Towards an efficient and secure educational platform on cloud infrastructure
Case Study - A Sec Sch and Singtel
1. Enabling online-
based experiential
learning through
improved mobility
management.
Singtel Business
Customer Success Story
A secondary school in Singapore
As part of a new online-based experiential learning
initiative, a secondary school in Singapore decided
to issue 1,500 Apple iPads to its students as a
means to deliver engaging and interactive
academic content. To overcome the challenge of
configuring and managing the device fleet, the
school implemented the Singtel's Enterprise
Mobility Management (EMM) solution which helped
reduce the IT resources and time required for the
roll-out of devices. The EMM solution also ensures
that students comply with usage policies and that
proprietary content would not be leaked through
lost or stolen devices.
Executive Summary
Company name
A secondary school in Singapore
Industry
Education
Business challenges
• Roll out 1,500 Apple iPads to support a new e-learning
initiative promoting experiential learning
• Ensure that students adhere to usage policies and do not
abuse the iPads for non-academic purposes
• Track and trace lost or stolen devices to facilitate recovery
• Protect proprietary data stored in the devices
Singtel solution
• Enterprise Mobility Management
Business value
• Reduced the IT manpower and lead time required for the
roll-out of devices by eliminating the need for manual,
unit-by-unit configuration
• Prevents unauthorised usage of devices with policy-based
restrictions on access to non-academic web sites, apps and
contents
• Enables IT team to track and trace lost or stolen devices
through a central administration dashboard
• Protects proprietary data with remote wipe capabilities if a
lost device was not recoverable
2. A Secondary School in Singapore and Singtel
Business Challenges
Using the traditional approach to device deployment, rolling
out 1,500 Apple iPads to support the e-learning initiative
would have been time-consuming and resource-intensive.
The school’s ICT team would have had to manually configure
each device to log in to the school’s Wi-Fi network and to
download the e-learning apps, academic materials and
courseware. The entire roll-out of the iPads could take up to
500 hours to complete.
Ensuring the proper usage of devices was another challenge.
The school would have little control over the contents, web
pages and apps that the students could gain access to once
the devices were issued to them. There was also the risk of
devices being lost or stolen, together with the proprietary
teaching materials that were stored in them. This could result
in the leakage of privileged learning materials and also
disrupt the students’ learning.
The school consulted several service providers as it explored
possible solutions to these challenges. It eventually engaged
Singtel for its comprehensive and robust Enterprise Mobility
Management (EMM) solution and its rich experience in
addressing the mobility needs of enterprises across the region.
Simplifying and Accelerating the
Roll-out of Devices
Singtel worked with the school to simplify the enrolment and
configuration of devices and the installation of content using
the EMM solution. The school was thus able to significantly
reduce the manpower resources and time required for these
tasks.
With the EMM solution and Apple’s Device Enrolment
Programme, the school’s ICT team was able to enroll all the
devices in just five steps, halving the time needed for device
configuration.
Once this was done, the e-learning apps and contents
pre-loaded in EMM administration dashboard could be
pushed out automatically to all the iPads without having to
upload and install them, item by item, on every device. This
reduced the time and resources taken up by these tasks by
up to 75 per cent. It also ensured that all the devices were
loaded with the same up-to-date version of the contents.
Preventing Misuse of Devices with
Central Policy Controls
Through the administration dashboard, the school's ICT team
was also able to define, manage and enforce usage policies
to prevent students from accessing unauthorised and
non-academic contents on the devices. For example,
students are not allowed to access social media sites and
games which could distract them from their lessons during
school hours.
Singtel’s EMM solution also allows the school to disable
device context actions such as copy-and-paste to prevent
plagiarism when students are completing their coursework
and academic exercises on the iPads.
Ensuring Data Security
The Singtel EMM solution provides a secure container for
applications and data. This not only prevents data leakage
but also enables the school's ICT team to conduct a selective
wipe where necessary to remove proprietary applications and
data belonging to the school, while keeping the students’
personal data and applications intact.
3. Enabling Bring-Your-Own-Device
With advanced device management capabilities and control
features of Singtel EMM, the school has been able to move
from a loan model to a Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) model
to support its e-learning initiatives. Students can now use their
own devices for e-learning, helping the school to reduce the
costs and risks associated with the project. At the same time,
granular controls enable the ICT team to securely wipe the
school’s proprietary data and applications from a device when
the student graduates, without having to revert to its factory
settings. This option was previously not available to the
school, hindering the adoption of the BYOD model.
Conclusion
Singtel EMM has played a significant role in facilitating the
school’s online-based experiential learning initiative involving
the use of mobile devices. It helped simplify the enrolment
and configuration of devices and the installation of content,
significantly reducing the time and resources required for
these tasks during the initial roll-out.
As the initiative takes off, Singtel EMM continues to ensure
that mobility is well managed with central policy controls to
prevent misuse of devices and security capabilities such as
device track-and-trace and selective wipe. These advanced
device management capabilities and controls also pave the
way for the school to adopt the BYOD model, presenting a
more cost-effective and lower-risk approach to new and
innovative e-learning initiatives.
