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In terms of being on the cutting edge of technology, universities and colleges are expected to know what’s what. After all, an institution cannot possibly hope to charge  its students a premium price without providing ways to try out the newest advances, whether in the science lab or even the computer lab. And ever since the rush to get wired, most colleges around the country have started providing their on and off-campus students alike with some sort of networking capabilities and internet access.

One of the big benefits to having an on-campus network is storage space. For students who might share laptops or not have access to wireless internet on a regular basis, it’s helpful to know that you can pop into the computer lab at school and access a file with all of the information needed for a specific class project, or save a file you’re working on in your own personal folder for class and rest assured that it will stay safe there. Even for those students with laptops, most hard drives won’t hold everything needed for five full classes a semester, so being able to keep items in a secure space online is a huge help for space and peace of mind.

The only downside of computer networks for schools is that they only go as far as the wireless internet lets them. This means that if your dorm room or off-campus apartment is out of reach of the school’s internet, then you won’t have access to those files to work on except during school hours or on-campus. Likewise, if there’s no space in the computer lab during a rush time–like finals–and you desperately need to look at the review sheet hosted online, you’re going to have to find a friend’s computer to borrow.

Or you used to, until WiMax made its way into the heart of post-secondary education in the States. A number of schools around the country, including Northern Michigan University, are starting to invest in this new form of wireless that goes wherever students go instead of stopping at the gates to campus. In some cases, it’s not just the college, but the entire college town, that’s wired, meaning that whether you’re sitting in your favorite coffeeshop, studying with friends, or back at your apartment, you’re all set with your internet connection–and your link to items on the school’s server.

The ability for students to have unfettered access to important school resources while still doing normal online things like checking email and obsessively updating Facebook is one of the biggest reasons that campuses across the country are starting to look more clearly at WiMax when planning their technological trajectory for the upcoming decade or so. And unlike having to set up an entire wireless network or relying on T1, deciding to go with the new wireless means less hassle and set-up for most colleges, as companies offering these services are eager to introduce them to a larger market, especially one consisting of college students who might be apt to purchase their own internet services after graduation, when access to the school’s will be a thing of the past.

Tags: Choosing, Schools, Students, University, WiMAX, Wireless

admin  Jan 27 technology