Staying Connected on the Move

Achieving More, Wherever You Are

Staff and students using laptops increasingly require access to education resources, whatever their location. But many laptop users find it difficult to connect to campus networks when working off-site. IT departments often have to combine several different technologies to guarantee remote access, meaning that users have to add programs and complex security applications to their laptops.

How Windows Vista Can Help

Windows Vista’s new wireless networking features simplify using a laptop on and off-site.

• The Network and Sharing Centre enables you to check your connection status, view a visual representation of the network, and troubleshoot connection problems.
• The Windows Mobility Centre puts the most frequently used mobile computer settings, including wireless networking, into a single location.

Which means laptop users can work more effectively on the go, with immediate access to the resources and information they need. Staff and students can spend more time working, and less time trying to connect to the campus network, while IT staff can spend less time supporting mobile workers and fixing related problems.

• Find out more about the Network and Sharing Centre
• Find out more about the Windows Mobility Centre (US)

Working Together Anywhere

Students, teachers and researchers need to work together across your institution, whether face-to-face or remotely. Educational institutions face rapidly increasing demands for access to resources to enable learning and working in small groups, and existing IT infrastructures can struggle to meet this requirement easily.

Windows Meeting Space supports face-to-face collaboration for up to 10 users, on or off the network. Staff, students and researchers can set up secure ad hoc temporary project group spaces without being connected to a wireless network. Participants can broadcast presentations, and hold interactive discussions. Groups can share resources securely, using a shared workspace to edit documents together.

Which means you can support group working much more easily, wherever people are. All staff, teachers and students can access resources and work together, regardless of their location, improving team learning opportunities for students, and you can also collaborate across institutions.

• Find out more about Windows Meeting Space (US)

Making IT Available to Everyone

Students and staff of all abilities should be able to realise their potential, supported by accessible technology. Meeting the needs of all students, whatever their skills, often requires third-party accessibility tools and software. This places an additional burden on ICT budgets and managers.

How Windows Vista Can Help

The accessibility features in Windows Vista can be configured to meet the needs of all students and staff:

• People with special needs can use Windows Speech Recognition to interact with their computer using only their voice.
• Built-in screen magnifiers and text-to-speech converters support people with visual impairments.
• An on-screen keyboard gives users several ways to type and interact with their computer using alternative input devices.
• On-screen visual cues can replace system sounds.

Which means everyone across the school can realise their potential, whatever their ability. All students can access key learning tools. Teachers can create inclusive environments that maximise the potential of all students (including non-readers) according to their individual needs. People with accessibility needs can use all ICT resources more easily.

• Find out more about Windows Vista’s accessibility features (US)