The strain on today’s modern WLANs is overwhelming and this continues to grow at an alarming rate. The requirement for capacity has never been so critical! For the last few years we have seen the adoption of newer standards in 802.11n, and more recently 802.11ac, which promise to offer the enterprise higher speeds and better reliability.

According to Gartner, there will be approximately 26 billion devices on the IoT by 2020 whereas ABI Research speculates 30 billion devices will be wirelessly connected to the IoT by 2020. Here in lies the problem! Many Wi-Fi networks have not been (and continue not to be) designed to deliver on the capacity requirement the enterprise will face with the explosion of IoT.
 
To meet the growing demands on the enterprise and to brace ourselves for the eruption of IoT, many organizations are realizing that the basic coverage model is inadequate in meeting these demands. So just adding more access points (APs) solves the problem, right?

Although this seems like a logical step, adding more APs is usually ineffective. This often requires new network planning and design. Effective design and high capacity planning is key to meeting the demands brought by this new requirement to support IoT.

So where do you start?
 
In this blog series we will shed light into the Wi-Fi design lifecycle to understand the factors that influence Wi-Fi deployment success when deploying high capacity Wi-Fi networks.
 
The series has been broken down into a number of simple steps, which cover the following topics:
 
Step 1: Define the requirements – This is one of the most critical steps to understanding the demand on the network. This has to be viewed with both hats on from a business and a technical perspective. Understanding what the business wants to achieve from a business perspective allows us as technical people to translate this into a comprehensive design. It’s also important to gain a further understanding of the infrastructure, application and client population; this allows us to define how we integrate our proposed solution better.
 
Step 2: Design stage one, site survey – This is a very important stage of the design, as this is where we start to define where the APs are going to be located and what potential antennas we are going to use. It’s also where we get to validate the network information collected during the requirements capture stage.
 
Step 3: Design stage two, Capacity planning – Once you have defined what the business goals are and you have a solid understanding of the RF environment we can start to calculate and define the AP count, client capacity and so on.
 
Step 4: Design stage three, WLAN configuration – This is an important stage in defining how the WLAN network should be configured. It will detail configurations for security, QoS, application control, rate limiting, radio setting, SSID settings and so on.
 
Step 5: Design stage four, Solution Design – This is where we couple all of the three design stages into one overriding document. The development of the solution design and architecture begins with a design process, the results of which become the functional specification.
 
Step 6: Wi-Fi deployment: This is arguably the easiest of all the stages, but for some reason the one many professional put the most energy into!
 
Step 7: Validation and Optimization – One of the most under-respected stages of the design phase is design validation and optimization based on the collected results. This is the area that, as wireless professionals and as an industry, we need to collectively spend more time on. Here is where we do a detailed RF assessment, signal quality check and define any trouble areas. Here we should repeat and validate our results until we are happy we have certified our deployment.
 
Step 8: Documentation and handover – Again another very important piece of the puzzle that is documenting what has been deployed, what has changed from the initial design and providing the training to the customer where required.  

Stay tuned for my future blogs………..

What happens when you throw 100 startup companies in the same office space and they work solely over a wireless network? Well, for starters (no pun intended!), they turn to Aerohive and leave Cisco behind, relying on a company that not only gets wireless infrastructure, but deeply understands the needs of entrepreneurs. After all, Aerohive has its own successful startup story, pioneering controller-less WLANs. 

MassChallenge is a startup accelerator located in the heart of Boston, supporting entrepreneurs in a variety of ways, including an annual global program and startup competition. MassChallenge hosts 100 companies each year, providing office space, access to funding, legal advice, media attention and marketing resources, as well as hosting events that draw 12,000 people annually. 

MassChallenge deployed Aerohive access points, including new models equipped with 802.11ac to allow Gigabit Wi-Fi, a crucial requirement for startups that use intensive cloud solutions. The company is also using Aerohive switches and routers, as well as HiveManager Online.

For more details, read the full case study here.

My first few blogs have all centered around the education vertical, but the elegance of Aerohive’s solution can also be applied in other environments.

