2-page Partner Case Study - Posted 3/13/2009

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Winvision

Schools Find Cost-Effective Portal Solution That Fosters Individualized Learning

Winvision is a Dutch system integrator and independent software vendor that creates learning portals using the Microsoft® Learning Gateway and its own Winvision Digital Portfolio application. The combined solution helps schools deliver individualized learning and track student progress as they gain competencies. Because they can be extended with other Microsoft software, the portals are both comprehensive and cost-effective.

Business Needs

Today, schools and institutions of higher learning worldwide are using information and communications technology (ICT) to offer anytime, anywhere learning and to foster individual achievement. To support that effort, many schools in the Netherlands are seeking ways to make it easier for students to master required competencies—such as proficiency in report writing or specific mathematical skills. Some of these competencies are government-mandated; others are required by the school district.

Many schools tell us that using solutions based on the Microsoft Learning Gateway and the Winvision Digital Portfolio has reduced their administrative time and costs.  Remco Ploeg Senior Solution Consultant Winvision

With limited ICT budgets and staff, learning institutions are also always seeking ways to streamline their administration and management and reduce their costs.

Solution

To resolve these challenges, many schools and universities in the Netherlands have consulted Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner Winvision, which is a system integrator and independent software vendor. Winvision specializes in educational solutions that use the Microsoft Learning Gateway framework. Learning Gateway is based on Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007, Microsoft SQL Server® 2008 data management software, and the Windows Server® 2008 operating system. The Microsoft partner offers both hosted and on-site deployments.

Winvision extends the value of Learning Gateway–based solutions with the Winvision Digital Portfolio. This application provides for individualized learning using a learning portal that is customized for each school for both the mastery and assessment of competencies.

Teachers help students create personalized development plans using the Winvision Digital Portfolio. Students then pursue learning activities that help them achieve specific competencies. Every student has a portfolio, or folder, on the school’s SharePoint site, where he or she can post assignments. The teacher then grades the assignments and re-publishes them to the site. They can then be viewed by the student, his or her parents, and authorized school personnel. The SharePoint site serves as both a repository and a means to monitor and track the status of each student’s achievement.

Access to the site is highly secure. User identification and authentication is managed by the Active Directory® service, and Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006 serves as a firewall to help protect the school’s network from viruses and other threats.

The solutions that Winvision provides integrate with other Microsoft software, such as the 2007 Microsoft Office system and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, which Winvision routinely deploys. Winvision also uses Microsoft Identity Lifecycle Manager 2007 for integrated identity management. For one university, Winvision also deployed Microsoft Dynamics® CRM 4.0. The university employs it to track students from their initial inquiries through alumni status. It also uses the software to respond to inquiries from prospective students by automatically sending them an e-mail message with a school brochure as an attachment.

Benefits

More than 100,000 students and staff at 15 schools in the Netherlands have adopted the Winvision Digital Portfolio as part of their Learning Gateway solutions. These solutions have helped make it easier for students to achieve their competencies and for schools to administer and manage their learning portals in a highly cost-effective way.

• Supports individualized learning. With the Winvision offering, students can work on their competency plans anywhere they have a computer and an Internet connection. By using the presence feature of Office Communications Server 2007, they can see instantly if their teachers are available, so they can get answers to questions outside of school hours.

The solution can help all students achieve their potential. For example, a learning portal using the Winvision Digital Portfolio has been set up at REA College Nederland, a vocational institute for training students with physical disabilities. By using the learning portal, students get the training they need online, avoiding barriers to mobility.

• Provides efficiency and lower cost through centralization. With one place to view and monitor the achievement of competencies or track the progress of teachers and schools, efficiency is improved. “Many schools tell us that using solutions based on the Microsoft Learning Gateway and the Winvision Digital Portfolio has reduced their administrative time and costs,” says Remco Ploeg, Senior Solution Consultant, Winvision.
• Delivers savings with a Microsoft-based infrastructure. Because most users are already familiar with Microsoft products and their consistent appearance and operations, little training is required for the Learning Gateway–based solutions. With hosted solutions, Winvision handles the management, so schools do not even need to purchase hardware or software, which provides significant savings. And if the solution is deployed in-house, staff can manage the learning portal using the same tools that they use for the rest of their Microsoft-based infrastructure—which reduces time and administrative costs compared with other learning-portal solutions.

What’s more, institutions can add to their Learning Gateway solutions to get even more value. The university that added the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, for example, was able to accelerate the processing of student information, which saved it time and money. Ploeg sums it up well: “Other learning portal solutions are not as comprehensive and extensible as those based on Microsoft Learning Gateway.”

For more information about other Microsoft customer successes, please visit:
www.microsoft.com/casestudies

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published March 2009