EFFECTIVE WAYS CLOUD COMPUTING CAN CONTRIBUTE TO EDUCATION SUCCESSacijjournal
Cloud computing and education sounds ambiguous on the face of it. Naturally, it’s because, very few individuals, publishers and users alike come from the education sector. In most cases, cloud computing is only associated with businesses and how they can leverage their efficiencies. Just to introduce how the cloud deserves a place in our current education institution, it’s important to reiterate the education philosophy. Its essence is knowledge. It’s this knowledge which brings advancement, achievement and success. However, there are several things which make these parameters unattainable. In blunt language,this is failure. Small classrooms, lack or resources, short-handed staff, lack of adequate teachers…the list is endless. One way or the other, cloud computing can be utilized to improve education standards and activities. The end result will be to curb the above problems and instead, boost performance.
EFFECTIVE WAYS CLOUD COMPUTING CAN CONTRIBUTE TO EDUCATION SUCCESSacijjournal
Cloud computing and education sounds ambiguous on the face of it. Naturally, it’s because, very few individuals, publishers and users alike come from the education sector. In most cases, cloud computing is only associated with businesses and how they can leverage their efficiencies. Just to introduce how the cloud deserves a place in our current education institution, it’s important to reiterate the education philosophy. Its essence is knowledge. It’s this knowledge which brings advancement, achievement and success. However, there are several things which make these parameters unattainable. In blunt language,this is failure. Small classrooms, lack or resources, short-handed staff, lack of adequate teachers…the list is endless. One way or the other, cloud computing can be utilized to improve education standards and activities. The end result will be to curb the above problems and instead, boost performance.
Transforming Education through Disruptive TechnologiesAspire Systems
IT budget cuts post-recession have forced education CIO’s to increase dependence on emerging cost-effective technologies like collaboration platforms, web based applications and the now buzzed Cloud Computing. However, the technology invasion in education is still nascent and various revolutionary concepts, like augmented reality and semantic web, are on the verge of becoming mainstream.
To penetrate beyond the inevitable hype and disruption, this webinar will be looking at the following:
- The best emerging technologies that education software providers should invest in
- Technologies recommended for classroom adoption among educational institutions
- Effects of adopting such disruptive technologies
- Obtaining the best out of established technologies
Tools for Designing Distance Learning InstructionMarsha J. Chan
Differences between live and online classrooms require instructors to adapt familiar tools and adopt new ones to create a learning environment in cyberspace. The presenter will describe one module in an online certification course for college faculty that examines technology tools to design and teach a web-based distance learning course.
Shaneece Davis conducted her research on 'Increasing Active Learning Among Students: NCCU's Introduction of Virtual Computing Lab to Grades K-12' as part of the 9th annual BDPA IT Showcase held August 4-5, 2011 in Chicago IL. In today's classrooms there are sometimes problems related to teaching students and how they retain information. Incorporating active learning into courses is a solution that would involve students in the learning process will help them to retain, recall and use information in an effective way. High School students in Durham, NC participated in a pilot program that introduced them to Virtual Computing Lab (VCL) in an effort to increase active learning. The pilot program results show that students engage in active learning when given the resources to do so.
This is her 10-page research paper.
Shaneece has recently graduated cum laude with a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Information Systems (CIS) from North Carolina Central University (NCCU). she attended NCCU for a total of three years and has been an active student, serving as the Secretary and Chair of Events Committee for the CIS Club and by being a member of the Senior Class Council on her campus. She received several awards while a student at NCCU, including two awards for Excellent Academic Achievement and the Courtney S. Ferguson Awards for upholding the ideals of the CIS discipline.
Shaneece is now attending the Unviersity of Maryland for its Masters of Information Management Program. She is truly excited about her journey of education.
E Learning in Medical Education.E-learning (or eLearning) is the use of electronic media, educational technology and information and communication technologies (ICT) in education. E-learning includes numerous types of media that deliver text, audio, images, animation, and streaming video, and includes technology applications and processes such as audio or video tape, satellite TV, CD-ROM, and computer-based learning, as well as local intranet/extranet and web-based learning. Information and communication systems, whether free-standing or based on either local networks or the Internet in networked learning, underlie many e-learning processes
Large-scale virtual desktop infrastructure for Sheridan College addresses multiple use cases, and contributes to College's goal to reduce energy consumption by 50% over the next 5 years.
