Molenet - John Leggott Sixth Form College

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Year 3 Micro Project- Increasing student access to the college wireless network

Creation of a separate secured network that will allow students to access the internet via a dedicated resource. Students will be able to access College provided resources via a web browser through this network. Providing services via a web browser allows us to make many services cross-platform and device independent. This will enable us to expand learning beyond the classroom onto an array of devices that a student typically owns - for example - Smartphone, media player, netbook etc. Our approach has the desirable quality of having no impact on existing College infrastructure and bandwidth.

Aims:

To improve student access to the college's wireless network and in particular, increase the ability of students to use their own devices to access the network from anywhere on the College campus. Students should be able to access all learning resources available to them including Internet, VLE, e-mail and personal data and documents.

Objectives:

Objective 1: Encourage greater use of student's own devices to improve active learning both inside and outside the classroom. The College has wanted to move in this direction for some time but implementation has been delayed pending the outcome of a possible, now aborted, building project and we now need to revise our plans
Objective 2: Offer additional fast and secure access to Internet and College network resources. This is based on students expectations which they gain in school and which we need to provide if we are to continue to attract students
Objective 3: To offer cross platform support for the wide variety of College and students own devices. We are aware that the nature of devices changes rapidly and that most students now use them as a 'first point of call'.
Objective 4: Ease of use will be a priority consideration. We want the students to be able to use this route as a priority and if access is difficult it will lead to dissatisfaction amongst the student community. Students who are not familiar with this type of learning will be actively encouraged to participate.

Contribution to Local and Regional priorities

Increased student access to College Network - College Strategic Plan
Strengthen the delivery of PLTS (A key government delivery target for the new Advanced Diploma) within the College, including self management - College Strategic Plan
To put measures in place to support students in the broader life of the College - College Strategic Plan
To continue to renew IT and other equipment so that it gives the highest possible support for learning - College Strategic Plan