Cisco and Illinois School District Make Learning Fun

Morris (IL) Elementary School District 54 had a problem. The district had recently purchased and outfitted their students with 450 Chromebooks but only five of the computers would connect to a single WiFi coverage area. This spotty connection was frustrating students and teachers alike.

“We learned very quickly that we couldn’t have an effective one-to-one rollout without the infrastructure to support the number of devices we have,” says Dr. Teri Shaw, superintendent, Morris Elementary School District 54. “We needed to change gears and recover quickly before our one-to-one initiative turned into an epic failure.”

Shaw and the rest of the district turned to Cisco.

Thanks to Cisco and delivery partner Unified Concepts, Morris Elementary School District 54 was outfitted with a state-of-the-art wireless mobility solution. The solution was made up of the following Cisco products:

Cisco Aironet 3700 Series Access Point with integrated 802.11ac

Cisco 5508 Wireless Controller

Routing and Switching

Cisco Catalyst 3750-X Series Switches

Paired with Cisco’s top-of-the-line management and security software, this new solution erased the connection issues of the previous coverage areas. This allowed the teachers to use technology in their curricula and learning plans. The results have been exactly what the school district asked for.

“We now have the right infrastructure to support a successful one-to-one program,” Dr. Shaw said. “The impact has been incredible.”

Now students and teachers have the freedom of mobility as the improved Wi-Fi experience allowing for the one-on-one program to be a successs. The new mobility solution has a profound impact on the students’ scholastic experiences as it empowers them to take charge of their learning pace and methods. It also enables students to learn hands-on technology skills at an early age.

Armed with the best practices learned from the elementary school, the district plans to roll out a similar one-on-one program at its middle schools.

Cisco and illinois school district make learning fun case study from Cisco Mobility

To learn more about the Morris Elementary School District 54 solution, please visit the case study page.