More companies and institutions are looking for robust solutions to support their training programmes. They want to follow sustainable approaches that enhance learning and teaching over the internet.
In an e-learning environment
that emphasizes learnercentered activity and system
interactivity, remote learners
can outperform traditional
classroom students.
CAN
E-LEARNING
REPLACE
CLASSROOM
LEARNING?
By Dongsong Zhang,
J. Leon Zhao, Lina Zhou, and
Jay F. Nunamaker, Jr.
The best champion of a Wi-Fi solution for eduction is customer experience.
Here are a few examples of how Extricom technology out-performs other solutions to benefit schools and collegesacross the UK.
To learn how Extricom could work for you, call ICON or oneof its re-seller partners.
Transforming Education through Disruptive TechnologiesAspire Systems
IT budget cuts post-recession have forced education CIO’s to increase dependence on emerging cost-effective technologies like collaboration platforms, web based applications and the now buzzed Cloud Computing. However, the technology invasion in education is still nascent and various revolutionary concepts, like augmented reality and semantic web, are on the verge of becoming mainstream.
To penetrate beyond the inevitable hype and disruption, this webinar will be looking at the following:
- The best emerging technologies that education software providers should invest in
- Technologies recommended for classroom adoption among educational institutions
- Effects of adopting such disruptive technologies
- Obtaining the best out of established technologies
Tools for Designing Distance Learning InstructionMarsha J. Chan
Differences between live and online classrooms require instructors to adapt familiar tools and adopt new ones to create a learning environment in cyberspace. The presenter will describe one module in an online certification course for college faculty that examines technology tools to design and teach a web-based distance learning course.
Shaneece Davis conducted her research on 'Increasing Active Learning Among Students: NCCU's Introduction of Virtual Computing Lab to Grades K-12' as part of the 9th annual BDPA IT Showcase held August 4-5, 2011 in Chicago IL. In today's classrooms there are sometimes problems related to teaching students and how they retain information. Incorporating active learning into courses is a solution that would involve students in the learning process will help them to retain, recall and use information in an effective way. High School students in Durham, NC participated in a pilot program that introduced them to Virtual Computing Lab (VCL) in an effort to increase active learning. The pilot program results show that students engage in active learning when given the resources to do so.
This is her 10-page research paper.
Shaneece has recently graduated cum laude with a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Information Systems (CIS) from North Carolina Central University (NCCU). she attended NCCU for a total of three years and has been an active student, serving as the Secretary and Chair of Events Committee for the CIS Club and by being a member of the Senior Class Council on her campus. She received several awards while a student at NCCU, including two awards for Excellent Academic Achievement and the Courtney S. Ferguson Awards for upholding the ideals of the CIS discipline.
Shaneece is now attending the Unviersity of Maryland for its Masters of Information Management Program. She is truly excited about her journey of education.
E Learning in Medical Education.E-learning (or eLearning) is the use of electronic media, educational technology and information and communication technologies (ICT) in education. E-learning includes numerous types of media that deliver text, audio, images, animation, and streaming video, and includes technology applications and processes such as audio or video tape, satellite TV, CD-ROM, and computer-based learning, as well as local intranet/extranet and web-based learning. Information and communication systems, whether free-standing or based on either local networks or the Internet in networked learning, underlie many e-learning processes
Large-scale virtual desktop infrastructure for Sheridan College addresses multiple use cases, and contributes to College's goal to reduce energy consumption by 50% over the next 5 years.
More companies and institutions are looking for robust solutions to support their training programmes. They want to follow sustainable approaches that enhance learning and teaching over the internet.
In an e-learning environment
that emphasizes learnercentered activity and system
interactivity, remote learners
can outperform traditional
classroom students.
CAN
E-LEARNING
REPLACE
CLASSROOM
LEARNING?
By Dongsong Zhang,
J. Leon Zhao, Lina Zhou, and
Jay F. Nunamaker, Jr.
The best champion of a Wi-Fi solution for eduction is customer experience.
Here are a few examples of how Extricom technology out-performs other solutions to benefit schools and collegesacross the UK.
To learn how Extricom could work for you, call ICON or oneof its re-seller partners.