In this blog I would like to highlight how one network admin used two different tools available in HiveManager to solve a big problem he didn’t know he had, on gear that wasn’t even Aerohive product, at a medical clinic in Texas, all while sitting in his office chair over 600 miles away

To set the scene, this story starts back when this customer was still getting familiar with Aerohive. Often when we discuss initial network architecture for large deployments, we like to discuss Aerohive’s AVC engine and its benefits, my topic a few blogs ago.

The customer, we will call him Robbie for this discussion, dismissed some of these benefits explaining that all remote traffic from the clinics and hospitals was routed back to their corporate data center and run through a series of strong filters to ensure proper adherence to the corporate Internet use policy. The topic of AVC was dropped at this point.

Months later, I was working with Robbie reviewing the in-progress deployment of Aerohive access points when I glanced at his Application Dashboard and noticed a significant amount of Netflix traffic flowing across his wireless network. When this traffic was brought to his attention, he dismissed it as incorrect as Netflix was blocked at their firewall.

Further investigation within HiveManager proved the traffic to indeed be Netflix streaming - all from one specific clinic, all from one tablet.

This piqued his interest enough for him to investigate the firewall configuration and sure enough there was one loophole in the Netflix policy on the firewall. That loophole contained the subnet for this small clinic.

After closing the loophole on the firewall, we saw a load decrease on the access points at the clinic in question because Netflix was no longer allowed. Robbie called a contact at that location to ask if they noticed that the wireless was any faster. He got more than he bargained for.

As it turns out, for the last few months (the Aerohive access points were deployed only a few weeks prior) the wireless was very unreliable in the patient rooms. The medical carts and devices would frequently get kicked off of the network or experience very poor performance. As the story continued to unfold, almost all of medical staff were using the break room on one side of the building for wireless access as that was the only part of the building where Wi-Fi reliably worked. They had not complained to corporate yet as they assumed the new access points were not ready for use. 

Robbie was obviously puzzled. Why did the new Aerohive access points not resolve this unknown issue that had apparently stretched across the old installation and new Aerohive installation? After explaining the phone call to those of us working with him, we encouraged Robbie to activate the Aerohive WIPS (wireless intrusion prevention system) to look for rogue devices in the area. 

In light of the recent FCC ruling against Marriott, let’s take a brief aside to discuss exactly what is a WIPS. Traditional WIPS will contain two components: an intrusion detection element, and an intrusion prevention element. The detection element is passive and perfectly legal to use in most cases as it does not violate the rules around the fair use of unlicensed spectrum. The prevention element means an active mitigation procedure, and often is not legal to use as it violates those same rules. Most companies lump these two elements into one product and name them WIPS. In the case of this blog, we were only using the passive, detection elements of Aerohive’s WIPS implementation and were careful to leave the active mitigation elements disabled.

Once Aerohive’s WIPS detection functionality was implemented, it quickly became apparent that this particular clinic was in a multi-tenant environment. We saw numerous unclassified rogues that were clearly not part of Robbie’s network. These were acceptable (they had to be as there is nothing Robbie can legally do to them) and not part of the problem the medical staff had reported. After we focused on the access points in the patient room areas the actual problem became evident. The access points covering the patient room reported several rogue ad-hoc devices. 

Let’s take another aside to describe ad-hoc versus infrastructure modes. An ad-hoc device is a wireless device that has been configured to work peer-to-peer instead of through an infrastructure element like an access point. An analogy would be taking an ATV or golf cart and driving across lawns in a straight line to visit your neighbor instead of taking your car along the roads and appropriate driveways. The ad-hoc (ATV) is quick and easy and simple but ignores numerous rules and laws governing vehicles and doesn’t scale to numerous simultaneous users. The infrastructure solution access points (car) takes into account rules, laws, and user safety along with communal use but also includes more overhead.

After we explained to Robbie why these ad-hoc devices were bad, he made another phone call to the medical clinic. A bit of discussion uncovered that roughly two months ago (around the time the problem started) the clinic deployed new printers for printing patient discharge papers. Those printers were placed near the rooms for ease of access. They came from the factory configured in ad-hoc mode on a random channel per the user manual.

That same user manual walked the local contact through the steps to disable the wireless interface (all of the printers were wired into the network and didn’t need Wi-Fi.) Testing showed a massive, immediate, and sustained improvement of the Wi-Fi experience inside the patient rooms.

