Definitions for teachers by teachers

Wireless Network

by Sarah Barnett

A term describing a computer network where there is no physical connection (either copper cable or fibre optics) between sender and receiver, but instead they are connected by radio.

Applications for wireless networks include multi-party teleconferencing, distributed work sessions, personal digital assistants, and electronic newspapers. They include the transmission of voice, video, images, and data, each traffic type with possibly differing bandwidth and quality-of-service requirements. The wireless network components of a complete source-destination path requires consideration of mobility, hand-off, and varying transmission and bandwidth conditions. The wired/wireless network combination provides a severe bandwidth mismatch, as well as vastly different error conditions. The processing capability of fixed vs. mobile terminals may be expected to differ significantly. This then leads to such issues to be addressed in this environment as admission control, capacity assignment and hand-off control in the wireless domain, flow and error control over the complete end-to-end path, dynamic bandwidth control to accommodate bandwidth mismatch and/or varying processing capability.

Necessary? Yes
Wireless Network is a term that is necessary to know.  This is a basic understanding of where our information is coming from/going to and how.

by Zan Brixey

Wireless Network (wir' les net' wurk): A Wireless Network, also known as a LAWN (Local Area Wireless Network), is a type of local-area network that uses high frequency radio waves rather than wires to communicate between processing locations. Transmissions are typically in an unlicensed frequency and do not require devices to be in line with each other. Wireless access points, base stations, are connected to an Ethernet hub or server and transmit radio frequency over an area of several hundred to a thousand feet. These transmissions can penentrate walls and other non-metal barriers. Roaming users can be handed off from one access point to another like a cellular phone system. Laptops use wireless modems that plug  into an existing Ethernet port or that are self contained on PC cards. Stand alone desktops and servers use plug-in cards. Availability of such products should become realistic for small office and home technologies in the immediate future. These systems have a more limited range and do not support roaming.

Wireless Design Online provides a comprehensive resource on the subject of LAWNS.

Relevance: The elimination of computer wires from an elementary school would be incredibly liberating.  Technology could come to the students rather than vice versa. Young children often disrupt network communication inadvertently by simply kicking loose connections. Many hours are unnecessarily spent troubleshooting such mishaps. The less stuff there is for a child to "damage," the longer equipment will last. In addition, being able to transport equipment anywhere within the given transmission range would allow great flexibility in the use of that equipment and possibly encourage greater teacher use. As always, expense will determine how quickly such advanced technology will be employed at the elementary school level.

by Becky Trieger

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