Singapore's Youngest Polytechnic goes 100 Percent Wireless with Cisco Systems

June 9, 2006

By Jason Deign, News@Cisco

When it comes to IT, Singapore's youngest higher-education establishment, Republic Polytechnic, has it all - except wires.

Students at the polytechnic's recently-opened Woodlands campus all use laptops and a wireless network provided by Cisco Systems® to collaborate, solve problems, seek information, submit assignments and carry out transactions electronically.

Republic, Singapore's fifth polytechnic, claims this comprehensive hardware-software system, which allows the campus to be essentially paperless, is as yet unmatched by any educational institution in the world.

The polytechnic has been completely wireless since it first opened at a temporary campus in 2002. The wireless network at its Woodlands campus, inaugurated in March 2006, is the only network for the transmission of data and voice for the entire community.

Republic is thought to be the first institute of higher learning in Asia to use wireless in this manner. With a total area of over 20 hectares, the new campus supports an initial cohort of 5,000 students but will eventually operate at a full capacity of 13,000 students by 2010.

The network infrastructure was installed by Singapore Computer Systems Limited, a leading Asian information and communications technology service provider, as part of a S$3.6 million (US$2.3 million) project.

It is built on Cisco 1000 Series Aironet access points, Cisco 4400 Series wireless LAN controllers and the Cisco Wireless Control System, a core element of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network architecture.

Each access point is expected to handle up to 25 students for every 50 square meters on campus. "It's a good test of the system in the mornings when you have 3,700 students all logging in at the same time," observes Eden Liew, Republic's deputy principal.

The network allows for up to 54-Mbps connectivity in both the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands and is fully compliant with the IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g standards, whilst supporting a broad range of 802.1x authentication types, client devices and client operating systems.

Benefits of the network include:

• Allowing lecturers (called 'facilitators' at Republic) to stay in contact with a much larger student base than is traditionally possible and to answer student queries immediately, anytime and anywhere.
• Removing the need for paper in exams, assessments and tests, which are all completed online, helping the environment and also simplifying and saving money on administration.
• Making it possible to teach students in virtual classrooms online when they are not able to get to the campus, for example due to illness.
• Preventing cheating during exams by an automatic quarantine feature that shuts off Internet access in classes being used for examination purposes.
• Activating counter-measures in the event of a rogue access point or ad-hoc wireless network being detected during online examinations, to prevent security and integrity breaches.
• Identifying users by their name rather than by their IP address, which simplifies logging and management.
• Improving students' ability to learn using enhanced, real-time collaboration.

Republic's 350 members of faculty staff are equipped with Cisco IP Softphones and rely on the wireless network for instant communication and information. More than 300 IP cameras installed across the campus serve as another source of information and security.

Republic's principal and chief executive officer, Professor Low Teck Seng, says: "Learning takes many forms and Republic Polytechnic aims to create a unique culture and environment for our students.

"It is about embracing a new learning pedagogy, living in a highly conducive learning environment and engaging in diverse activities to support the well-rounded growth and development of the individual."

IT plays a critical role in enabling the Polytechnic to execute this strategy, says Prof Low: "Our belief is that we can leverage technology to support this vision of providing our students with a holistic education.

"A wireless network is the perfect solution to achieve our main objectives of connectivity, portability and network-centricity. For one, it allows our lecturers to continuously stay connected to a much larger student base than is traditionally possible.

"Secondly, a high-speed wireless communication network enables our students to learn and communicate anytime and anywhere within the campus in a synchronous or asynchronous mode.

"Last but not least, it makes it possible for us to run a largely paperless organization, reducing administration to a minimum."

The Cisco wireless network also supports Republic's e-learning Web site, Learning Environment Online (LEO). While e-learning makes up only a subset of most educational institutions, it is central to Republic's operations.

"Having a wireless IT system was not an option but a requirement. Without it, it would be impossible for us to implement the pedagogy," says Eden Liew.

"Our whole learning process is e-enabled. Our staff and students generate a heavy amount of traffic every day, with LEO receiving an average of 4.5 million hits per day.

"As we are expected to grow to 13,000 students with a projected 18 million hits per day by 2010, the scalability of the Cisco wireless network is absolutely critical."

Jason Deign is a freelance journalist located in Barcelona, Spain.