School WiFi needs control

It is an open secret that many of our schools are less well equipped in terms of digital media, online access and mobile devices than a significant proportion of their students.

Digital learning is by no means a new topic.
A brief historical review: Agostino Ramelli’s learning wheel from 1588 was followed, after some time, by various patents for spelling practice machines in the 1930s. The next step was branched learning programs and the German Geromat teaching machines of the 1960s, followed by pioneering projects on computer-assisted teaching in the 1970s. The pilot project TOAM methods in mathematics at vocational schools, initiated by Alfongs Rissberger in Rhineland-Palatinate in 1986, was groundbreaking and set its sights on the future of e-learning. Finally, the diverse learning platforms that have been on the rise since the late 1990s thanks to the spread of the internet followed, and have continued to evolve ever since.

Today, the focus is on networking, standardization and generalizing access to digital teaching and learning systems. Students, who are increasingly active in the online world in everyday life and in their free time, want more digital offerings in schools, and teaching staff can also benefit in many ways from digital support. All content is easier to reproduce and update, the strengths in evaluation are obvious, as is the scalability of exercises and training for growing student numbers.

However, the COVID crisis has—quite brutally—put its finger on two open wounds:

#1 By no means all students are adequately equipped with digital devices, nor with reliably available internet access. Especially in compulsory schooling, but also in secondary schools, a not insignificant percentage of students could not be reached at all during the lockdown phases.

#2 In many places, schools’ online access infrastructure leaves a great deal to be desired. Now that willingness and acceptance of online teaching formats have increased, availability must also be ensured at schools and in after-school care facilities.

So it is time for schools to do their homework. This absolutely includes comprehensive WiFi infrastructure. WiFi is the obvious way to provide all students with online access at no additional cost by using the school’s fiber connection. Every student should be able to access the school portal, the communication platform with their teachers, and the tasks provided—simply and without additional costs.

However, security must also be a top priority. You do not want to provide free data volume to bystanders within the school’s WiFi range, nor create attack surfaces for misuse. Logs of students’ activities must be stored securely but also be controllable if necessary, and of course the legally required protection of personal data must be ensured. And distractions such as gaming or streaming platforms should also be largely excluded.

That funding is required is beyond question. Accordingly, EU bodies and national authorities are responding with funding programs.

Let us therefore discuss a few examples.

DE: DigitalPakt Schule

A society’s knowledge is its most important asset, and knowledge transfer begins with our children. Yet education is often where cuts are made: pedagogical guidelines, teaching aids, media and materials are outdated and not even close to being technically up to date. Is there still an overhead projector in your child’s classroom? Many companies are state of the art when it comes to digitalization, but our children—the workforce of the future—are not, or not properly, being prepared for it.

German policymakers recognized this and, almost a year ago on May 27, 2019, concluded the DigitalPakt Schule. It is a nationwide funding program intended, among other things, to improve schools’ equipment with digital technology and thus create a “digital education infrastructure”. Overall, it is about teaching “digital competence so that digital media can be used in a self-determined and responsible manner and to have good opportunities on the labor market,” as stated on the Federal Ministry’s website.

The federal government provides the financial resources, and the states ensure media education concepts, qualification of teaching staff, review applications and define the funding guidelines. The respective school authorities apply for the funding and implement the measures. Over a period of five years, more than five billion euros will be invested. With 40,000 schools in Germany, that is €137,000 per school, or with currently 11 million students, €500 per capita. Not only children will benefit, but also the economy when well-trained workers enter the labor market.

What is funded?
Funding covers not only teaching aids such as digital whiteboards, VR headsets, school clouds and tablets, but also the corresponding training for teachers and—of interest to us and our partners—fast WiFi. This includes networking within the building as well as between multiple school buildings on the same campus, and WiFi coverage.