Further and Higher Education Case Studies
Colleges and universities throughout EMEA are benefiting from Microsoft e-learning and IT solutions. Benefits include increasing staff productivity, sharing information online between students and teachers, and attracting new students. Take a look at our case studies to see how Microsoft technologies can support your aims and objectives for education.
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Add the power of portals to your e-learning strategy
United Kingdom
Kingston University Offers Students Enterprise-Class Tools Through New Portal Solution
Kingston University needed student and staff portals, including personalised workspaces for 22,000 users. Working with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Silversands, the university implemented the complete Microsoft collaboration environment. Students benefit from enterprise-class applications and from access to their e-mail messages and documents any time, anywhere.
United Kingdom
Leading University Saves £25,000-Plus Annually by Choosing the Right Identity Management Solution for Its Needs.
Working with Microsoft partner, Oxford Computer Group (Oxford), the University of the West of England implemented a solution based on Microsoft Identity Integration Server (MIIS) 2003, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, and Microsoft Windows 2000 Server. MIIS 2003 runs as a Windows service, and data is stored within a dedicated Microsoft SQL Server database. It will help the university comply with security standards such as BS7799. UWE also foresees savings of at least £25,000 annually in reduced administration and support costs, which will be reinvested into other IT projects.
France
Top Business School Deploys Key E-Learning Service in Under Six Months Using Leading-Edge Collaborative Tools.
INSEAD worked with Microsoft Consulting Services and Econocom to deploy a new e-learning platform based on Microsoft technology, including Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003.
Ireland
Irish college develops Learning Gateway. Gains Secure Access, Improved Competitiveness.
The National College of Ireland (NCI) is a nonprofit college based in Dublin, serving 5,500 students. The new Learning Gateway solution delivered by Ward Solutions, one of the first Microsoft® Gold Certified Security Partners in Ireland, has given NCI a competitive edge in the higher education market, by providing flexible and innovative mechanisms to support the college and learners at a time, place, and pace to suit their needs.
Israel
Israeli University Standardises on Web Content Tool Saving Development Time and Costs.
Ben-Gurion University (BGU) of the Negev is a major centre for teaching and research, with more than 17,000 students spread across 5 campuses. In the past, there were no university-wide standards or coordination for Web publishing. Departments used different tools and methods for publishing content, resulting in a wide variation in online presence. BGU used Microsoft® Content Management Server 2002 to implement a university-wide strategy, resulting in the publication of more content, saving time and money across the university, freeing up specialist resources, and improving the BGU Web presence.
United Kingdom
College Achieves ‘Holy Grail’ in Teaching by Personalising Education for Every Student.
Monkseaton Language College wanted new technology to link student records with other IT systems in the school and secure access to its servers from thousands of external users.
United Kingdom
U.K. College E-Learning Solution Enhances Services for Learners and Raises Achievement
Godalming College is ranked among the U.K.’s top-10 sixth-form colleges. Business Training Services at Godalming College support in the region of 1,500 adult enrolments annually. To further develop cutting-edge provision, it needed a managed learning environment (MLE) to better support its work-based courses. Godalming College turned to Civica Services to implement the Microsoft® Learning Gateway framework in order to improve services to learners.
Communication and collaboration at the heart of higher education
Spain
Spanish Business School Boosts Collaborative Learning with Portal Solution.
The IESE Business Management School of the University of Navarra in Spain wanted to offer students new ways of working in groups, and better methods of handling information flows. To fulfil this requirement, the school implemented Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003, which offers a powerful collaborative environment, integrating and consolidating the various work planning tools that users relied on previously.
Denmark
New Publishing Solution Puts Users Back in Control and Improves Efficiency.
EUCNord is the largest business and technical college in northern Denmark. They used Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server to meet a legal requirement for colleges to report and publish certain information in line with quality assurance measures enforced by the Ministry of Education. This includes publication of an institution’s quality management procedures and guidelines, and the provision of student performance data to the ministry.
Czech Republic
New Information Portal Brings Organized Instruction and Mutual Communication.
