Solving Internet Availability for Distance Learning
USAT Use Case | Teaching and Studying from Home Solutions
MEET THERESA - Theresa is employed as the IT Director of a very large and diverse school district. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to prepare her district for future emergency situations, she’s working with school administrators to implement long-term distance learning solutions. It falls to her to devise the best ways for teachers to deliver and guide students through online lesson plans. And more critically, to ensure both students and teachers are able to securely and reliably access these learning platforms from the comfort and safety of their homes.
Challenges Faced | THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
After launching their new robust online learning platform, Theresa ran into a serious problem. After polling the families within her school district, she discover that approximately one in ten did not have internet at home, one in five had slow dial-up connectivity, and worse, that one in eight families didn’t even have a home computer. To add insult to injury, with so very many people working from home, already slow data rates began to move at a crawl.
In 2020, they used CARES Act funding to secure WiFi enabled laptops, tablets, and cellular routers for many students in need. Unfortunately, the funding ran out, and a large number of students found themselves unable to reliably access distance learning materials. And with ransomware attacks on the rise, she became increasingly concerned with teachers accessing their school networks and learning platforms from unsecured home networks.
USAT is helping educational institutions build and maintain Knowledge Area Networks (KAN) by providing the end-to-end communications solutions they need for students to learn and teachers to teach both in schools and at home.
Solution Delivered | SECURE HOME TEACHING AND LEARNING
Luckily, the FCC just launched a new program to help Theresa fund the procurement of new hardware for teachers and students alike. The 7.1 Billion Dollar Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) was created to help solve the challenges school systems were still facing.
Last year, Theresa reached out to the connectivity experts at USAT to procure cellular routers for home use. So this year, she did the same. Once again, our team recommended the school use either Cradlepoint IBR600C SOHO routers or E102 routers for students in need, but we also recommended they use them for every single educator working from home as well.
The team at Cradlepoint developed a software to accompany each router that was specialized for at home work and study applications. It provided an out-of-the-box solution that allowed students and teachers to instantly connect to school networks and home learning platforms.
For students and educators who need to learn and teach from home environments, safely and securely connecting to the internet without compromising security is vital. Using advanced cellular and cloud-based management, our team delivers enterprise-class connectivity plus security to help everyone remain productive and protected outside school.
The Results | ACCESSIBLE HOME LEARNING
Instead of depending on solutions that rely upon uneven levels of home network equipment, USAT was able to offer secure, dedicated wireless connections that are fully isolated from each user’s uncontrollable home network.
After utilizing our DevProv+ services, each router was configured to securely connect to the schools existing network infrastructure, and was pre-activated on the highly reliable Verizon network. This allowed each router to simply be plugged in and turned on for immediate use.
Each student and teacher gained instant and secure access to the platforms they needed, and Theresa, and her IT team, were able to easily manage approved internet traffic and secure connections to the schools network.
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Why Choose USAT?
For 25+ years USAT has provided expert IoT communications solutions to education institutions to build secure and reliable knowledge area networks (KAN). Our team supports each and every aspect of your mission-critical connectivity projects. All our solutions utilize only the highest quality equipment from the most trusted manufacturers worldwide.
Our DevProv+ services team configures, provisions, kits and ships your devices hot and ready for immediate use. And our installation teams ensure your devices are functioning securely, reliably, and at peak performance.
Reach out to USAT today to rapidly deploy solutions that meet your cellular communications needs:
- Give Us a Call: (919) 942-4214
- Send Us an Email: info@usatcorp.com
- Request a Consultant: Click Here
Recommended Equipment for Distance Learning
Government Funding
USAT is helping public educators obtain powerful connectivity solutions with Emergency Connectivity Funds.
School Bus WiFi
School systems needed to provide internet access to as many students as possible, as fast as possible, due to current health crisis.
Student Internet
Studies show when students have access to WiFi, their behavior improves because they are focusing on educational activities.
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