<b>"To the man with a new hammer, all problems appear distinctly nail-like." </b>
I hate to throw this in, but is IR the best way to handle going wireless in the classroom?
What about XBEE/Zigbee. Yes, a tad more expensive, but it <b>is </b> 2-way, and is available in both a short-range (about 10 meter) for under 10 quid and longer (over 100 meter) range version for a bit more. The default mode is, you guessed it, direct serial cable replacement. The development kits from Maxstream include RS-232 and USB interface boards. I should have mine in next week (just ordered them), so I cannot opine with any experiential reference, but, according to the documents I have downloaded and perused, they look very promising for your application of wireless programming in the classroom.
They even have different topologies you can employ (peer to peer, beacon with slaves, etc.). In <i>theory </i> , at least. ;-) Of course the devil is always in the details....
Wreno
Edited by - Wrenow on 11/03/2007 13:53:32