Mumbai: Pathways World School, the first International Baccalaureate School of North India, open to all, today announced the implementation of a wireless LAN (local area network) solution at its campus.

Pathways has become the first educational institute in India to deploy wireless mobility for students and faculty at such an advanced scale. The wireless LAN designed by IBM will provide anytime, anywhere access to students to complete their assignments, do research and communicate with classmates, faculty, friends and family, regardless of their physical locations on campus.

The solution is based on Cisco Aironet Access Point 1200, which will provide speed up to 11Mbps. Multiple educational applications will be available centrally and students will have access to this at their convenience. All students from grade VI and above (around 1,200) and some faculty members will each be provided with IBM wireless enabled ThinkPad.

Says Pathways World School director Prashant Jain: “We believe that in the fast-changing world economy, technology can be used as a great learning tool to access quality education. We at Pathways are happy to implement IBM-designed Cisco wireless LAN solution at our campus as this will enable our students to get connected regardless of their physical locations on campus, making anytime anywhere learning practically possible.”

The school is also installing hardware, which essentially encompasses servers and storage products, compatible with 802.11g standard, which will provide 54 Mbps connectivity on a 2.4giga hertz frequency. Students to access the Internet and email will use this. It will also enable students to access the school’s resource data bank like the library, archived lessons or workshop material and also material from guest lectures as well as their assignments through a tailor-made school management software.

Says IMB India country executive Ramesh Narasimhan: “The benefits of wireless technology are growing and this is evident by the speed at which this technology is being adopted. It has the power to improve efficiency, increase productivity and network quickly and inexpensively — virtually everywhere. In educational institutions particularly, the flexibility afforded by wireless LANs also enables universities to increase course offerings without increasing the number of classrooms on campus. We are happy to support Pathways World School, which pioneers unique approaches to teaching and learning in India.”

Says Cisco Systems vice-president (India and SAARC) Sudhir Narang: “Having a wireless network gives a lot of flexibility. It brings the power of computing into classrooms on each desk without wires. The bandwidth available to each student can be utilised for niche applications such as e learning and VOD. We feel privileged to be associated with this prestigious project.”