The Las Virgenes Unified School District school board is discussing the implementation of a wifi network for both CHS and Agoura High School on a student-to-student level. Every student will have his or her own login identification to use the school’s wifi from his or her own personal account. The new wifi network will allow students to access selected sites on the Internet during school hours.
The goal of this new system is to make it easier for students to obtain Internet access on school grounds. Specific areas such as the lower quad will be hot spots for Internet connection where all students will be able to attain web service. Individuals may use as many as four different technological devices to gain internet connection with their private usernames and passwords.
“I am looking forward to [the new wifi system] because I think it will be very beneficial when it comes to getting work done at school,” said CHS Student Board Representative junior Alyssa Weakley. “It will be a more fun experience to do work in places like the lower quad rather than the library where you cannot interact with anyone else.”
The goal of placing these advanced outlets on campus is to give students access to more options for completing their school work. They will have resources to work on individual or group projects, essays and other assignments while at school, making break times and extra time during classes more productive.
The new technology can also be used in class, where a student can use wifi to display the same images on his or her laptop that are being displayed on the teacher’s SMART Board. This encourages the “Bring Your Own Technology” attitude that the school board is promoting.
“[The new wifi network] will give students and teachers the opportunity to do research during school hours,” said CHS Assistant Principal Todd Schroeder. “Students will have access to worldwide information at the touch of a finger.”
If the wifi system is put into effect, students will have to comply with the technology rules already established by LVUSD. The district will be able to monitor the sites being viewed and will have inappropriate sites blocked from student users.
The district is currently choosing between several internet companies including Packet Fusion, Extreme Integration, Dell and Accuvant to find the quickest and most efficient system for the LVUSD high schools. Other factors being taken into consideration include speed, cost efficiency and the amount of programs capable of being run on each server at once.
LVUSD intends to implement the wifi system by the end of the 2012-2013 fall semester so that students may start receiving the benefits of the new technology.
