Customer Solution Case Study
/ / IndependentBoarding School Moves to 21st Century with Network and Wireless Solution
Overview
Country:U.K.
Industry:Education
Customer Profile
AbbotsholmeSchool, with 280 pupils, is an independent boarding school located in Staffordshire, England with small class sizes and a high academic reputation.
Business Situation
The school wanted to implement a modernised Internet communications technology (ICT) network for the entire school community as well as seamless wireless connectivity for both students and staff.
Solution
Abbotsholme decided to integrate its two disparate administrative and teaching systems. It is using Microsoft® Windows ServerTM 2003, part of Microsoft Windows Server System™ integrated server software, with Active Directory® directory service.
Benefits
Delivers 21st century ICT system
Improves ICT learning outcomes
Students can access MSN® anytime
Reduces teachers administration burden
Boosts school marketing valueproposition.
Anytime access to educational aids / “The new network supported by Windows Server 2003 has reduced the administrative burden on teachers and encouraged them to remodel their workflow. The thirst for knowledge about ICT among the students is also palpable. Our pupils are much more proficient in using ICT and teachers are also pleased with the flexibility of the new system.”
John Downes, Bursar, AbbotsholmeSchool
AbbotsholmeSchool, an independent boarding school in the United Kingdom, needed a new network infrastructure andseamless wireless connectivity for students and staff.It also wanted to position the school at the leading edge of Internet communications technology (ICT) teaching and learning by giving teachers and pupils anytime access to educational aids. Senior Internet was commissionedto take ownership of the project for the school, identify key reliable suppliers, and negotiate agreements. Working with Polestar Interactive, a Microsoft® Certified Partner, the school implementedActive Directory® directory service with Microsoft Windows ServerTM 2003. The new network has reduced the administrative burden on teachers by encouraging them to remodeltheir workflow. The enthusiasm for ICT among the students is now also palpable with flexible access to learning materials.
Situation
AbbotsholmeSchool, an independent boarding school with 280 pupils, lies in a rural estate of some 140 acres inStaffordshire, England. Co-educational since 1969, the school is Christian, but non-denominational. Class sizes aredeliberately small and academic standards remain high, with the majority of students going to their first-choice university.
In 2003, Abbotsholme embarked on a strategic development plan to modernise its Internet communications technology (ICT).The school initially contacted Senior Internet, a specialist ICT solutions provider, for help with developing its web site,but the project soon expanded in scope.
Senior Internet concluded that Abbotsholme needed a new network infrastructure capable of delivering Gigabit Ethernet to thedesktop across the entire school community plus seamless wireless connectivity for students and staff. Jon McLachlan, ICTConsultant, Senior Internet, was tasked with project managing the implementation and representing the school’s interests.
Abbotsholme originally had two ICT suites, one set up by software vendor Research Machines (RM) and another, wholly funded bythe school. John Downes, Bursar, AbbotsholmeSchool, says: “Both were managed and supported by different companies, as wellas by ourselves, which meant that a great deal of time and money was spent maintaining incompatible systems.
“In isolation these systems did not provide anything other than the single purpose for which they were constructed. There wasno scope for providing ICT access across the whole campus as the two suites were physically separate and in different partsof the school.”
The impact on the pupils was a major challenge for Polestar Interactive, a Microsoft® Certified Partner, brought in by SeniorInternet to manage implementation of a new network. Julian Smith, Managing Director, Polestar, says: “Pupils had access tomachines that only worked half the time in the ICT rooms and had to go into those rooms at certain times of the day to usefacilities that didn’t work very well. Printing often failed to work. All the first three years in the school had the sameuser name and passwords and lacked any dedicated e-mail address or storage area on the servers. Because there wasn’t space,the pupils used floppy disks with all the attendant risks.”
As an inclusive school, Abbotsholme wanted to provide resources for its overseas boarders to communicate safely andfrequently with their families and friends. And as with any change management process, the Bursar needed to manage userexpectation and deliver training for ‘reluctant users’ of the new system.He also wanted to ensure that all students gainedsecure access to the network, not just those who provided their own laptops.
However, given pressures on the school budgets, value for money and return on investment (ROI) were important considerationsfor the governing body. From a marketing perspective, Abbotsholme was interested in positioning the school at the leadingedge of ICT teaching and learning.
Another challenge was to roll out the project incrementally to manage the impact on capital expenditure and minimise anypossible disruption to teachers and students. The Bursar says: “In commissioning a new network we needed a solution thatwould last 10 or more years that would give us a good ROI.”
Solution
AbbotsholmeSchool first built a redundant and flexible Gigabit network backbone that could link the principal administrativeand curriculum systems using copper and fibre switching technology. The Bursar says: “We considered technology offerings fromother vendors, but we opted for Microsoft on the basis of price, interoperability, ease of use, and reliability.”
Traditionally, schools have run separate networks to separate the administrative network from the curriculum network.Abbotsholme was no exception. The pupils used an RM-based network with Microsoft Windows NT® Server version 4.0 operatingsystem.
Smith says: “RM networks are more expensive due to proprietary software. Moving to Active Directory® directory service withMicrosoft Windows ServerTM 2003, part of Microsoft Windows Server SystemTM integrated server software, offered us enormousnew functionality. With Active Directory, administrators can, for example, lock down the desktop and manage the userexperiences with group policies.”