Today this clinic continues to use medical devices and handhelds to better provide patient’s quality service, all through the use of Aerohive access points.

While this story centers on Robbie and his remote medical clinics, I think anyone who has a large firewall configuration or printers in their organization can see how this story could apply to them. It should be noted that neither of the problems Aerohive helped identify were actually problems with the Aerohive system. And, to be fair, Aerohive was not used in either case to solve the problem.

However Aerohive’s HiveManager provided a robust collection and visual representation of the data to help Robbie discover and troubleshoot two previously undiagnosed problems.

That is the beauty of having a top notch Network Management System with rich logging and reporting capabilities; it might not be able to solve every problem on your network, but it can help you discover and diagnose problems you didn’t even know you had with products that it doesn’t even manage. And that is the power of the Hive.

The Suburban Library Cooperative is like many governmental agencies that have consolidated services and IT support in order to save costs and leverage staff. The Cooperative consists of a group of 24 libraries across three counties in the state of Michigan. The libraries had been using off the shelf access points, but the IT staff of two knew this was not sustainable and something needed to change to accommodate its growing infrastructure.

The lean IT team turned to Aerohive to provide Wi-Fi initially to 22 libraries in just a matter of days. One huge advantage with the Aerohive solution is the ability to manage the network with HiveManager Online. The state of Michigan awards state aid to libraries that complete an annual report which includes statistics of wireless users, a report easily generated now with the Aerohive solution.

To learn more about the deployment, read the full case study here.

We've had some time by now to get acquainted with 802.11ac, but if your organization is among those that have yet to deploy 11ac APs, you might find yourself asking if it's important for your network environment.

The video below - starring 802.11ac author Matthew Gast as he delivers a keynote presentation at last year's Wireless LAN Professionals Conference - explains what you should consider when contemplating an 802.11ac deployment. 

This video will come in handy for school campuses plagued by misuse of applications such Yik Yak, which has made headlines over the past year for causing problems for schools - most recently at some high schools. Guest blogger Bradley Chambers will cover the topic of whether or not you "should" block certain apps in a later blog.

In the meantime, you can watch this video by Aerohive's Rich Korb to see how Aerohive Application Visibility and Control (AVC)can be used to block Yik Yak.

By Bill Hoppin, VP of Business Development

Earlier this month I was sitting on a United airlines plane headed to the NRF (National Retail Federation) retail show in New York and I had an awesome experience with an App that validates a lot of the stuff we are working on here at Aerohive and our recently announced Personalized Engagement Ecosystem.

The United app, which is still in beta and referred to on United's website as Personal Device Entertainment, uses onboard Wi-Fi to provide access to a library of movies and TV shows that can be streamed to your personal laptop, Apple iOS device or Android device. 

Here is how Personal Device Entertainment app works:

• Has a simple home screen that normally gives you “check in” and other choices.
• When you connect to the United SSID (just that, no logging in or authentication) and re-launch the United App: Lo and behold, the home screen has changed.
• Home screen now has an option called “entertainment” and clicking that gets you right into choices for movies etc.
• Choose a movie and watch it start streaming on your device.

Why is this cool?

• It shows a great new use case for Wi-Fi: Streaming entertainment!
• BYOD: For Airplanes that don’t have screens on each seat (this one did not) they are using the screens people already have.
• It shows / validates the concept of an App that “changes personality” when connected to a specific Wi-Fi SSID (just like Endless Aisle does.)
• Leverages Wi-Fi to deliver more than just Internet access.

This is the kind of experience and thinking that I believe validates the vision of Wi-Fi as being more than connectivity, and why - similar to what we did here at Aerohive with our Personalized Engagement Ecosystem - it's meaningful to leverage Wi-Fi networks to deliver Insights & Applications.

In this installment of the Out of School podcast, Bradley Chambers sits down with 802.11ac  and iBeacons author, Matthew Gast, to chat about about these two hot technologies.

Bradley and Matthew cover a range of topics from 802.11ac Wave 2 to how iBeacons can be used in a K-12 environment to enrich the classroom experience by helping with tasks - such as taking attendance without disrupting class.

In this installment of the Out of School podcast, Bradley Chambers sits down with 802.11ac  and iBeacons author, Matthew Gast, to chat about about these two hot technologies.

