How many of your strategic priorities can you efficiently achieve without a reliable WiFi network? 20%? 10%? What about another question? How would knowing your school be supported by a reliable, future-proof next-generation WiFi network change your strategic priorities?

Technology and priorities can’t be separated, and you shouldn’t feel pressured to do so. The world runs on her WiFi, and today’s schools are no exception. Anyone with a keen interest in school success should know how deeply WiFi technology has permeated schools, what it enables, and perhaps more importantly, what it cannot do without it. It is necessary to understand.

Why schools need WiFi

When it comes to education, technology is not about pushing boundaries or luring investors, but a robust and reliable infrastructure supporting teachers and administration that helps students grow today and prepare for the future. .

That means technology isn’t just in classrooms, it’s in offices, auditoriums, and even outdoor spaces. Technology is used when teachers take attendance, counselors research resources, office staff print documents, and students take assessments. It can be used to regulate temperature, provide security, and keep parents informed. It’s in laptops, tablets, smartboards, and IoT devices.

On a daily basis, everyone in school is affected by technology, most of which relies on WiFi networks.

Why Your Strategic Success Requires WiFi

Long-term goals often focus on improving academic performance, community relationships, and financial security. Achieving these goals requires educators to assess resources and plan actionable and measurable steps to use those resources to achieve desired objectives.

Priorities include:

• Give students more access to online resources

• Help students become familiar and comfortable with technology in preparation for the next school year, college, and/or employment

• Reduce the burden on teachers with automatic support

• Encourage community engagement using online advertising, community portals, interactive events, etc.

• Streamlining office operations

• Review past analytics to meet goals and create personalized action plans

If your priorities are similar to any of the above, technology and WiFi networks will be critical resources. Without a reliable network, technology isn’t available when students and teachers need it. You can’t realize your strategic priorities without a network that can support your growth.

Understanding the capacity, capabilities, strengths and weaknesses of your current WiFi network is critical to setting and achieving your goals.

What Makes Reliable WiFi Possible?

Every network is unique, but they have some things in common when it comes to designing, maintaining, and optimizing reliability.

First, schools need an analytics platform that provides insights about networks, not just data. These analyzes are the only way to know how your network is performing, what problems exist, and how to solve them. Without it, long-term reliability cannot be expected. Every second counts in the world of problem identification and resolution, so it’s important to move beyond data to actionable insights. The less time IT spends reviewing data to find problems before they fix them, the better.

Second, analytics should come from the entire WiFi ecosystem. This includes back-end and front-end infrastructure, connected devices, and non-WiFi devices that affect network behavior such as Bluetooth. Insights must be delivered in real time. IT departments also need access to historical analytics, whether they are stored manually or automatically. These analyzes provide important insight into how networks have changed over time and what they will need in the future to meet demand.

Third, IT departments need 24/7 access to the network. Most of the time, teams need to be able to see performance, run tests, and resolve issues without being onsite. This is not only the case when IT does not have physical access to the school or has to travel long distances, but also when her IT can collect data and improve her WiFi performance. It’s also useful if you need to disturb a student.

Fourth, technology should be flexible. The last thing schools want to do is be trapped in dead-end options that don’t accommodate future inventions.

Finally, the technology should be relatively easy to learn. This means no lengthy training is required and vendor support is highly valued and available.

Schools can and should look for E-Rate eligible technologies when planning renewals. This program can make a big difference in keeping your resources budget-friendly and in top shape.

Do you have a tech cheat sheet?

As with any market, there are many keywords for technology. You might see something like this:

• anticipation

• viable

• real time

• plug and play

• 24/7 support

• Free trial period

• user friendly

All of these are great, but we all know that keywords don’t build reputation. Always ask for a technology demo. You can also visit our message boards and hear what real users have to say. Only you know your school and priorities, but hearing from others how a particular technology has helped or harmed them is valuable.

don’t ignore the network

WiFi goes nowhere. It’s important to verify that this resource is actually a resource and not a handicap. By regularly reviewing performance and behavioral analyses, understanding, prioritizing and optimizing its capabilities, students, teachers and staff can go the distance.