Czech Republic secondary machinery school SPS Na Trebesine replaced the students’ and employees’ unsatisfying information system with a centralized portal solution with simple user access. The system is built on the Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Portal Server 2003 technology that, together with products such as Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 communication and collaboration server and Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000, provides a unified information system for both the students and the teachers, along with controlled access to its services and to educational and informational content.
Italy
Note-Taking Technology Helps Teach Collaboration at Technical University in Italy.
Politecnico di Milano's focus on digital methods of collaboration can be seen in its experimentation with some of the most innovative technologies, such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003, which was used to create the document management environment for MIP—Politecnico's business school.
Russia
Technical University Delivers New Opportunities for Online Learning
Astrakhan State Technical University (ASTU) offers professional training programmes to 10,000 graduate and post-graduate students in Astrakhan, Russia. The university has developed online learning resources, but these could no longer meet their requirements—it was difficult to publish tests and learning materials or to monitor students' progress effectively. To address these issues, ASTU deployed the Microsoft® Learning Gateway.
Use IT to support research
United Kingdom
Analytical Tools Help Research Group Provide New Insight Into How Darwin Developed His Theory of Evolution.
An international research team based at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom has used the analytical capabilities of Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 to prove that one of the central tenets of Darwin’s theory of evolution is actually based on work by his mentor, J. S. Henslow. The Henslow Group examined fragile paper-based data collected more than 160 years ago and used the business intelligence (BI) capabilities of SQL Server 2005 to prove the importance of Henslow's work.
Slovakia
Consolidation and Modernization of IT Environment at a Slovakian University.
The Slovakian Department of Informatics of the Academy of the Armed Forces has begun the pilot project of consolidating various operating systems used for administration, teaching, and scientific activities, to facilitate the more-efficient exchange of information. Special emphasis was placed on application features and the future possibilities for applications running on Microsoft® Windows Server™ 2003 in the university's environment. The solution provided the option of expanding the system across the entire university, while maintaining access to existing resources and data—using internationally defined standards and protocols.
Ireland
Portal Unlocks Academic Knowledge Potential of Universities in Ireland.
The Conference of Heads of Irish Universities (CHIU) and InterTradeIreland sought to promote closer collaboration between industry and higher education. They therefore chose Microsoft Certified Partner j4b to develop the expertiseireland.com portal.
Accelerated learning, teaching, and administration
Finland
Finnish Polytechnic Issues Student IDs Faster with New Identity Management Solution.
Turku Polytechnic needed to cut the time taken to issue user IDs, passwords, and access rights to its student community. By using Microsoft Identity Integration Server (MIIS) 2003, user management information systems running in different technology environments can be centralised and automated. The polytechnic estimates MIIS 2003 will pay for itself within a year through savings on work time and greater efficiency.
Hungary
Budapest Business School Implements Online Entrance Exam to Give Results in Minutes.
As a result of joining the European in May 2004, demand for education in Hungary is soaring. As a result, the Faculty of Commerce, Catering, and Tourism received three times the number of applications than it has places for.
United Kingdom
Top College Accelerates Processes By 600 Per Cent Thanks to Integrated Systems Approach.
South Cheshire College recently received a record number of outstanding marks in its Ofsted report. The college is currently working with its technology partner, RM, to streamline its disparate data management systems. The solution integrates college systems, such as student records, with the RM Smart-Tools 3 Network Management system, which is based on Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Active Directory. Microsoft BizTalk Server 2000 is used to manage the enterprise application integration (EAI).
United Kingdom
New Web-Based System Reduces Administration and Enhances Learning at the University of Hull.
In 2004, building on its existing relationship with Microsoft, The University of Hull was asked to trial Microsoft Class Server 3.0—a solution historically used for students in lower grade levels rather than universities. In September 2004, Hull introduced the technology to 120 students studying the university's first-year programming module.
United Kingdom
Scottish University Cuts Deployment Times by Three Quarters with Management Solution
The University of Edinburgh is one of the top 10 universities in Europe. Students use specialist applications, plus online research tools and Microsoft® Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003 to write essays and coursework. The demand for computing services means a need to maintain more than 1,300 computers across a number of labs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To increase the speed of delivery of more than 30 applications to the 1,300 computers in the university's labs, Edinburgh chose Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 (SMS).