Bradley and Matthew cover a range of topics from 802.11ac Wave 2 to how iBeacons can be used in a K-12 environment to enrich the classroom experience by helping with tasks - such as taking attendance without disrupting class.

In case you hadn't heard, yesterday was National Fun at Work Day! And since it doesn't take much for Aerohive to have an excuse for a little fun, of course we planned a few activities around the Hive to celebrate! We had as much fun as possible all day, including at lunchtime, an afternoon break of ping pong, at our ice cream social and even during very important meetings ;-) 

Enjoy the photos and check out what a few employees had to say about how fun it is to work at the Hive!

Name: Will Hopson, Territory Manager

Why working at the Hive is fun: "The people! We’ve got characters from all walks of life that make Aerohive a melting pot of fun!"

Name: Dipo Wirawan, IT Systems Administrator

Why working at the Hive is fun: "Aerohive is fun because I am working with an awesome IT team. We work in harmony, synergy, and complete each other, not compete with each other. Working at Aerohive is fun because they feed and treat us well."

Name: Matt Ober, Area Sales Representative, Great Lakes

Why working at the Hive is fun: “Unlimited candy!”

An overview on E-Rate funding for schools and libraries seeking high-speed and reliable Wi-Fi 

Three out of five schools in America lack the Wi-Fi needed to deploy 21st Century education tools. New digital learning options offer educators the chance to engage students and personalize learning, but over half of school buildings have outdated wired infrastructures that cannot support interactive and individualized learning tools. 

With the decreasing costs of tablets and other mobile devices, increase in Wi-Fi speeds, and cloud-based software, schools and libraries are offered a chance for a technology transformation that would have been impossible even five years ago.

The good news is that, for the first time in 18 years since the program was created, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has decided to update the E-Rate program. The update order focuses on assuring high-speed and reliable Wi-Fi for schools and libraries and transitioning support away from legacy technologies. 

E-Rate Process Overview

The E-Rate process is fairly straightforward. As soon as a district or library decides on the products to request, the designated administrator will file a Form 470, which opens the bidding process to deliver the requested products. Once the vendor has been selected, the next step is to file a 471 Form, which is the actual application for funding.

The USAC will review the application, and approved services will be funded. It is expected that 90% of all applications for the 2015 Funding Year will be completed by Sept. 1, 2015. Upon receipt of a funding commitment decision letter, the applicant will file a Form 486 to notify the E-rate program that it is receiving services.

Installation may begin as early as April 1st, but actual services may not begin until July 1st, 2015. All of the forms are now available online and can be filed electronically to help streamline the process. 
 
Changes to E-Rate Covered Products and Services

As part of the E-Rate modernization plan, the FCC has voted to increase the annual funding cap to $3.9 Billion. E-Rate will continue to prioritize Category 1 services, focused on providing high-speed broadband connectivity to schools and libraries, as part of the modernization order.

However, legacy services, such as email, web hosting, cellular data plans, and SMS texting plans will no longer be funded by E-Rate. In addition, Funding for Voice over IP (VoIP) and Telephone services will be phased out over the next year. Category 1 services have a maximum discount rate of 90%. 

The modernization order also released $1 Billion in reserves for 2015 and 2016, which is primarily targeted at providing Wi-Fi in schools and libraries. Organizations can purchase Wi-Fi access points, Wi-Fi services, such as management or managed services, as well as new technologies like caching servers, with E-Rate funds. These internal connectivity services are part of Category 2 E-Rate funds.

Category 2 services are funded at a maximum discount of 85%, with a budget of $150 per student for schools and $2.30 per square foot ($5 for urban) in libraries. 

Have questions about E-Rate? I'll do my best to answer them, so please post them in comments or contact me on Twitter: @wifi_princess 

While having the ability to block apps - as written about in a previous blog posted here - is a much needed feature for all Wi-Fi administrators, I want to play devil's advocate. What is your reaction to new apps and social networks? Do you block immediately, or do you wait and see?

I like to take the wait-and-see approach when it comes to content filtering. While I always block categories such as adult content, guns, weapons, etc., I am much more lenient when it comes to video sites and social networks. I know that many of you are banging your head on the desk right now, but hear me out.

