The wave of the bring your own device (BYOD) craze has hit workplaces as well as educational institutions across the globe. Both teachers and students are using connected devices for resources as well as for quick sharing of knowledge. Under this backdrop, authorities are in need for solutions that would support their BYOD policy, but without compromising speed and security. To this end, Nord Anglia Education, an organization that operates 14 international schools throughout Asia, Europe and the Middle East, has made a major investment in Xirrus Wireless Arrays along with the Xirrus Management System.
The high-performance Xirrus Wireless Arrays were deployed across the organization’s European schools. Later this year, Asian schools will be provided with the same facility, a news statement revealed.
The investment is expected to provide the schools that typically have high user density with a coverage that is four times higher and bandwidth that is eight times higher than before. This enhanced connectivity will enable teachers to access online resources in real-time and deliver more dynamic lessons, improving the overall quality of teaching.
The deployment reportedly allowed Nord Anglia Education to launch mobile applications and the virtual learning platform, Moodle. This futuristic platform allows teachers to post interactive video and picture content online and also helps save time by allowing the teachers to post homework on a central repository, where homework can be uploaded by the students.
“Many of our 10,000 students and 3,000 staff use their own laptops, tablets and smartphones whilst at school to access the growing volume of online educational tools. It is also becoming common practice for teachers to stream or download content in the classroom, leading to an increased demand for Wi-Fi coverage,” said Bartlomeij Cezak, regional IT director for Europe at Nord Anglia Education, in a statement.
Xirrus Wireless Arrays are not only known for their unique architecture but also for their attractive pricing. While the architecture enables the customers to future-proof their investment, the reasonable pricing helps the institutions obtain world class wireless network at a modest budget.
Nord Anglia, which places paramount importance on the online safety of students, says that content filtering capability was one of the prime reasons for its selection of Xirrus.
Xirrus Wireless Arrays comes with content filtering support, which has been a prime factor behind selection of Xirrus and for Nord Anglia.
In order to leverage the benefits of high capacity wireless arrays, Nord Anglia Education plans to launch a wireless Student Management System application in 2013. The system will give the teachers and staff quick access to student information, attendance records, medical history and contact information for each student on their mobile device.
“This deployment is a great example of how schools are innovating to accommodate the BYOD trend and provide better learning experiences for students. We look forward to supporting Nord Anglia Education as it continues to use wireless in exciting ways to engage students and continue delivering strong final year results,” noted Sean Larner, VP of International Sales, Xirrus.
“Xirrus was the obvious choice for us as they were able to offer the best in class for a wireless solution at a reasonable cost. Using Xirrus also allows us to future-proof our investment. Its arrays are designed to support the new 802.11ac standard, which will be certified next year and so if we want to upgrade, we can add or swap 802.11ac modules into the existing chassis. A key selling point for me was to ensure that our wireless network evolves alongside new wireless standards,” said David Kibble, group IT director at Nord Anglia Education.
In partnership with Euclid, Xirrus is offering Visitor Analytics to venue operators at convention centers, malls and other venues. Xirrus reportedly started this new service to help venue owners measure and optimize their marketing and operations, improve guest satisfaction and more effectively monetize advertising and leasing opportunities.
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Edited by Rachel Ramsey