Wired, but without the wires

Danette Goulet

COSTA MESA -- The wireless future of the Internet is here now for the

TeWinkle Trojans.

The middle school has gone from being the last secondary school in the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District to get on the Internet to having the

newest technology.

And all at a bargain price.

When it finally came time for TeWinkle to be wired for the Internet,

it was going to cost $250,000, said Steven Glyer, the district’s director

of educational technology.

But as luck would have it, wireless technology came onto the market at

just the right moment, Glyer said.

Now the site is the only campus in Newport-Mesa that can boast of the

wireless wonders.

All 42 teachers at TeWinkle can click online in their classrooms and

ride the information superhighway on iMac computers at their desks.

Powering all those computers are 12 strategically placed Apple air

bases, which are about 6 inches in diameter and look like miniature space

ships.

Each works with as many as 50 computers within a 50- to 100-foot

radius, depending on what stands in the way, and all without the hassle

of wires connecting them.

The best part, Glyer said, is that each of these air bases costs about

$300.

So, with one powering about six classrooms, the entire school was

brought online for $3,600 -- a far cry from the $250,000 it was going to

cost to wire the school.

Teachers, who have sat quietly by, feeling a bit slighted, are now

thrilled with what they are able to accomplish and offer their students,

Principal Sharon Fry said.

“They are so excited,” she said. “I think they have felt for years

that they were behind.”

Teachers agreed, saying they are constantly finding new ways to use

the computers to help students.

“It’s nice to get them away from books for a while and learning to use

the Internet, because not all of them have it at home,” said Katie Aiman,

a social studies teacher.

Before the new air bases were installed, Fry said, she had no way of

contacting all of the teachers other than a paper memo or using the

disruptive intercom system.

“Now I can e-mail all the teachers -- what a wonderful step,” she

said.

The wireless system brings more than just the Internet and e-mail into

the classrooms, however.

Many programs that used to require a trudge down to the library are

now right in the classroom, said Deanna Slone, TeWinkle’s library media

teacher.

One such exciting tool is a program called Sirs Discover, Slone said,

adding that it is the equivalent of a powerful CD-ROM containing a full

encyclopedia, almanac and more.

Now that all of this is at the fingertips of TeWinkle’s teachers, the

next step is getting it to the students, Glyer said.

In an ideal world, Glyer envisions an additional four or five wireless

computers in each classroom and a traveling bank of wireless laptops, he

said.