We want to teach boundaries, not rules, when it comes to technology.

While I stole that line from my friends with curbi - an app that offers parental controls for iOS devices - I think it should be a guiding light for all schools.

Technology is not something we’ve grown up with. I still remember signing on to Prodigy and AOL dial up. Today’s kids do not. In fact, a lot of the kids in school today don’t remember buying CDs. My four year old son thinks something is wrong with the TV when he sees a commercial.

Douglas Adams once said, “I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:

1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things."

Has there ever been a more true statement about the role of technology in our lives? Most of the people reading this article are probably approaching #3. The things that are happening in technology seem crazy to us. We see things like the Apple Watch and question its place in the world. Meanwhile, a ten-year-old is thinking of the possibilities.

We remember life “pre-iPhone.” They don’t. To them, we’ve always had computers in our pocket. Many of us remember life before the Internet. We certainly remember life before it was so ingrained in our lives. The students of today do not. The Internet is a part of their natural order.

I say all that to make this point: I remember when people said that the Internet was full of junk. In many ways, it is. As much as 75% or more of the Internet is made up of things that I either do notcare for or would be offended by.

The other 25% is magical, though.

YouTube is a perfect example of a website that is frequently blocked, but probably shouldn’t be. Is there a lot of junk on it? Absolutely. Is there a lot of great content on it? You tell me: click here, or here, or here.

Let’s not shut off access to one of the world’s largest video libraries because there is a chance kids might see something they shouldn’t. Let’s deal with those situations when they arise. Let’s have honest conversations with our students about digital citizenship and appropriate content.

After we satisfy the rules of CIPA/COPA, I recommend that all schools keep their networks as open as possible. Lets let our students be creative, tinker, search, and learn. Let’s not let them consistently see block pages.

Do you know what’s worse than no filter? Too much filtering. If there is a fight at recess, does anyone say we should cancel it for good? No, we deal with the problems and move on. Let’s treat our filtering that way as much as possible.

Have thoughts to share on this topic? Please feel free to leave them in comments below.

Bradley Chambers
Director of IT
Brainerd Baptist School

As mobility continues to evolve and expand, business transformation is really just starting. Many organizations are having trouble blending new mobile and adaptive technology with the legacy systems that have been in place for many years. In many cases employees are now moving faster than IT and personal devices are invading (and being accepted) in workplace environments.

As a result, some new pain points are emerging—mainly device on-boarding and lack of visibility or control of the ever increasing number of mobile devices coming onto corporate networks.

Allowing employee-owned devices on corporate Wi-Fi

Due to the evolution of mobility and BYOD, the need to secure and have some sort of visibility over employee-owned devices that are used for both personal and business purposes in the workplace has arisen.

Because personal devices in corporate environments can increase productivity, IT has been tasked with supporting personal devices and maintaining business systems at the same time. We need to enable IT to scale and support BYOD by setting up self-service workflows to offload some of the burden to employees and create automation to increase ease-of-use, avoid mistakes and minimize help-desk calls.

So luckily, we at Aerohive can enable “mobile productivity” by deploying an infrastructure that facilitates productivity. Aerohive’s ID Manager leverages the cloud to simplify and automate the deployment and maintenance of enterprise guest management and employee BYOD programs. By combining Aerohive’s Cloud Services Platform with industry-leading authentication, we have eliminated the need for any additional hardware or software to deliver a scalable, simple-to-administer enterprise guest and BYOD management solution that streamlines the on-boarding of devices. So whether required at a single site or over a globally distributed, multi-lingual company, ID Manager’s cloud-enabled flexibility and simplicity provide a complete solution for every site.

How ID Manager and PPSK help manage BYOD 

Now let's take a step back and look at an example. Say your organization has legacy devices that do not support 802.1X, or require fast roaming and do not support 802.11r, or you don’t want to deal with certificates as that will complicate a network pretty quickly.

In this situation many of our competitors would use legacy pre-shared keys. All users share the same key; if a user leaves or if a PC or portable device is lost for security reasons, the shared key should be changed and every client will have to update the keys on their wireless clients. And this means that all users share the same network policy. Since all users share the same SSID with the same key, they will also have the same network policies, such as their VLAN, because IT has no way to uniquely identify users or types of users.

