There’s no denying that the era we live in today is a digital one. From iPads to self-driving cars, technology innovations are everywhere. They’ve even made their way to schools. In many districts, students are assigned their own iPads and laptops to work on throughout the school year. Devices aren’t the only technological aspect schools have embraced though. Disaster recovery, managed IT network services, virtualization (cloud), and hardware and software implementations have made an appearance in schools across the country.
1 - WIFI
WiFi has done wonders for technology, inside and outside of the classroom. Inside of the classroom, it has helped learning by allowing mobility and convenience between the teacher and the student. With iPads, for example, students are no longer confined to a computer lab. They can connect to the school WiFi and work on their assignments anywhere they go, whether it be in the hallway, library, or classroom.
WiFi also makes it easier for students to connect and use more than one device. With high availability and connectivity, you couldn’t do this before. Before, you could only use computers plugged in the computer lab. Now, you can use your phone, laptop, iPad, all of it, to get more work done in more places. This modern classroom is also encouraging collaboration with students and their teachers through new applications to work on. What a world we live in now.
2 - INFRASTRUCTURE TO MANAGE DATA
As complex as technology can be, it is actually made with the purpose of making our lives easier. One of those ways is how we manage our data. There are many programs out there that are developed to help track and manage all of your information, like Office 365 for example. Having all your information in a central place where all your coworkers can access and edit is much more effective and efficient than the traditional paper system.
3 - BDR FOR THAT DATA
Backup and disaster recovery plans are so important because your data is so important. Data is so valuable, in fact, that 60% of companies that lose their data will shut down within 6 months. Also, these incidents are quite frequent. 140,000 hard drives crash in the United States every week. From hackers to natural disasters, potential danger is everywhere. And schools know this. That’s why IT solutions are implemented in case a disaster were to ever happen. If a school has IT solutions in place, it has most likely backed up its data to external sources, such as the cloud. This solution will store your data in a highly secure, offsite data centers. You can then access this data from anywhere, anytime, as long as you have an internet connection and a device.
There are other alternatives, but cloud solutions are the most common (Office 365 is a cloud-based application). Now, you never have to worry about permanently losing your data; it will always be sitting somewhere, waiting for you to access it, never deleted. This helps everyone from the administrator level to the student working on those research papers.
4 - PRIVACY AND SECURITY TO PROTECT THE SCHOOL AND KIDS
The information that schools hold is highly personal. You trust your school with your address, your phone number, you allergies, and many other qualities. That’s why schools have also adapted IT solutions for privacy and security purposes. As mentioned earlier, hackers are everywhere, so various softwares are developing to take action against viruses and malware. At Akins IT, we can also block inappropriate websites, control applications, control who has access to what, etc. We know how precious your children are, and we keep their safety as one of our top priorities.
If you want to know more about the IT solutions schools are embracing, don’t hesitate to Contact Us! We are very knowledgeable about the educational vertical, and we want to become partners with our clients by taking the time to deeply understand your infrastructure needs.
We take the consultative aspect of IT seriously, because we truly do want you to succeed.
