Exploiting BYOD to teach effectively using a local WiFi net.

Name: Exploiting BYOD to teach effectively using a local WiFi net.
Rating: 3.9 (20 reviews)

Teachers deploy their own content to student devices (BYOD) to augment their lessons and enhance student participation.

Created byAnthony Hill

Last updated 7/2015

English

What you'll learn

create content for display on student BYODevices
set up and run a local wifi website to host student BYODevices
run classes with participants accessing live and prepared teaching material
utilize student or school mobile devices in the classroom to augment teaching and learning

Course content

8 sections • 17 lectures • 1h 17m total length

What is this - Offdanet?2:00
Getting started with Offdanet. Here you will see a brief introduction to some of the types of things we can do by running a local web service from a teaching computer.
Description of Offdanet15:23
Get to know what is available within the system.

File types that can be worked with.0:19
An online example you can test and play with0:21
There is an online adaption of Offdanet, called Ondanet which you can use to see how this system works without having to set it up yourself. It also demonstrates that you could even host an online Internet enabled version if you desired, although I would personally discourage that as it relies on school infrastructure and access policies.

Streaming live content from the teacher's screen6:37
To get material from an electronic whiteboard out to the student devices is not that difficult.
We can send text or images which can be refreshed automatically so that the student devices get updates. This is not instantaneous but relies on the teacher periodically saving the material which is then picked up by each device in their auto refresh cycle that the webpage creates.

Looking at the folder structure10:52
This is an in-depth look at how the folders of teaching material are laid out. The template is available for download in the resources. It is not good to have an empty folder as it gives the client/student an error so a place holder index page is used. The code for that is also given here as a txt file (just change the extension to .html) and also a link to the animation that I have used. You will need to rename that to match the html file.

Using a Word document3:55
Export your Word document as an htm file then change the extension to html
Viewing an Excel spreadsheet on the devices4:05
Export your Excel spreadsheet as an htm file then change the extension to html
Using your favorite PowerPoints on BYOD5:57
How to convert your PowerPoint to HTML5 for direct use Offdanet.
Converting PDFs to HTML for use on BYODevices4:10
This method requires you to have MS Word 2013.
Audio content - podcasts5:36
This lesson shows how to create audio podcasts to use on your site. In the resources you will find a txt file which gives the HTML5 code to play the files that you record. Save file and change the extension from .txt to .html to be able to use. Or use the full template that is in the links and resources section.
Adding a BACK button to content pages2:31
A back button is easy to add to any page you create. Open the attached txt file and copy the HTML5 string. Paste that into the your subpage after the body start, so it looks like this: <body> <input type=button value="Back" onClick="history.go(-1)"><br>

Configuring a Router to provide WiFi for Offdanet11:19
There a many different brands and kinds of routers available which means that we can only have rudimentary or generic guidelines for how to set up the system.

Essentially you will need to log on to your router as Administrator (and change the default password) giving the details that came with your model.

While connected to the router in the Admin setup mode you will configure DHCP and WiFi settings. Set DHCP on and set a range. Take a note of the lowest value of the range you set as that will be the one your computer should default to when running the service. If possible set your computer with a DHCP reservation address.

Create an SSID for the WiFi that you will easily recognise and decide if you run the system with or without a wifi password.

Summary2:12
Lets go over that again.
What is my IP address0:39
The IP address of your computer should be a set of numbers that looks similar to 192.168.0.102

It is in the format of xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

To find the address you can right click on the network or wifi icon on the bottom of the taskbar and select open network and sharing center. Then select the connection you are using and select details. You should then see your IP address.

I prefer to have the IP address automatically displayed for me on the desktop by using BGinfo.exe which you can find in the links section.

The host computer will get an IP address from the DHCP service on the Router. The computer also has a local host address of 127.0.0.1 You can use the local host address to check a page on your computer but not from a different computer. From a different computer you must know the router assigned address.
Page not found0:26
The template is using a standardized address system which assumes most folders will have an index.html file in it. You must make sure the extension for the template links uses .html and not .htm

If you create files from within Office (Word and Excel) you will find it produces .htm by default, you must rename those extensions.

NB make sure you have changed the default hide view of common extension so that you can always see these extensions.

Make sure you are careful about capitalization of file names, capitals can be significant is some systems.

Check to see that the webserver is actually working.

Requirements

basic file management skills
how to create a presentation on PowerPoint or similar

Description

BYOD has been underutilized in schools because of issues of connectivity, compatibility and App account requirements. The use of mobile devices is a ripe area for development if we can exploit them appropriately for classroom use. This course sets up a system to connect student and school devices (mobile and laptops) to the teacher's computer so that lesson material and activities can be shared in the classroom, bypassing infrastructure issues. It uses HTML5 to be cross platform and is browser based to avoid the need for Apps or accounts. Multimedia, quizzes, readings, presentations can easily be deployed to devices for individualized, group or whole class use.

The course is divided in sections.

1. It begins with an overview and explanation.

2. An example system will be demonstrated.

3. The folder layout of the service will be examined and a template provided to download and use.

4. Methodology of creating content for delivery.

5. Software options

6. There is FAQ section which also acts as both a glossary and troubleshooting guide.

The content of each section consists of video and audio explanations together with data sheets.

At the end of this course the participant should feel capable and confident to setup and run an “offdanet" service in their classroom.

It is hoped that running offdanet will allow teachers more freedom in creating, modifying and presenting their own lesson material into technology rich classrooms with engaged learners.

Who this course is for:

teachers who want to exploit the technology languishing in their schools
teaches who have no wifi operating in their classroom
trainers who visit sites with restricted wireless infrastructure yet who wish to deliver or share content

Exploiting BYOD to teach effectively using a local WiFi net.

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction2 lectures • 17min

Getting started2 lectures • 1min

Doing things live on your system1 lecture • 7min

The folder layout1 lecture • 11min

Creating Content6 lectures • 26min

Software options1 lecture • 1min

Hardware1 lecture • 11min

FAQ3 lectures • 3min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: