EduRoam

I first encountered EduRoam on December 6th at Leeds Metropolitan University. I had just finished with a meeting and was sitting in the foyer when I thought I might be able to access their wifi to keep in touch with the chaos being caused by the weather back in Glasgow. I'd heard of EduRoam: allowing university academics and students access to the Internet using their login details at any participating institution across the globe.

So I pulled out my iPod Touch and searched for a wifi signal. On the list appeared EduRoam and I selected it. A login window appeared asking me for my University email address and details, which I duly submitted. A few seconds later I was accessing the internet: university email, facebook updates, twitter messages.

I had to wait several month for the University of Glasgow to implement (catchup) EduRoam across our campus. Previously if I wanted wifi access on campus I needed to access the flexaccess wifi (mis-named) and then login using the VPN settings. However on my iPod and iPad I struggled to either make or maintain a connection through the VPN. So when EduRoam appeared on the wifi settings I was over the moon. It made accessing the internet via wifi simple. Once set up, there's no further requirement to login each time you want to access the internet. Now when I walk up to the St Andrew's Building my iPod/iPad connects to EduRoam and starts to pick up my email. I can literarily be reading my emails as I open the front door.

Since the start of term I've been encouraging my first year B Eds to configure their smart phones to access EduRoam and to access their emails. I want them to use EduRoam to access the Internet and find answers to the questions that they have about their learning.

So imagine my disappointment when I was visiting the Jordanhill Campus of Strathclyde University for the TeachMeet event, to discover that they have only set up EduRoam on their main city centre campus. Fortunately one of the organisers of the event had anticipated my need for access to the Internet via the University network, so had arranged for guest logins to be made available. However, I was thwarted by the fact that the venue (Sir  Henry Wood Lecture Theatre) did not have a wifi hotspot. :(

This minor setback aside I look forward to the day students and lecturers from HE and FE institutions can seamlessly go from one institution to another and have access to the wifi network and Internet. At present, according to the EduRoam access map there are 513 access points across the UK and according to Janet 15 institutions in Scotland allowing full access.

Roll on EduRoam...