Preparing students for the future is what every educator strives to do. As society continues to innovate new ways to experience and understand the world around us, it is only natural that learning techniques change too.
On February 14th, Chin Song, Director of Technology at Milpitas USD, joined us to share how he created a custom wireless network from scratch and bolstered his existing wired network. Spanning 14 schools in Silicon Valley with over a half million square feet of indoor classroom space, Milpitas USD has begun implementing numerous technology initiatives, including 1:1 with Chromebooks, iPads in the classrooms, and BYOD.
Deploying more than 600 Meraki access points and over 100 Meraki switches, Chin now has granular visibility into how 10,000 students and 800 faculty members are using the network, what devices they’re on, and the types of applications they’re using. Cloud architecture gives Chin increased control over his network from anywhere with real-time management, for both wired and wireless, from a single web-based dashboard.
Milpitas USD Dashboard View
Interacting with guest speakers via live video streaming, collaborating with fellow students in another school, broadcasting district news on location instead of in a studio – these are just some of the ways that Milpitas USD is now embracing technology to promote a higher level of education.
Watch the video – See how Chin quickly deployed the Meraki solution, created a custom network for his district, manages and troubleshoots on the fly, and most importantly how he’s created a mobile and collaborative campus.
This Thursday, February 14th at 9am PT, Chin Song, Director of Technology at Milpitas USD in Silicon Valley, will be joining us to share his experiences crafting a wireless network from scratch and bolstering the existing wired infrastructure.
Students at Milpitas USD are using technology for increased collaboration throughout the district.
With over 2,000 Chromebooks currently issued to students, and another 8,000 on the way, Chin is excited to prepare his district for 21st century learning and increased technology initiatives, like 1:1 deployments and BYOD. Teachers can now work together and share ideas remotely, increasing the time they can spend teaching. Students are collaborating via the Internet, sharing documents online and video conferencing, enabling them to expand their learning environment.
With the cloud architecture, Chin has granular visibility into how students and faculty are using the network on their devices and what types of applications they’re using. Cloud-managed WiFi and switching is providing Chin increased network control in a number of ways:
Real-time management from a web-based dashboard, for both wired and wireless, for on-the-fly troubleshooting
Chris Gasaway, Director of Technology at Rockwall ISD, joined us on January 29th to share his experiences creating a secure network to support the growing trend of BYOD with students and faculty/staff. Rockwall ISD is an expanding school district just outside of Dallas, Texas with 2 high schools, 3 middle schools, and 12 elementary schools.
The district is comprised of families who are extremely mobile device friendly and expect the best in technology for their children. While the district has over 6,000 computers and over 4,000 iPads available for use in the schools, Chris wanted an environment where students could bring their own personal devices and connect to the school’s network.
Taking advantage of the numerous SSIDs, Chris created custom experiences depending on user type, shaping traffic and setting firewall rules as needed. In a few short mouse clicks, not only was the network secure and CIPA-compliant, but he can also make changes as needed based on new requirements or challenges. Chris now has deep, granular visibility into the devices, users, and applications on his network, with the ability to troubleshoot on the fly.
Check out the video from the webinar – see how Chris created a BYOD revolution at Rockwall ISD, encouraging the explosion of personal devices within the school system, while still maintaining control and network security.
Brian Clayton, CIO at Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP, joined us on December 5th to share his experiences deploying Meraki at one of the nation’s largest law firms. Taft spans 7 distributed locations in Ohio, Arizona, Indiana, and Kentucky, as well as a US-based Japanese practice.
When employees began bringing in their personal mobile devices, there was an immediate demand for network access anytime, anywhere. The demand for BYOD materialized seemingly overnight. Brian and his team responded, but ended up with a hard-to-manage network consisting of consumer grade access points as well as controller-based APs that they quickly outgrew.
After hearing about Meraki, Brian trialed it in one of the offices, finding he could not only secure the entire network in a few mouse clicks, he could also centrally manage all of the offices from his dashboard. In a matter of weeks he deployed Meraki throughout all of the offices and gained visibility into the users, devices, and applications on the network.
Check out the video and slides from the webinar – see how Brian transformed Taft into a mobile work environment and revolutionized the way attorneys and legal professionals collaborate, access information, and provide exceptional service to their clients.
We’ll be at IPEXPO at Earls Court in London for the next 2 days. If you’re coming to the conference, be sure to catch our seminar on Thursday at 13:50 in the Wireless and Campus Networks Theatre.
You can also stop by to see the Meraki team at Stand B56 for a 1-on-1 demo and a free t-shirt. Check out our team in London getting ready for the show:
Meraki had a blast at last week’s IT Roadmap Expo, hosted by Network World. For this expo we brightened up our booth with a dunk tank! Our office in SF is terrorized by Nerf darts – we thought we’d bring a few out to the Expo for some fun, and show off the impeccable waterproofing of the Meraki Outdoor. Attendees who shot the (lit up) Meraki Outdoor into the water tank were entered into a raffle for a pair of iPod Touches. Congrats to winners Anthony and Yuan – enjoy the iPods (or one less item on your holiday shopping list).
Aside from the entertainment and errant splashes, we were excited to show off our products to the attendees. As always, it was energizing to see their faces light up as we demoed the Cloud Controller dashboard. We were also happy to see several of our customers drop by and say hi.
We’ll be out on the road again soon, and hope to see some of you – keep checking back for updates! In the meantime, here’s a short recap of the event:
