A Simple Classroom Network Access Control System

With the advent of laptop computers and network technology, many classrooms are now being equipped with Internet connections, either through wired connections or wireless infrastructure. Internet access provides students an additional source from which to obtain course-related information. However, constant access to the Internet can be a distraction. This distraction could potentially cause impaired learning performance. Instructors need a mechanism to control how students access the Internet; and researchers need a mechanism to monitor students’ computer activities and engagement. To fulfill these two needs, we propose a simple Classroom Network Access Control (CNAC) system. Our system consists of two major parts: the Ethernet bridge as a core and the web-based control panel as the user interface. The CNAC system is designed to be easily deployed and the simple and intuitive web-based control panel provides a user-friendly configuration interface for instructors. Through this powerful, yet flexible interface, instructors can easily set classroom Internet access rules.