However, using Aerohive’s ID Manager , we can ensure a more secure network without bogging down the IT team.

Private PSKs are unique pre-shared keys created for individual users on the same SSID. Client configuration is simple, just enter the SSID shared key for WPA or WPA2 personal (PSK). No 802.1X supplicant configuration is required. It works with devices that do not support 802.1X/EAP. You can automatically generate unique keys for users, and distribute via email, or any way you see fit. If a user leaves or a device is lost or stolen, the PSK for that individual user or device can simply be revoked.

Please check back next week for the second ID Manager installment where we look at scenarios in which ID Manager is recommended.

Want to hear how to create personalized engagement with your customers? 

In this world of ubiquitous mobile access, retailers need a way to deliver next-generation services to personalize the relationship with consumers and build brand loyalty. In order to deliver personalized engagement, retailers need best-in-class wireless access combined with a rich set of web apps and services that can be dynamically activated based on what works best for that store, all focused on enhancing consumer experience and providing effective monetization and insight into customer behavior.

Please join Aerohive for a Webinar featuring Principal Analyst Andre Kindness from Forrester Research to hear:

• How retailers are using Wi-Fi and other technology to increase customer engagement.
• An in-depth discussion on opportunities to use free reference applications as a way to increase brand loyalty.
• How the right platform can help you build a Personalized Engagement Platform to optimize your business.

Event Details

• Date: Tuesday, February 24 
• Time: 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern
• Register: Here

Bradley Chambers and Fraser Speirs - co-hosts of the weekly Out of School podcast - discuss what goes into making a great app for schools. This week's installment on education apps is an excellent resource for teachers looking at apps for the classroom, as well as developers needing to learn what kinds of things schools care about. 

Listen and Learn! 

You can listen to previous installments of Out of School here.

By Phil Hardin, Director of Project IMPACT for Iredell-Statesville Schools

There is no doubt technology plays a critical role in education today. In keeping with the global BYOD trend and 1:1 mobile learning, students and educators are bringing their mobile devices to school and the expectation that they can use them as an instructional tool has been established.

With this progress comes the need for resources, management, and a game plan for putting all of this wonderful technology to use. With that in mind, I have seen nine key trends happening in schools.

Nine technology trends happening in schools

1) Computer Labs and desktop computers are being replaced by laptops and other mobile devices

The need for standalone labs and desktop computers is steadily decreasing due to students and staff having access to their mobile device such as a laptop or tablet.

2) Campus-wide wireless access is a necessity

With most students and staff having a mobile device, there is a need for them to be able to access their online resources from all areas of a school. The days of only having wireless access in the classroom - the classroom that happens to have the wireless laptop cart on a given day - is quickly becoming a part of educational technology history in many schools.

3) Inadequate technology support personnel 

Most school district technology departments are understaffed in the area of technicians available to support the schools. Furthermore, due to employee turnover and deficient technician training budgets, technicians in some schools lack the technical expertise to support BYOD and 1:1 projects.  

4) Technology sustainability planning is often absent 

For many schools, thinking about how large technology projects that are often purchased with one-time funding sources will be sustained into the future is many times an afterthought. This only becomes an immediate issue when schools realize an equipment lease is nearing its end or purchased hardware is becoming obsolete.

5) Number of devices per student / teachers is increasing

Historically, the focus has been on having one computer per student, but in many of today's schools, the reality is that many educators and students have multiple mobile devices that they are using on a daily basis. The increase in device numbers place increase demand on school networks and infrastructure.

6) Increased use of wireless presentation devices

Interactive whiteboards are being replaced by devices like the Apple TV which allows teachers and students to display their projects or other work effortlessly using their mobile device and the wireless network. Valuable classroom time is saved since students no longer have to leave their desks to connect their devices to a cable or go to an interactive whiteboard.

7) Increased use of video in the classroom

Both teachers and students are using video resources to bring classroom instruction to life. They are both creators and consumers of video, which places specific demands on a school's network infrastructure.

8)  Increased use of online testing

The goal of many school districts is to increase online instruction and online testing in order to help better prepare students for college and careers in the 21st century.