ACHIEVING SEAMLESS MIGRATION TO PRIVATECLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE FOR MULTI-CAMPUS ...ijccsa
Maintaining IT infrastructure is a major challenge for multi-campus universities. The difficulties they face
include inflexibility, inefficiency, outdated technology, and redundant resources, all of which negatively
impact the quality of services provided to students, faculty, and researchers. Consequently, there is a
growing need for a more agile, efficient, and cost-effective solution that can cater to the everchanging IT
service demands of these institutions. Universities can boost their agility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness
while enhancing service quality by utilizing cloud services. Cloud computing enables universities to quickly
and easily access computing resources that can be scaled up or down as per their IT requirements,
providing them with the necessary flexibility to meet dynamic demands. Private cloud migration further
offers universities complete control over their internal security and SLA obligations, allowing them to
guarantee a high level of service delivery. This paper contends that private cloud migration is an effective
solution that can help multi-campus universities surmount their IT infrastructure challenges and enhance
their IT service delivery capabilities.
The report will covers case studies of mobile technology pilots over two sessions in 2012 in a learning and teaching context. It will discusses the results of the surveys undertaken as part of the Project, to highlight the successes and failures of these pilots. The report also outlines the work done, and the results so far, in the development of a mobile solution for CSU Subject Outlines and learning resources.
Collaboration through technology: moving from possibility to practice - Tim B...Jisc
Led by Tim Boundy, applications and video development team manager, Jisc.
With contribution from Bethan Owen-Hughes, project coordinator - Sgiliaith, Grwp Llandrillo Menai.
This session will explore the potential that technology can bring to all forms of collaboration, and consider the difference that it has made to some local organisations and their practices.
Connect more in Wales, Thursday 7 July 2016
The scope of the WIFI project is not limited to a specific realm of the participants in the university. As part of a five-year strategic plan of the IT deanship, the project aims to create a consistent user experience across the various building of University, including the provision of wireless network access. The access to the network on the go can be a really great endeavor for the information exchange and the information fetch at instances when needed. This last issue became critical in the summer of 2014, when the more number of extra access point of the network are needed, which require civil work and extra time to get ready. This was a very typical scenario in which wiring and cabling was a burden and an overhead for the entire vicinity of the employees including the implementation team and the stakeholders. Moreover there are various issues that are known to everyone regarding the cable LAN and its maintenance. We had already traditionally viewed wired as good enough for everybody, however over the past times the scenario is changing and it is becoming a very drastic problem where the more the expansion of the network is done the more are the chances of the faults in the network and the system designs. Thus it becomes a very needful situation where a solution is to be figured out for the networks and its maintenance.
Instructions for Submissions thorugh G- Classroom.pptxJheel Barad
This presentation provides a briefing on how to upload submissions and documents in Google Classroom. It was prepared as part of an orientation for new Sainik School in-service teacher trainees. As a training officer, my goal is to ensure that you are comfortable and proficient with this essential tool for managing assignments and fostering student engagement.
How to Split Bills in the Odoo 17 POS ModuleCeline George
Bills have a main role in point of sale procedure. It will help to track sales, handling payments and giving receipts to customers. Bill splitting also has an important role in POS. For example, If some friends come together for dinner and if they want to divide the bill then it is possible by POS bill splitting. This slide will show how to split bills in odoo 17 POS.
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
This is a presentation by Dada Robert in a Your Skill Boost masterclass organised by the Excellence Foundation for South Sudan (EFSS) on Saturday, the 25th and Sunday, the 26th of May 2024.
He discussed the concept of quality improvement, emphasizing its applicability to various aspects of life, including personal, project, and program improvements. He defined quality as doing the right thing at the right time in the right way to achieve the best possible results and discussed the concept of the "gap" between what we know and what we do, and how this gap represents the areas we need to improve. He explained the scientific approach to quality improvement, which involves systematic performance analysis, testing and learning, and implementing change ideas. He also highlighted the importance of client focus and a team approach to quality improvement.
The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France. It marked the decline of absolute monarchies, the rise of secular and democratic republics, and the eventual rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. This revolutionary period is crucial in understanding the transition from feudalism to modernity in Europe.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology:
Ethnobotany in herbal drug evaluation,
Impact of Ethnobotany in traditional medicine,
New development in herbals,
Bio-prospecting tools for drug discovery,
Role of Ethnopharmacology in drug evaluation,
Reverse Pharmacology.
