High-Speed Wireless For The Schools?

The Sun has a story saying Baltimore County is bringing high-speed wireless access to all its schools, ready when students return to classes next month.

The move was prompted by the growing number of laptops in use in the county's 171 schools and centers and the increasing use of digital media-based instructional tools, along with the high costs associated with cabling and installation of wired networks, according to school officials. In addition, schools will be able to make greater use of video learning programs.

Baltimore County appears to be the only school system in the region that anticipates being fully wireless by the coming school year, but others, including Carroll and Howard counties, are looking into it. Baltimore City has a half-dozen schools that are "centrally managed for wireless," and about a fourth of Anne Arundel County's public schools have some form of wireless access, according to spokesmen for those systems.

"It's part of our technology plan," said Patti Caplan, spokeswoman for Howard County public schools. "We're beginning a network redesign next week."