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St. John’s School Brings Multimedia Workstations to Every Classroom

Challenge

The K-12 private school sought to expand computer access for teachers and students with workstations in every classroom, however, the limited computing infrastructure already in place was unreliable, difficult to maintain and not very scalable.

Solution

With NComputing’s virtual computing solutions, the school invests in a single server or computer and shares its computing power to drive 14 to 20 Windows workstations, providing reliable access for teachers and students in labs and classrooms.

Results

St. John’s brought computer workstations – 90 total – to 100% of classrooms in just three months.
The school reduced software maintenance time by almost 80 percent.
With traditional PCs, St. John’s would have spent 70 percent more than with NComputing.

“The software installation time was reduced by 90%, which has allowed us to now use that time to provide support regarding the pedagogical use of technology and therefore provide an added value to both teachers and students.”

Nicolás Molina

Deployment architecture:

Terminals:

NComputing L300 series

Hosts:

Windows Multipoint Server 2011; Intel i7 de 3.2 GHz with 16MB RAM, 8TB HDD, GForce GT520 with 2GB; and Intel i3 de 3.1 GHz with 4 MB RAM, 500 GB HDD, GForce 8400 GS

OS virtual machines:

Windows

Peripherals:

Mice, keyboards, printers, digital whiteboards, pen drives, projectors

Applications:

Basic desktop applications, including an Internet browser, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Office 2007 Pro English and SchoolTrack v11x64.

Download

L300 tucked away behind the monitors

A private K-12 school in Concepción, Chile, St. John’s School focuses on preparing its 1,300 students to meet the demands of today’s high-tech, online world, with a vision of creating multimedia work spaces in every classroom. In addition to supporting learning with technology, the school seeks to better leverage computing resources to improve the efficiency of instructors.

Previously, desktop PCs were available only in computer labs and in 12 of the school’s 60 classrooms. While the rest of the classrooms had access to laptops that professors brought in, laptops were not a scalable, affordable solution going forward. A shortage of available computers and network access problems prevented teachers from registering attendance or grades in a timely manner or reliably integrating computers into classroom instruction.

“Heavy maintenance requirements of the existing equipment and the time we had to invest in maintaining it took away from the overall benefit of having computers, said Fernando Reyes, head of technology and computing.”

Up to 20 Work Stations from a Single Computer

Working with NComputing partner, Neting Multisistemas, St. John’s implemented NComputing L300 access devices and vSpace server software to increase the number of Windows workstations in classrooms. NComputing virtualizes desktops with thin client technology, and its end to end vSpace virtualization software delivers a better performing user experience than traditional thin client technology. It’s easier to implement and manage, and at a significanty lower cost.

With the NComputing solution, the school runs anywhere from 14 to 20 Windows workstations using a single server or computer. The school’s investment in shared computing hardware and NComputing thin client devices allows it to bring access to many more students and teachers for significantly less cost, maintenance time and resources.

St. John’s School implemented 90 L300 units, giving the school 90 workstations and coverage across all classrooms and labs. Teachers now have reliable computer access for recording attendance and grades, as well as to support learning. With more workstations in classrooms, the school began a Curricular Technology Integration Plan where teachers plan lessons using technology and students using computers to complete the lessons.

100% Classroom Coverage

In just three months, St. John’s School was able to bring computer access to 100 percent of its classrooms, realizing the goal of multimedia workstations in all instructional rooms. With a lower wireless network load, NComputing provides greater network availability, allowing teachers and students to get online when they need to. Data in the school management system stays more up to date.

“Everything is faster with the NComputing solution in place – taking attendance, emailing, dealing with paperwork and administrative needs,” said Constanza Lermanda, head teacher of second grade. “I can check parents’ emails while still at school instead of at home. The idea of having a blog for our students would not have worked without the terminals. Finding activities for the lab session became much easier.... Just Google it! And finally...‘Miss, I brought this slide presentation about cars to share?’ Just connect the projector and there you go! Happy students are sharing what they like with their classmates.”

Most impressively, the school expanded computer access in an efficient way and at a lower cost. “We reduced our software maintenance time by almost 80 percent, and if we had chosen traditional PCs for Windows workstations, we would have spent 70 percent more,” Reyes said.