The Art Pastor's Guide to Sabbath | Steve ThomasonSteve Thomason
What is the purpose of the Sabbath Law in the Torah. It is interesting to compare how the context of the law shifts from Exodus to Deuteronomy. Who gets to rest, and why?
We all have good and bad thoughts from time to time and situation to situation. We are bombarded daily with spiraling thoughts(both negative and positive) creating all-consuming feel , making us difficult to manage with associated suffering. Good thoughts are like our Mob Signal (Positive thought) amidst noise(negative thought) in the atmosphere. Negative thoughts like noise outweigh positive thoughts. These thoughts often create unwanted confusion, trouble, stress and frustration in our mind as well as chaos in our physical world. Negative thoughts are also known as “distorted thinking”.
Students, digital devices and success - Andreas Schleicher - 27 May 2024..pptxEduSkills OECD
Andreas Schleicher presents at the OECD webinar ‘Digital devices in schools: detrimental distraction or secret to success?’ on 27 May 2024. The presentation was based on findings from PISA 2022 results and the webinar helped launch the PISA in Focus ‘Managing screen time: How to protect and equip students against distraction’ https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/managing-screen-time_7c225af4-en and the OECD Education Policy Perspective ‘Students, digital devices and success’ can be found here - https://oe.cd/il/5yV
2. 2
Case Study
Colleges and Projects
Barnsley College Cloud Computing Hub Core, Hub Metro, Hub Mobile
Blackburn College Blackburn College Virtual Desktop Service
Grimsby Institute GIFHE Zone
Leeds City College Classroom in the Cloud – Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
North East Worcestershire College Using Software as service to deliver cloud based email and
office tools
Oxford and Cherwell College Video Production and Editing for Flipped Classroom Online
South Devon College Cloud Access and backup
Warrington Collegiate Institute
Summary
This set of applications based projects includes a wide range of learner and teacher focused applications
and different Cloud related approaches.
These applications include; making software and communication/collaboration tools available across
colleges, to mobile learners and learners at home, making software widely available to those with
learning difficulties, making self-directed learning videos available to vocational students and making
college software available at remote college locations. The different Cloud based approaches include
remote and college based Cloud servers linked with virtual desk top structures, use of Google apps, docs
and mail for education, including Chromebook, Microsoft 365, and the Kaltura open source online video
platform used in the Cloud.
Key Drivers
■ Software licence costs.
■ Potential of collaboration.
■ Limitations on server capacity.
■ Constraints to learning
approaches.
■ Limitations of buildings,
Limitations of bandwidth and
room utilisation issues and
student software costs.
■ Need to integrate information
systems.
Intended Beneficiaries
■ Learner.
■ Prospective learners.
■ Partners.
■ Staff.
3. 3
Case Study
Impact to date and anticipated
The impact of these projects includes increased accessibility to applications software by learners and
staff within college, at home and on mobile devices. This increased flexibility is enabling efficiencies in
learning and support. In one project learners are able to access some specific software for those with
learning difficulties at any time or place. Another project enables students in Hospitality and Hair and
Beauty to engage in self- directed learning from videos on how to practice their vocation. A number of
projects enable learners to use their own devices both in and out of college. Some of these projects enable
collaborative working through document sharing.
Barnsley College: “By bringing this project into the College and making available externally, it will offer
Staff / Students a mechanism of sharing, developing of information and communication tools previously
unavailable within the College. The College have developed an understanding of how we can use and
develop the collaborative aspects of the social and group spaces that Cloud Computing and this project
will bring. This project will have the most impact in September 2013 when all of the new Students return
and will heavily use the system and resources, the project needs to fully test and stress test the system to
ensure that it will meet the needs of our Staff and Students”.
Blackburn College: “Blackburn College has designed and created a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
which allows students to access the MindView software anytime, anywhere without the need for a
laptop. The software supports students, particularly those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities
to brain storm ideas enabling them to structure their essay plans using diagrams, words or images. This
method of studying can also be beneficial to any students so we aim to extend the service beyond the
initial pilot and promote it so that any Blackburn College student can access it. In addition College staff
can now access internal software such as Microsoft Office and SPSS externally to the College. Session
based desktops are also available which enables software to be accessed via the student network in
classroom settings. Over the next year, the College will look at any additional software packages which
can be included in the VDI service”.
