Amazon Web Services Case Studies Cloud-Based Learning Transformation at Cedars School of Excellence

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	Cloud-Based Learning Transformation at Cedars School of Excellence Amazon Web Services

Cloud-Based Learning Transformation at Cedars School of Excellence

Amazon Web Services

Applicable Industries	Education
Use Cases	Personnel Tracking & Monitoring Time Sensitive Networking
Services	Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
Challenge	Cedars School of Excellence, a small Scottish preparatory school with about 120 students and 20 staff members, is known for being the first school in the world to introduce a 1:1 iPad-based learning curriculum. However, the school faced challenges in managing its complex iPad deployment and delivering certain parts of the curriculum and testing due to incompatibility of some critical applications with the iPad. The school's IT head, Fraser Speirs, had previously decided to run the school's device-management server, Jamf Pro, on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) in 2013. Despite the benefits of this decision, the school still faced limitations in delivering certain parts of the curriculum due to the incompatibility of some applications with the iPad. Read More
About Customer	Cedars School of Excellence is a small Scottish preparatory school with approximately 120 students and 20 staff members. The school is renowned for being the first in the world to introduce a 1:1 iPad-based learning curriculum. The school's IT initiatives are led by Fraser Speirs, the head of IT and the secondary school. Despite its small size, the school has made significant digital achievements, including running its device-management server on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) and implementing a cloud-based, desktop-as-a-service solution for accessing legacy Microsoft software. Read More
Solution	To overcome the limitations of technology in the classroom, Fraser Speirs turned to Amazon WorkSpaces, a cloud-based, desktop-as-a-service solution. This solution made it possible to access legacy Microsoft software required for a certificate-level Administration and IT class. It also provided students with access to a new range of software capabilities in the Windows version of Microsoft Office, and kept the course IT requirements manageable for a small staff. Furthermore, the school used Amazon EC2 to manage its complex iPad deployment, enabling students to effectively self-manage their iPads using a single EC2 instance. The school also used the service to run controller software for a new Wi-Fi network. Fraser also implemented Amazon CloudWatch, which triggers an AWS Lambda script to queue up Amazon WorkSpaces at the start of each class, saving valuable teaching time. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Applicable Industries

Education

Use Cases

Personnel Tracking & Monitoring

Time Sensitive Networking

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

Challenge

Cedars School of Excellence, a small Scottish preparatory school with about 120 students and 20 staff members, is known for being the first school in the world to introduce a 1:1 iPad-based learning curriculum. However, the school faced challenges in managing its complex iPad deployment and delivering certain parts of the curriculum and testing due to incompatibility of some critical applications with the iPad. The school's IT head, Fraser Speirs, had previously decided to run the school's device-management server, Jamf Pro, on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) in 2013. Despite the benefits of this decision, the school still faced limitations in delivering certain parts of the curriculum due to the incompatibility of some applications with the iPad.

About Customer

Cedars School of Excellence is a small Scottish preparatory school with approximately 120 students and 20 staff members. The school is renowned for being the first in the world to introduce a 1:1 iPad-based learning curriculum. The school's IT initiatives are led by Fraser Speirs, the head of IT and the secondary school. Despite its small size, the school has made significant digital achievements, including running its device-management server on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) and implementing a cloud-based, desktop-as-a-service solution for accessing legacy Microsoft software.

Solution

To overcome the limitations of technology in the classroom, Fraser Speirs turned to Amazon WorkSpaces, a cloud-based, desktop-as-a-service solution. This solution made it possible to access legacy Microsoft software required for a certificate-level Administration and IT class. It also provided students with access to a new range of software capabilities in the Windows version of Microsoft Office, and kept the course IT requirements manageable for a small staff. Furthermore, the school used Amazon EC2 to manage its complex iPad deployment, enabling students to effectively self-manage their iPads using a single EC2 instance. The school also used the service to run controller software for a new Wi-Fi network. Fraser also implemented Amazon CloudWatch, which triggers an AWS Lambda script to queue up Amazon WorkSpaces at the start of each class, saving valuable teaching time.

Impact #1	The implementation of Amazon WorkSpaces and Amazon EC2 has transformed the learning experience at Cedars School of Excellence. The cloud-based solutions have not only made it possible to access a wider range of software capabilities but also enabled students to effectively self-manage their iPads. The use of Amazon CloudWatch has also saved valuable class time by automating the setup of Amazon WorkSpaces at the start of each class. Furthermore, the school is only charged when the tool is in use, making the solution cost-efficient. The technology initiatives have empowered the students to solve complex computer science problems and have kept the IT requirements manageable for the small staff.

Impact #1

The implementation of Amazon WorkSpaces and Amazon EC2 has transformed the learning experience at Cedars School of Excellence. The cloud-based solutions have not only made it possible to access a wider range of software capabilities but also enabled students to effectively self-manage their iPads. The use of Amazon CloudWatch has also saved valuable class time by automating the setup of Amazon WorkSpaces at the start of each class. Furthermore, the school is only charged when the tool is in use, making the solution cost-efficient. The technology initiatives have empowered the students to solve complex computer science problems and have kept the IT requirements manageable for the small staff.

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Overview

Cloud-Based Learning Transformation at Cedars School of Excellence

Operational Impact