9) Increased use of online digital content and resources

Students are able to reach their potential through increased access to online educational resources and experts that extend learning beyond the capacities or limitations of their school or community.

Can you relate to any - or several - of these nine trends? How have you embraced, or managed, them? We will be following up on these trends with more blogs, but in the meantime welcome your input.

The Aerohive HivePass solution - part of Aerohive's recently announced Personalized Engagement Ecosystem for retailers - leverages applications already installed on most mobile devices. For an Apple iOS customer, it uses Passbook, and for Android customers, HivePass integrates with apps like PassWallet to deliver a personalized loyalty app experience.

HivePass engages a customer by installing a Passbook pass as part of the Wi- Fi access experience or even as a targeted link or QR code. The pass can provide a coupon, loyalty card, or other shopper benefit, and once downloaded, opens up a line of communication between the retailer and the user.

Retailers can use that communication to notify customers of special discounts, recognize repeat shoppers, or even increment loyalty points.

All of this is enabled by the integration of HivePass within the Aerohive Wi-Fi and iBeacon infrastructure, tied to a very deep and sophisticated data platform. Retailers can easily create, modify, and optimize passes that deliver whatever the desired experience is, without the effort and expense of developing a custom loyalty application.

To learn more about how HivePass works, watch the demo:

In past posts I've mentioned how I enjoy the parts of my job where I get to learn how my clients do their jobs.

Two areas of expertise that I run into often in my job are education psychology and social networking, and this is increasingly becoming the case as I journey down the path to becoming an expert in my chosen field. These are usually not two areas of expertise that reside in one person, so I have taken what I have learned from each field expert and tried to apply them to provide relevant talking points for my customers.

One such topic is the blocking of Social Media and where, and even if, such sites should be blocked at all. In fact, today's blog follows on a post last week from Bradley Chambers, who is Director of Information Technology for Brainerd Baptist Schools and shares my point of view. (To check out Bradley's blog, read Schools: Don't simply block Social Media on campus Wi-Fi .)

Should your school block Facebook?

Let's pick on a specific Social Media site for today, Facebook. I enjoy asking my prospects and customers if they are blocking Facebook at their Internet firewall. Usually I get a rather surprised "yes" while they figure out if I have suddenly been struck dumb for asking such an obvious question.

I get even odder looks when I tell them that I disagree with that policy and that I have three distinct points to backup my opinion. 

It's obvious that if you block Facebook at your Internet firewall, then no one on your campus will have access to it, so I lead into the first point asking: "What are you doing on your campus to protect these children from bomb threats and suicide threats?" 

Gone are the days of calling in a fire drill or bomb threat to avoid a test or as a prank. Today kids place threats of this type on Social Media sites like Facebook, so it makes sense that your administrators need to be monitoring these channels for such threats.

Your counselors also need to be monitoring the social media posting of your troubled kids as they often ask for help before they physically harm themselves, and those queries are increasingly showing up on Facebook and other Social Media sites. 

So I believe that you should provide access to Social Media sites to your counselors and administrators to protect the children at your school.

Using Social Media to market your school

My second point is, "What are you doing to market your school?"

Whether you are a public school or private school there should be an effort to show off what your school is doing and to actively and positively market your school's end product, educated students.

Why? Well, if you are a private school it's obvious: You need to find the source of next year’s tuition. If you are a public school, then know that the private schools are marketing against you, so you better market against them.

How do you market your school? Today this type of marketing and advertising happens on Facebook and other social mediums. 

Circumventing school Wi-Fi  

My final point is rather fatalistic, but still very true. If you block Facebook on your Internet link your students and teachers are going to find a different Internet link that allows it. This is often going to be their cell phone or MiFi.

Wouldn’t it be better to provide a limited level of access that you can control and monitor for abuse rather than to stick your head in the sand and deny it outright? This only forces your users to get that access elsewhere, where you cannot control or monitor it at all.

Do you agree? Disagree? Please feel free to weigh in with your opinion in comments or on Twitter. 

For many school districts, learning how to implement a successful 1:1 initiative is top of mind, especially because this year e-rate funding will help so many U.S. schools become BYOD- and Wi-Fi-enabled.