Grimsby Institute: “As part of our ILT and IT strategies we have identified the need to support the
bringing of learners’ own technologies into our College network environment. This has generally been
through the provision of internet access on their devices. Taking this a step further we are now going to
provide access to full College resources on their device or home PC via a 'Cloud' desktop infrastructure.
This would allow the same experience on these devices as College owned devices, and supplement
considerably on the VLE which gives access to learning materials to radically enrich the learner access
and control. It would give access to the full ‘College’ experience from home or mobile devices.
Student experience has generally been positive”.
Leeds City College: ”IBM Virtual Desktop Infrastructure has been delivered to a trial group of staff and
students, allowing access to desktop resources and applications from a range of mobile devices. Leeds
City College students are now gaining a rich mobile learning experience gaining a technologically
immersive experience using both College and their own devices, interacting during a lesson in a
controlled environment. Global accessibility, allowing learning on demand -accessing college systems
and software when and where they choose on any web enabled device”.
4. 4
Case Study
North East Worcestershire College: “A key feature is Single sign on to allow access to Google and all web
based resources. This is currently in pilot. Staff and students have reported ease of access to files and
ease of sharing with others. Students use features such as forms for research tasks”.
Oxford and Cherwell College: “The Kaltura open source online video platform was installed and
configured to OCVC platforms. Presentations were given to prospective curriculum areas to pilot the
project with their students. Pilots were run in Hair Beauty and Hospitality. Students engaged well
with video content for learning and flipped learning and good practice was identified. The Platform
allowed control and a managed environment for specific selection of video sharing and keeping students
focused on tasks. Peer-to-peer learning was taking place and students collaborating on techniques and
experiences. Demonstrations were arranged to re-enforce effective methods of engaging, motivating and
supporting student progression”.
South Devon College: “The project delivers applications, resources, data storage andcommunication to
remote locations to enable staff and learners. It also enabled back up for disaster recovery purposes of
some of our critical servers. We have allowed all of our staff and students at our seven remote sites to
access all the software and resources, to enable them to complete their studies. The staff and learners
have remote access to software and resources which they have never had and they are finding this
invaluable to the curriculum.”
Supplier engagement experiences
Some projects experienced very productive supplier experiences. JISC has proved helpful in informing
supplier selection. Some colleges used their own services rather than an external supplier. Others
were naturally limited in their supplier choice by the specialist nature of their project. Renegotiating
bandwidth provision within a context of supplier constraints proved to be a challenge. There are some
valuable hints and tips that have emerged for dealing with suppliers.
Blackburn College: “The College consulted with a number of suppliers but found their services
to be expensive and lacked the flexibility to support our project and current college systems and
infrastructure. It was decided that in order to gain the most value from this project, it should be designed
in house using the expertise of the Colleges’ Computer Services team”.
Leeds City College: “We have had an extremely positive experience in selecting IBM as a key technology
partner. No issues were identified - both Leeds City College and IBM worked together to deliver the
cloud solution”.
North East Worcestershire College: “There were issues finding a reliable and reputable provider to work
with. Using the JISC Community of practice - helped find a supplier based on recommendations and real
life project work completed”.
Oxford and Cherwell College: “Identifying the Cloud provider was fairly straight forward as we were
looking for video production in the Cloud, so the search was specific. There were a lot of companies
that could provide the platform but not the cloud facility, but that was identified early in discussions.
Suppliers are very forthcoming with information but I have learnt about the 'sales' pitch. The larger
5. 5
Case Study
companies will definitely promise all functionality, but when the account is passed over to the account
manager you realise that certain aspects are still in development. It is important to see the functionality
before purchase, question all scenarios and ask for demonstrations and to also see the platform in use at
other providers”.
South Devon College: “We used long standing contacts with years of IT experience to recommend cloud
service suppliers and having met several, the decision and implementation was very simple. Contacting
them to report issues has been simple”.
Warrington Collegiate Institute: ”We struggled to get our broadband service provider to provide our
upgraded internet bandwidth”.
Technical and Security Challenges
Barnsley College: “There were no major issues but getting the data from all the data streams proved to
be difficult at times - contacting all suppliers asking them to provide access and code as required”.
Blackburn College: ”Remote Desktop services have many components and proved complex to configure
to our environment. As the system was designed in house we were able to create a bespoke system
which integrated with our current infrastructure”.