Secure your institution
United Kingdom
Top Marks for Microsoft at Cardonald College
Cardonald College chose to work with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Exactive to implement a new solution, Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2004 Enterprise Edition. The solution adds extra security, improves manageability, and integrates well with the rest of the College’s infrastructure. Because it has an intuitive user interface, the College can maintain it themselves using Exactive as backup.
Germany
Technische Universitaet Muenchen Chooses Microsoft Over Linux for Secure, High-Performance Computing.
In 2000, Walter Schottky Institute selected Microsoft Windows to replace its UNIX operating system to simplify systems management and provide new IT tools for students and lecturers.
Netherlands
Dutch University Lowers TCO and Maintenance by Migrating to the Microsoft Windows Server System.
TU Delft sought to support its scientific faculty and students with a top-level computing platform, while keeping maintenance and costs within bounds.
United Kingdom
College Migration to New IT Infrastructure Enhances Learning Experience for Students.
Burton College, based in Staffordshire, United Kingdom, needed to standardise its IT system and upgraded to Microsoft® Windows Server™ 2003, Enterprise Edition. This resulted in an improved standard of performance from its IT infrastructure.
Lebanon
Prestigious Middle East University Meets the Challenge of Managing Growth
The American University of Beirut (AUB) is one of the oldest modern universities in the Middle East. After a sharp rise in demand for IT services, Active Directory® was used to bring together key confidential data from financial, medical, and student information systems across disparate environments, while maintaining security. The technology has helped devolve system and management responsibilities to appropriate levels across AUB. Users benefit from more functionality, including seamless access to shared resources, plus single credentials to all services.
Slovenia
Slovenian School Increases Computer Security in the Classroom.
The Radenci High School for Hospitality and Tourism holds computer science classes, and also gives students access to shared computers in the library and student residences. Teaching staff were concerned that students were changing desktop settings and using instant messaging software during classes, causing confusion and diverting attention from study. The school used Shared Computer Toolkit for Microsoft® Windows® XP to standardise the school desktop, and improve security controls for shared computers.
Reduce licensing costs
Germany
Campus Agreement Reduces Licensing Costs by 75 per cent for Six German Colleges.
A consortium of colleges in Baden - Wûrttenburg, Germany is developing a licensing solution using the Microsoft Campus Agreement.
United Kingdom
Leading University Saves £25,000-Plus Annually by Choosing the Right Identity Management Solution for Its Needs.
Working with Microsoft partner, Oxford Computer Group (Oxford), the University of the West of England implemented a solution based on Microsoft Identity Integration Server (MIIS) 2003, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, and Microsoft Windows 2000 Server. It will help the university comply with security standards such as BS7799 and estimates savings of at least £25,000 annually in reduced administration and support costs, which will be reinvested into other IT projects.
Improve maintainance, billing, and return on investment (ROI)
Netherlands
Dutch Higher Education Provider Streamlines Information Collection with Enhanced Intranet
Hogeschool Utrecht, a higher education provider based in the Netherlands, uses information technology to monitor its academic and financial performance. To streamline operations and reduce costs, it deployed Microsoft Business Scorecard Manager 2005, which supports in-depth performance analysis, eliminates manual data entry, and provides authorised users with performance data on the existing intranet.
Finland
Finnish Business School Promotes Collaboration and Reduces Maintenance Costs.
Finland's largest university of economics, the Helsinki School of Economics (HSE) is investing in solutions to enhance communication and aid teamwork between students and teachers. In 2004, HSE migrated its entire IT infrastructure, including a UNIX mail server, to an environment based on the Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 communication and collaboration server and the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating system, both Microsoft Windows Server System integrated server software.
United Kingdom
University of Leeds Sees Return on Investment and Minimum Downtime by Migration to New Operating System.
The University of Leeds is among the most successful and popular universities in the United Kingdom. The university’s Information Systems Service (ISS) wanted to migrate its legacy Novell NetWare operating system to a scalable and more cost-effective infrastructure, but with minimum downtime to its students. The university enlisted the help of Quest Software, Microsoft ISV Partner of the year 2004, in migrating to Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 with Active Directory®.
United Kingdom
Smart Cambridge University Colleges Streamline Financial Operations.
