the number of issues on the network (provided with proactive alerts and automatic recommendations)
- Advance knowledge as to how network utilization has changed over the last month or year (provided with historical analytics)
- Insight into what a network needs to remain optimized into the future (provided with historical analytics)
- Details on the capabilities of every device so that schools can efficiently budget for network-wide upgrades, such as transitioning to Wi-Fi 6E (provided with device recognition)
It’s insights that matter, not simply data or alerts. Automated Wi-Fi monitoring should make it easier for IT professionals to work smarter, not harder.
The visibility provided by these solutions is also an important factor in ensuring the security of school networks. As virtual learning grows, schools are facing the complexity of more devices on the network and more opportunities for security to be challenged. The best way to prevent attacks and swiftly recover from attempted attacks is with a solution that automatically alerts IT to any suspicious activity and suspicious devices, provides recommendations for resolving security issues, and proactively monitors wired and Wi-Fi networks. With automated monitoring solutions, schools have intelligent eyes on the network, 24/7.
Be a leader in the future of technology in education
Every school has unique technology challenges and requirements. Leading the way in the innovative adoption of technology means much more than buying the latest gadget or updating to the latest Wi-Fi standard. It means understanding the role of technology in the future of education. It means understanding your users’ needs and surpassing their expectations at all times. Learn how to look within your network and understand it like never before with automated Wi-Fi monitoring, and the future will be in your hands.
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