Integration of Wireless Technologies into an Undergraduate Networks Exploration Laboratory

Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville AL

Investigators

Abstract

Computer Science (31) The primary goals of this project are to advance the integration of wireless computer networking technologies into the undergraduate curriculum, to improve the educational experience, employment possibilities, and theoretical depth of undergraduate computer science and information systems majors. In order to achieve this goal, this project has the following objectives: - Provide undergraduate students with a solid appreciation of the fundamentals of wireless technologies through hands-on experience in installing, troubleshooting, and administering wireless components. - Provide experience developing applications that require a strict adherence to minimal protocols. - Leverage existing sound and proven laboratory experiences developed locally and elsewhere to demonstrate wireless technologies. - Demonstrate to the students applications of networking technologies, wired and wireless, in areas other than a traditional office environment. Using the webware developed at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the client-server systems developed by Sam Houston State University, the firewall setup from Trinity College, the wireless technologies developed at Illinois State University and North Carolina A&T, this project augments an existing exploratory, hands-on networking laboratory with wireless technology. These technologies are incorporated and explored in the laboratory in a three-pronged approach: 1. Closed laboratory sessions utilizing a heterogeneous local area network augmented with wireless technologies. 2. Undergraduate research into the application of wireless technology in manufacturing environments where wired access may not be feasible. 3. Undergraduate development projects emphasizing the scarcity of resources, the need for brevity and the implications of embedded type applications. This project utilizes exemplary material adapted from outside sources as well as adaptation and integration of materials developed from the existing laboratories.