With 1:1 programs and other digital learning initiatives in mind, the Center for Digital Education is taking a closer look at how schools are empowering teachers with technology. It is hosting a series of six webinars featuring a variety of school districts that are making a difference in the classroom.

In keeping with the education theme, the webinar audience will have the opportunity to address questions to a panel of experts, which includes Executive Director of Project IMPACT for Iredell-Statesville Schools Phil Hardin, as well as a rotating special guest speaker (an IT expert from a school district.)

First up: Deploying a successful 1:1 program

In the first webinar on February 19, speakers will discuss the many moving parts to a successful 1:1 program, including: infrastructure, instruction, professional development, devices and finance.  

Guest speaker: Will Reid, Chief Technology Officer, Pulaski County Special School District

Date: Thursday, February 19th, 2015

Time: 11:00am PT / 2:00pm ET

Registration and speaker lineup: Here 

Topics covered:

• Keeping a focus on instruction
• Building a network to support 1:1
• Start small and grow
• Transforming the entire system of education

In the next webinar, to be held March 12, Phil Hardin and the panel will be discussing how technology is transforming teaching and learning.

Stay tuned for future webinars in this series.

By Phil Hardin, Director of Project IMPACT for Iredell-Statesville Schools

There is no doubt technology plays a critical role in education today. In keeping with the global BYOD trend and 1:1 mobile learning, students and educators are bringing their mobile devices to school and the expectation that they can use them as an instructional tool has been established.

With this progress comes the need for resources, management, and a game plan for putting all of this wonderful technology to use. With that in mind, I have seen nine key trends happening in schools.

Nine technology trends happening in schools

1) Computer Labs and desktop computers are being replaced by laptops and other mobile devices

The need for standalone labs and desktop computers is steadily decreasing due to students and staff having access to their mobile device such as a laptop or tablet.

2) Campus-wide wireless access is a necessity

With most students and staff having a mobile device, there is a need for them to be able to access their online resources from all areas of a school. The days of only having wireless access in the classroom - the classroom that happens to have the wireless laptop cart on a given day - is quickly becoming a part of educational technology history in many schools.

3) Inadequate technology support personnel 

Most school district technology departments are understaffed in the area of technicians available to support the schools. Furthermore, due to employee turnover and deficient technician training budgets, technicians in some schools lack the technical expertise to support BYOD and 1:1 projects.  

4) Technology sustainability planning is often absent 

For many schools, thinking about how large technology projects that are often purchased with one-time funding sources will be sustained into the future is many times an afterthought. This only becomes an immediate issue when schools realize an equipment lease is nearing its end or purchased hardware is becoming obsolete.

5) Number of devices per student / teachers is increasing

Historically, the focus has been on having one computer per student, but in many of today's schools, the reality is that many educators and students have multiple mobile devices that they are using on a daily basis. The increase in device numbers place increase demand on school networks and infrastructure.

6) Increased use of wireless presentation devices

Interactive whiteboards are being replaced by devices like the Apple TV which allows teachers and students to display their projects or other work effortlessly using their mobile device and the wireless network. Valuable classroom time is saved since students no longer have to leave their desks to connect their devices to a cable or go to an interactive whiteboard.

7) Increased use of video in the classroom

Both teachers and students are using video resources to bring classroom instruction to life. They are both creators and consumers of video, which places specific demands on a school's network infrastructure.

8)  Increased use of online testing

The goal of many school districts is to increase online instruction and online testing in order to help better prepare students for college and careers in the 21st century.

9) Increased use of online digital content and resources

Students are able to reach their potential through increased access to online educational resources and experts that extend learning beyond the capacities or limitations of their school or community.

Can you relate to any - or several - of these nine trends? How have you embraced, or managed, them? We will be following up on these trends with more blogs, but in the meantime welcome your input.

Phil Hardin, Executive Director of Project IMPACT for Iredell-Statesville Schools, has over 31 years of experience in education with over 20 years of service dedicated to innovating teaching and learning through the effective use of technology. He has implemented several award winning 1:1 mobile device based learning programs. Phil was the recipient of the 2013 Sylvia Charp Award for District Innovation in Technology, the 2012 NC Technology in Education Society's Outstanding Leader Award, the 2005 NC Technology Director of the Year Award, and was recognized as a Top 50 Innovator in Education for 2012.