Action Research
Primary and Early Years > Interest > Technical support
P44: Investigating the use of the Local Area Network ( LAN ) in a Primary School
Author: Lesley Oliver, Hunwick Primary School
Date: 2005
Summary
Lesley, a high-level teaching assistant, investigated the use of a LAN (local area network) within the Primary School. She discussed her findings with a teacher, the headteacher and a group of Year 6 pupils. The LAN is used for file sharing and internet access, with both wired and wireless access points.
All those involved agreed that they gained great benefits from using the LAN, although there were some reservations about the reliability and availibility of the wireless access points.
Action
Lesley compiled a questionnaire about use of the LAN and asked key members of staff to complete it along with a group of 3 Year 6 pupils. They discussed the ways in which they used the LAN, comparing it with the old system of stand alone computers.
Outcomes
Lesley concluded that the LAN was a great improvement on the use of stand alone computers. Of particular value was the ease of sharing documents among both staff and pupils. Another great advantage was the ability to access the internet from anywhere in the school, with the use of shared hyperlinks saving time and avoiding mistakes. The pupils enjoyed the internet access and the ease of handing in their homework electronically, although they did find it annoying when the wireless network was unavailable.
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- Microsoft Word 
Primary and Early Years > Interest > Technical support
P44: Investigating the use of the Local Area Network ( LAN ) in a Primary School
Author: Lesley Oliver, Hunwick Primary School
Date: 2005
Summary
Lesley, a high-level teaching assistant, investigated the use of a LAN (local area network) within the Primary School. She discussed her findings with a teacher, the headteacher and a group of Year 6 pupils. The LAN is used for file sharing and internet access, with both wired and wireless access points.
All those involved agreed that they gained great benefits from using the LAN, although there were some reservations about the reliability and availibility of the wireless access points.
Action
Lesley compiled a questionnaire about use of the LAN and asked key members of staff to complete it along with a group of 3 Year 6 pupils. They discussed the ways in which they used the LAN, comparing it with the old system of stand alone computers.
Outcomes
Lesley concluded that the LAN was a great improvement on the use of stand alone computers. Of particular value was the ease of sharing documents among both staff and pupils. Another great advantage was the ability to access the internet from anywhere in the school, with the use of shared hyperlinks saving time and avoiding mistakes. The pupils enjoyed the internet access and the ease of handing in their homework electronically, although they did find it annoying when the wireless network was unavailable.
> Download this research: PDF - Microsoft Word