Abbotsholme is also using Microsoft Windows® XP Professional operating system, Microsoft SQL ServerTM 2000, Microsoft ExchangeServer 2003 communication and collaboration server, Microsoft Windows® XP Tablet PC Edition, and Microsoft Office XP 2003.
From a technical standpoint, Abbotsholme now has a large network with two user groups that never meet – staff who reside onthe administration network and students who reside on the curriculum network. The curriculum network extends throughout thecampus and is completely open to authenticated users. Staff access the logical administrative network by using routingtechnology from either desktops or laptops.
But the solution was not just designed to tackle security and make the desktop and laptop estate easier to manage.Abbotsholme wanted to make its teaching and learning more flexible with educational aids available online anytime instead ofjust during school hours.
Smith says: “The solution we offered lay in wireless networking and Internet Authentication Service (IAS), the Microsoftimplementation of a remote authentication dial-in user service (RADIUS) server and proxy. We deployed wi-fi protected access(WPA) throughout the school with the only additional cost being for Windows Server 2003 and Cisco Aironet hardware.”
In the summer of 2004, several hundred student accounts were migrated from Windows NT Server version 4.0 to Windows Server 2003 usingActive Directory Migration Toolkit, without any disruption to curriculum time. Additional flexibility and added security wasdelivered by using Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server (ISA) 2000.
Smith says: “Once pupils have logged on to the network, ISA Server 2000 filters and monitors all Internet access, ensuringthat usage polices are enforced. We have also created a single sign-on solution to any network resources or device for eachpupil or teacher for their entire school careers.”
Abbotsholme are delighted at the ease with which Microsoft technology integrated with hardware and software from othervendors including Cisco, 3Com and IntY hardware for the physical infrastructure, N2H2 content filtering for the Web, andSophos anti-virus software.
Benefits
AbbotsholmeSchool Enters the 21st Century of ICT
By implementing the new network for 330 users including around 50 staff, Abbotsholme is entering the 21st century of ICT. TheBursar says: “We’ve leapt forward a century in terms of ICT.This is in line with our ethos as an inclusive school, whichseeks to identify the diversity of talent embodied in each child.
“We now have the building blocks for embracing all new trends in ICT, but the real winners are the students, teachers,parents, and the school itself as a business.”
Students Have More Contact with Family and Friends
The Bursar quotes an example of how the boarding school’s students will benefit socially as well as educationally. He says:“E-mail has helped us to improve our communications and we now offer a viable e-mail option to all our students through asystem that offers the equivalent to Yahoo or Hotmail, but without the risk.”
Smith adds: “Some of the students have asked for Microsoft Instant Messaging to be installed so that pupils from, forexample, Japan can speak to their parents in Japan while they are in their dormitories using the wireless network to accessthe internet, which is a nice thing for them to be able to do as the IT computer suites are locked at night.”
McLachlan says: “The application of the technologies that have been selected have allowed the school to benefit from theirinnovative use; students and staff now experience daily the advantages and enhancements that ICT can deliver to education.”
Abbottsholme student Adrian Lauh, whose family live in Japan, certainly agrees with this. “Having the Internet availablethroughout the day means I can speak to my friends and family at a time that suits everyone,” he says. “I simply log onto theInternet from my laptop after lessons and can then chat using Microsoft MSN® network of Internet services. I now don’t haveto worry about someone letting me into a classroom late in the evening, which is when my friends back home go online.”
Teaching and Learning Outcomes Improve
Before the construction of the new network students could only access educational aids during the hours that the ICT suiteswere open. Teachers were also restricted to working hours and could not easily access their desktop files from home.
The Bursar says: “The new network supported by Windows Server 2003 has reduced the administrative burden on teachers andencouraged them to remodel their workflow. The thirst for knowledge about ICT among the students is also palpable. Our pupilsare much more proficient in using ICT and teachers are also pleased with the flexibility of the new system. We are now movingtowards having a completely electronic and paperless curriculum.”
Abbotsholme is now a registered European computer driving licence (ECDL) test centre. The Bursar says: “By offering an ECDLcertificate, we increase the value of the training by offering transferable skills that are recognised by industries.Students can gain certification in a wide range of Microsoft technology and services.”
Rapid Return on Investment for School
The independent sector in education is highly competitive and until two years ago Abbotsholme was still in the Dark Ages asfar as ICT was concerned. It spent less than £10,000 (U.S.$18,100) a year on ICT.“To improve communications for our staff,pupils and parents we needed to get into the Space Age,” says Downes.
Abbotsholme has now increased its annual spending on ICT to between £60,000 (U.S.$108,600) and £80,000(U.S.$144,800). Nevertheless, the Bursar says the school needed to understand not only how to spend the budget wisely butalso to ensure it was investing wisely.
He adds: “We wanted to build a network that would last 10 or more years and which would repay that investment by aidingrecruitment of new pupils to the school to use our ICT educational resources.”
Microsoft Windows Server System
Microsoft Windows Server System is a comprehensive, integrated, and interoperable server infrastructure that helps reduce the complexity and costs of building, deploying, connecting, and operating agile business solutions. Windows Server System helps customers create new value for their business through the strategic use of their IT assets. With the Windows Server operating system as its foundation, Windows Server System delivers dependable infrastructure for data management and analysis; enterprise integration; customer, partner, and employee portals; business process automation; communications and collaboration; and core IT operations including security, deployment, and systems management. For more information about Windows Server System, go to: