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Making Anytime, Anywhere
Education a Reality
Ubiquitous Computing Research
By Marlys Amundson
Rapidly propagating wireless networks that offer anywhere, anytime connectivity
will have a tremendous impact on every aspect of our lives, especially education.
Truly ubiquitous computing would allow students to follow and participate in
lectures from the university coffee shop or parking lot, submit their assignments
while walking to class, and collaborate with their peers from multiple locations
across campus, and will enhance their education in other ways not yet imagined.
Professors
Rajit Gadh in mechanical engineering and Mario Gerla in computer
science are developing a wireless infrastructure at UCLA that will
enable a new approach to education in which students are always connected
with their classrooms, instructors, and peers through wireless networks
of mobile devices.
"Two to three years from now the entire campus will be enabled with wireless
local area networks (WLAN) that have phenomenal bandwidth capability," notes
Gadh. "We need to determine now how this unlimited connectivity can enhance the
traditional educational experience."
Through a generous grant from Hewlett-Packard (HP), Gadh and Gerla are developing
an infrastructure that will span key areas of the UCLA engineering complex. HP
will supply different types of mobile devices for the project, including PDAs,
tablets, and laptops with high bandwidth capability, as well as the network equipment.
Students taking classes integrated into this project will have access to a gamut
of different mobile devices, and will be able to connect to the Internet via
the WLAN and, in the areas not covered by the WLAN, via advanced (third generation)
cellular phones.
"The type of wireless network we're envisioning will increase student-teacher
interaction both in and out of class, provide online background material to the
students during lectures, and allow students to collaborate with their classmates
more easily - exchanging files, setting meetings, and working together from remote
locations," explains Gerla.
Initially, Gerla and Gadh will establish a WiFi (802.11b) WLAN in the areas outside
their offices in Boelter Hall and Engineering IV, with the goal of enabling an
uninterrupted corridor between those spaces by the end of the year.
"We want to ensure the ability of the students to interact with the network while
mobile - whether moving from one building to another or from one type of network
to another," notes Gerla.
"By strategically positioning the access points," explains Gadh, "We'll find
a way to create a continuous corridor from my office in Engineering IV to Mario's
in Boelter Hall. The challenge lies in our ability to 'teach' the server to recognize
that a user is moving from one access point to another, and adjust without dropping
them from the network. As a user moves from a WLAN to a wireless cellular area
network there is a significant drop in bandwidth capability. We will need to
enable the servers to recognize this and reduce the amount of data they're transmitting
without losing the user."
Once they are able to establish an uninterrupted corridor, they plan to expand
the network to classrooms, labs, and other areas important to students. Gadh
and Gerla already have met with Jim Davis, associate vice chancellor for information
technology and Louis Hook, director of Communications Technology Services, to
ensure that their pilot effort is aligned with the larger UCLA goals of creating
a wireless network across campus, and will not duplicate or cause interference
among the access points.
Gerla and Gadh will integrate the wireless curriculum into several design courses
this fall to introduce the notions of wireless connectivity to the students.
Students taking these classes will be equipped with PDAs and other wireless devices,
and their instructors will track how ubiquitous connectivity impacts their educational
experience.
Additionally, as the students use the wireless technology on a day-to-day basis
in their classwork, they will become familiar with it and will enhance the network
by using it for other communication styles (such as peer-to-peer exchange of
information) that have not been previously explored in the wireless, mobile context.
"It is difficult to anticipate all of the applications that will come out of
this project - they will evolve with input from the students using the wireless
devices in the classroom and in other networked areas," notes Gerla. "Many of
them will be self-propelling projects - students will exploit the technology
and learn to develop applications that are useful to them as part of the course
work."
Just five years ago, wireless broadband was expensive and not standardized. With
standardization, costs have come down significantly and it is proliferating rapidly. "Anyone
can pick up a $70 wireless card, plug it in, and be instantly connected to a
WiFi network," adds Gadh.
With the rapid increase in available bandwidth, a number of applications are
being produced, including video conferencing, e-mail, and multimedia messaging
where a picture or video accompanies the text.
With
the convergence of voice and data devices come single-communication
devices - PDAs able to send and receive e-mail and multimedia information
and also act as a cell phone.
Eventually, the availability of high-bandwidth wireless connectivity to the Internet
will enable students to follow the lecture at their own pace by providing instant
answers to frequently asked questions, access to background tutorial material,
and the ability to submit questions to the instructor electronically. These changes
will enormously increase a student's ability to interact with faculty and other
students without unnecessarily disrupting the class.
A high broadband wireless network across campus also would enhance a student's
educational experience outside of class. With ubiquitous computing, students
will be able to complete and submit assignments anywhere on campus, locate friends
in a peer group on a campus map, and find the location of classrooms, labs, teaching
assistants, and instructor offices. Instructors could receive real-time feedback
from students, monitor the status of group projects, and eventually send instant
messages to remind students to submit their assignments.
If the project meets Gerla's and Gadh's expectations, it will also lead to the
conception and development of entirely new wireless applications.
For additional information on Gadh's research, please visit http://www.mae.ucla.edu/academics/faculty/gadh.htm.
For more information on Gerla's work, please see http://www.cs.ucla.edu/csd/people/faculty_pages/gerla.html
or http://www.cs.ucla.edu/NRL.
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