Prince George's County PS Upgrades Wireless for Mobile Initiatives

Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS) in Maryland has implemented a new wireless network to support the growing number of personal and district-issued mobile devices and applications.

Over the past three years, the district has shifted from using traditional desktop computers to wireless devices, such as laptops, tablets and iPads. At the same time, the number of people — particularly faculty and staff — connecting their own smartphones and tablets to the network has increased significantly. In addition to using mobile devices to access educational resources in the classroom, the district has moved from paper-based to electronic communications and has begun using mobile devices for work orders and other enterprise resource planning (ERP) related tasks.

To support existing and upcoming mobile initiatives, PGCPS needed to upgrade its wireless network infrastructure. The district selected a system from Aruba Networks consisting of more than 200 Aruba Mobility Controllers, more than 15,000 access points (APs), Aruba Mobility Access Switches, the AirWave Network Management System and ClearPass Access Management System with Aruba AirGroup for managing Apple services and Bonjour traffic.The new wireless network will support more than 65,000 mobile devices across 204 schools and 20 administrative and maintenance buildings.

PGCPS plans to use ClearPass with AirGroup to help teachers and staff print from their iPads and project their screens to the classrooms with Apple TVs. The district is also considering 1-to-1 initiatives for its middle schools and high schools and is evaluating Google Chromebooks and Amplify tablets for use in the schools. The new wireless network will also support PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) online assessments.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

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