Summer Technology Updates (What We Did on Our Summer Vacation!)

It is hard to believe that we are starting year four of our Barrington 220 One to World program! This is the first school year where all students, Grades 1 through 12, have an Apple iPad or MacBook Air available to them 24/7.

While there was much to do on the curriculum side of technology to prepare for the rollout of iPads at the elementary schools, there were plenty of fun projects this summer to work through on the hardware and device side of technology.

• Installed approximately 140 new wireless access points in the elementary schools. While the schools had wireless coverage, they did not have the wireless “density” to handle 20 to 30 iPads in each classroom. Venture into any school classroom within our district and you will now see an access point somewhere on the ceiling or a classroom wall. Each of the new access points is connected to our “wired” network system. Miles of new network cabling was needed to accomplish this task.
• Replaced approximately 120 access points at Barrington High School and other locations, making sure that we have appropriate, high speed wireless technology within each classroom.
• Worked with Comcast to install a new Internet connection to our district.  This connection provides double the speed at less cost. A bit of contract negotiation occurred with Comcast earlier last school year to help make this project a reality.
• Deployed two new firewalls. These new network security devices were needed to handle the new higher Internet speeds.
• Prepared our mobile device management system to deploy 3,000 new iPads and re-deploy 1,500 existing iPads without the use of Apple IDs. iPad apps can now be distributed to students without the need for parental approved Apple IDs.

These were just a few of our more noteworthy projects, but there were many projects on the list. The summer was busy and relatively short. We hope the work that our department was able to accomplish in a short time helps transform the way technology is used within Barrington 220, helping to make the 2016–17 school year a success.

By the way, do you have a technology issue that you need some help with? Our tech department is available at x 1500. Give us a call!