Grimsby Institute: “The only real risk we had was the worry that a full cloud desktop may just not work
in a real environment. This risk was mitigated by having a backup plan - of putting back into the FE
Learning Centres the 50 full PCs that we were replacing with cloud technology. Thankfully the project
has worked really well and will be the backbone for future roll-outs within the group”.
Leeds City College: “One technical challenge was identified in creating the virtual desktop environment
and integrating to the college networks, however this was solved pretty quickly”.
Oxford and Cherwell College: ”LDAP authentication caused issues as we had not anticipated that
this caused delays with implementation. Application of the service certificate through JANET delayed
the implementation. Use of devices - we had planned to use iPads but then found the platform didn't
support uploads, although you could view the video. We now have the code to install this so that this
feature works”.
Change Management experience
The main themes emerging here are the need for well -planned training for staff and students, selling
the benefits of the technology to gain buy in and the use of pilot groups to share findings and inform
training,
In one project change management was informed by the needs of learners as a driver for change against
the background of a reluctant IT department.
6. 6
Case Study
Blackburn College: “The response to the VDI has been positive across the College and following the
pilot it is our intention to showcase the service and encourage feedback from staff and students on what
software would support their work and studies. Staff development sessions will also be held to support
staff in the use of the service and its further development”.
North East Worcestershire College: “Staff were initially wary of using a cloud based service to host files
and were worried about issues of access - could they get them all the time etc? Initially we did Google
apps training as one thing but found we had to break down each individual element and work on
supporting staff on each element of the app family”.
Oxford and Cherwell College: “With a view to technological advances, it was recognised that we needed
to move with requirements of 24/7 access. Students’ priorities to learn are drivers of change, and with
this in mind the decisions to move to Cloud provision was needed. The IT team were the most reluctant
to change and needed to be convinced of the need to move services with greater accessibility. Although
data security is still very important, IT Services need to recognise that the Cloud facilities are essential
for change”.
South Devon College: “To update software we have done these during half term so as not disrupt
teaching”.
Return on investment
Some colleges have stated that it is too early to identify savings. Others have identified significant
specific and general savings from server, licence and internal application costs. Other savings are
identified in saving teaching and technical staff costs. General gains through technology-influenced
retention of learners are also cited.
Barnsley College: “It is too early to provide hard facts in the cost saving, but server and external hosting,
text messaging and other communicating systems costs will all be reduced or removed, and we will
evaluate and review requirements during 2013/14”.
Blackburn College: “The College estimates that through further investment the VDI service will save
the College £150,000 over 3 years. Students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are currently
loaned laptops to access MindView until they receive their Disabled Student Allowance. The laptops can
be loaned out up to 4 months each time and due to demand there is a waiting list. The current laptops
are of considerable age and are all due for replacement. The VDI service will enable students to access
MindView, without the need of a laptop, and therefore will save the College £25,000. In addition when
each laptop is returned it must be cleaned andreimaged in line with changes to core applications i.e.
windows, ant virus etc. This will save the College £1,058.40 in staff time. There are also operational
difficulties encountered in retrieving laptops and the costs incurred through non returned items
(approximately two laptops per year = £2,500) and the associated small claims procedures”.
7. 7
Case Study
Leeds City College: “If the College progresses with the solution across other departments, anticipated
savings of over £100,000 could be achieved with a reduction in hardware capital expenditure”.
North East Worcestershire College:” Reduction in server maintenance and overheads through
reduction in reliance on on-site storage and email servers potential reduction in printing costs through
collaboration tools (students using forms for surveys certainly have reduced the amount of printing
needed)”.
Oxford and Cherwell College: “Staff time - in re-designing the curriculum, staff have identified
the benefits of saving demonstration time, and using that time to 'teach' and test knowledge and
understanding”.
South Devon College: “No cost savings but more learners at remote centres have now got access to
software”.
Lessons Learned
Barnsley College: “We would have liked the project aligned with the launch of office 365 and ended in
September 2013”.
North East Worcestershire College: “We would have worked on understanding the training needs
required to fully grasp the tool sets and features available. Full roll out to everyone was ambitious, but
as more people make use of the tools, more are moving towards the platform”.
Oxford and Cherwell College: ”We would have Identified the compatibility of the platform to current
college platforms. We would have ensured that all functionality of the system, promised by the sales
team, is operational”