The University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom has 31 colleges, which attract leading academics, students, and visitors from all over the world. In 2000, a change in the university’s accounting format prompted two colleges to re-examine the technology on which their finance operations were based. Both colleges chose to replace their cumbersome legacy systems with business management solution Microsoft® Dynamics™ GP. Microsoft Certified Partner, Business Insights Group, worked with the colleges to customise their solutions using its Student Billing add-on module.
Making access easier
Germany
Finnish Business School Promotes Collaboration and Reduces Maintenance Costs.
Finland's largest university of economics, the Helsinki School of Economics (HSE) is investing in solutions to enhance communication and aid teamwork between students and teachers. In 2004, HSE migrated its entire IT infrastructure, including a UNIX mail server, to an environment based on the Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 communication and collaboration server and the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating system, both Microsoft Windows Server System integrated server software.
Switzerland
Swiss University uses Microsoft Services for Unix 3.5 (SFU) software.
At the Swiss Canton of Vaud University of Engineering (EIVD), there are approximately 2,000 desktops and laptops running either Microsoft® Windows® or Linux operating systems, a situation which caused administrative and security problems and did not allow people working under Linux access to the university's system resources. Using free Microsoft Windows Services for Unix (SFU) version 3.5 software solved the problem and enabled the Linux computers to be integrated into the centralized Windows operating system.
United Kingdom
Wireless Solution Gives University Students and Teachers 24-Hour Access to Resources.
The University of Strathclyde in Scotland aims to make education available to all students and remove some of the boundaries often associated with campus education. The success of a number of wireless projects prompted the university to consolidate its central e-mail systems and information portal into a new service that students and staff could access from anywhere in the world, from any device.
United Kingdom
College of North East London Implements Portal Solution for Teaching and Learning with 12,800 Users.
The College of North East London (CONEL) wanted to use a portal solution to create a virtual environment for teaching and learning for its 12,000 students and 800 staff.
United Kingdom
Leading Educational Establishment Invests in Future by Implementing Modern IT Infrastructure.
A merger at Sussex Downs College presented an opportunity to consolidate and upgrade the IT infrastructure across three sites. Two of the sites used Novell technologies and the other infrastructure was based on Microsoft® technologies. It chose to consolidate onto Microsoft because of greater support and enhanced communications. This also led to reduced support costs, integrated applications, and the use of up-to-date IT tools for students and teachers.
Russia
Educational Institution Expands Teaching Network with New Technology Solution
The International Management Institute of St. Petersburg, in Russia, is a tertiary education provider. To extend learning opportunities, it implemented a new, fully integrated solution that gives students and teachers remote access to training materials using a local area network. By rolling out the Microsoft® Learning Gateway solutions framework, the institute has met increasing demands for specialist job training and increased remote training opportunities.
Bringing institutions together
Europe
European Business Schools Prepare Their Students to Be Tomorrow's Information Workers.
In 2003, Newcastle Business School, Ecole de Management de Lyon (EM LYON), Institut d'Administration des Entreprises des Pays de l'Adour (IAE), and Istituto Studi Direzionali (ISTUD) began working together. Their goal was to use the required course in Information Systems Management as an interactive workshop to improve students' prospects for employment
Austria
Austrian School Sets Higher Educational Standards With New E-Learning Technology.
IT-focused academic institution HAK/HAS Tamsweg, which is based in rural Austria, has implemented a new e-learning platform to maximise teaching resources, link rural colleges together, promote individual learning, and boost student attainment levels.
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Portugal
Transactional Portal Helps Bring Information Society to Remote Corner of Europe.
The Trás-os-Montes regional portal provides transactional public services to 31 small municipalities and other public entities such as the Health Service, Social Security, and Department of Agriculture. Developed using the Microsoft .NET Framework, the whole system is part of a university outreach project that is helping to lay the foundations of an information society in a rural and remote corner of Europe.
Ireland
Portal Unlocks Academic Knowledge Potential of Universities in Ireland.
The Irish Universities Association (IUA) and InterTradeIreland chose Microsoft® Certified Partner j4b to develop the expertiseireland.com portal. IUA explored using an Oracle-based solution, before selecting the Microsoft Visual Basic® .NET 2003 development system.