“One of the best benefits of the Medhurst Dashboard is that we can gain access to school software applications from a multitude of devices including iPads and other mobile devices, so students and staff are able to log into school resources at anytime and from any device to catch up with work.”
Keith Mahon, ICT Project Manager, Queens’ School
Customer Profile
Queens’ School is a high performing school with over 1650 students and a specialist staff of 110 teachers, together with many support staff including a team of technicians and specialists in science and technology. The school is committed to developing the full potential of all students and provides a caring, safe and challenging environment for learning, which incorporates the use of new technology. In September 2012, Queens’ School installed Medhurst’s Cloud Dashboard solution to offer all staff and pupils easy, flexible and secure access to school software applications across a large range of desktop and mobile devices.
Customer Needs
Like many schools, Queens’ School faced challenges in being able to safely and securely access school technology resources out of normal school hours and on mobile or remote devices. The school had used several VLEs in the past but they had been unsuccessful and not cost effective. The staff needed a solution where they could access SIMS remotely, as well as their personal and shared network drives.
Additionally students needed access to software applications that they might not have at home, as well as their personal and shared network drives. Keith Mahon, ICT Project Manager at Queens’ School explained, “Teachers were not able to monitor work being done at home or check pupil’s progress effectively. We used pen drives, VLEs and email, but it often crashed. We needed to find a more efficient and secure way to access the school’s applications remotely and of course it needed to be cost effective.”
Solution
Queens’ school chose Medhurst’s Cloud Dashboard, a secure, private cloud solution for education users, compatible with any device. The Dashboard enables schools to deliver their software applications to all students and staff whether on or offsite, to a large range of devices, both desktop and mobile.
With a simple set up, school administrators can determine what applications each user is allowed to use, eliminating the need for management of multiple end-point devices and no installation or configuration. The system can be configured to allow users to upload and download files to and from the school and even print school documents to your home printer without any installation of drivers or software
Results
Now, staff and pupils simply sign into Queen’s School login on the Dashboard from any device to access their own files and resources. Pupils are now able to log into school resources at any time and on any device, to easily stay up to date on projects, collaborative work and even gain access to work on snow days. Staff and pupils can also now gain access to the software applications that they don’t have at home such as SIMS, DataSec, Corero for staff use and 2D Design, Real Games Factory, Flowol and Active Teach Business Studies applications for students.
Staff are able to complete reports, plan lessons and give feedback on student’s work wherever and whenever they want. If pupils miss lessons due to sports trips or illness, teachers can deliver work and lesson resources remotely through the Dashboard and the pupil can pick them up in their own time.
Keith Mahon concludes,
“The pupils now always have access to the necessary resources to help them with their learning or the next piece of work they are doing. We can also help pupils at home, making it much easier to offer assistance with course work and even print school documents to their home printers without any installation of drivers or software. The Medhurst Dashboard is very simple to use, delivering everything we need on a range of devices and offers great value for money.”