2 page Case Study - Posted 6/2/2008
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School District Enhances Learning and Saves on IT Costs with Latest Operating System
Tri-Center Community Schools educates 900 K–12 students on one campus in southwest Iowa. By upgrading its computers to the Windows Vista® operating system, the district provided teachers with state-of-the-art multimedia capabilities for creating more engaging learning experiences that better prepare students for college and work. Deploying Windows Vista also has helped to reduce desktop deployment, management, and support time.
Business Needs
Located on a 40-acre campus on Interstate 680 between the rolling fields of southwest Iowa, the Tri-Center Community School District’s elementary, middle, and high schools have 900 students and more than 100 faculty and staff. Tri-Center has the reputation of being one of the finest school districts in southwest Iowa, as demonstrated by its above average test scores and 100 percent graduation rate.
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Our projection system and the enhanced multimedia capabilities in Windows Vista Business allow our teachers to tap into almost limitless streaming video … to present lessons in a more engaging format.  |
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Brett Nanninga
Superintendent
Tri-Center Community School District |
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Tri-Center students succeed because of their strong engagement in the learning process, which is facilitated by innovative educational programs, state-of-the-art technology, and a dedicated faculty, staff, and administration. The Tri-Center campus is fully computer networked, and each classroom is equipped with telecommunications and projection systems, Internet access, and a satellite link.
District officials believe it is imperative that students have access to the latest technology to prepare them for the future. “Our first priority is to prepare our kids for their next step after high school,” says Brett Nanninga, Superintendent of the Tri-Center Community School District. “To stay progressive, we’re constantly upgrading both hardware and software, as budget allows.”
In all, the campus has 350 computers and 75 thin client devices. Each classroom has two or three workstations. Computer labs are equipped with workstations or with mobile notebook carts that move from classroom to classroom.
By late 2006, the Tri-Center computer labs and classrooms were running a mix of the Windows® 2000 Professional and Windows XP Professional operating systems. When the Windows Vista® operating system became available, the school district started testing Windows Vista Business to learn how the software’s multimedia capabilities could enhance the learning experience for students.
Solution
Heartland Technology Solutions, a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, acts as the school district’s IT department, providing planning, deployment, and support services. To expedite testing, Heartland arranged for Tri-Center to evaluate Windows Vista Business at the Microsoft Enterprise Engineering Center (EEC) in Redmond, Washington, in January 2007. “We tested all of our applications with Windows Vista Business in the Microsoft lab to identify any adjustments that needed to be made,” Nanninga says.
Approximately 24 applications were tested, including applications used by students—such as STAR Reading and STAR Math—and those used by the administration. Of the applications tested, approximately 90 percent were fully compatible. “For those that didn’t work, the Microsoft development team worked with us to identify why and helped us craft a solution to make them work,” says Arlin Sorenson, co-owner of Heartland Technology Solutions. “In the end, almost all the applications were able to run on Windows Vista with a little tweaking.”
After the testing phase, Heartland Technology Solutions rolled out Windows Vista Business to two high school mobile labs with 20 notebook computers each. Before installing the operating system, the technicians wiped the hard disk drives clean and upgraded computer memory where necessary. Then, using the Microsoft Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment (BDD), they installed Windows Vista Business across their remaining targeted desktops. BDD provides proven tools and practices to expedite Windows Vista deployment.
“We did a light-touch installation and used the BDD tool to boot the disk and download Windows Vista Business from the network to the client computer,” says Jim Voge, a Microsoft Certified Engineer at Heartland Technology Solutions. “It took about three hours per cart of 20 computers to install Windows Vista, compared to a couple hours per machine to install Windows XP.” Heartand used the Advanced Group Policy settings in Windows Vista Business to lock down the desktops to prevent students from downloading malicious software or changing system settings.
As of May 2008, Heartland had installed Windows Vista Business to 210 workstations and notebook computers at Tri-Center schools. The school district will gradually replace its remaining 140 computers with new hardware that runs Windows Vista.
Benefits
By deploying Windows Vista, Tri-Center Community Schools is gaining benefits for students and faculty, and saving on IT costs. These benefits include:
- Enhanced lesson presentation. “Kids learn differently now, and they need things that are colorful and quick—that they can see and hear,” says Nanninga. “Our projection system and the enhanced multimedia capabilities in Windows Vista Business, including Windows Movie Maker and the Windows Aero® user experience, help our teachers tap into almost limitless streaming video and other Web content to present lessons in a more engaging format.”
- Better prepared students. Tri-Center students use Instant Search, Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Aero to enhance their classroom learning experience and prepare for what they’ll encounter after finishing high school. “The software that our students are using here is the same as what they’ll see as they enter college or the workplace, so they’re not overwhelmed by anything that they step into next,” says Nanninga.
- Expedited deployment. Using the BDD tool and the light-touch installation process, Heartland reduced deployment time from more than 20 hours with Windows XP, to about three hours with Windows Vista.
- Reduced management and support costs. With new built-in automatic diagnostics, enhanced remote assistance, and an improved performance console in Windows Vista Business, Heartland can handle many desktop management tasks remotely. “With Windows Vista Business, having Heartland staff onsite is not as critical as being able to access them remotely,” says Nanninga. “Now, every issue that comes up flows directly from us to their service department, so desktop management is much more efficient.”
Since deploying Windows Vista Business, the school district’s management and support costs have remained constant, while the number of end users and computers on its network has grown by 15 to 20 percent. This represents a significant cost savings to the district.
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published June 2008
