CASE STUDY: Using technology to transform digital learning

st marks case study on cyber security - mss it perth

PROJECT DETAILS:

MSS Client: St Mark’s Anglican Community School

St Mark’s Anglican Community School has grown from humble beginnings in 1986 to be a thriving educational community of approximately 1580 students from Kindergarten to Year 12. The School employs nearly 200 staff, including teachers, education assistants, music tutors and administrative, grounds and maintenance staff.

Product and Services : Technology platform review & BYOD program implementation for Year 6 and beyond.

Why MSS? : A trusted company that provides IT support and managed services to the education sector.

Client feedback : Being surrounded by a project team with expert knowledge has been invaluable to getting us to where we are today.

SITUATION

A recent addition to the St Mark’s roster, Head of Digital Learning Andrea Holloway was tasked with the review, development and implementation of a technology strategy to enhance the College’s digital learning capabilities. After extensive internal research to determine current challenges in the digital landscape, the College identified a number of areas for immediate attention. The renewal cycle for the school’s devices presented an opportunity for a complete review, to ensure the chosen technology platform was fit for current and future purpose. In addition, the College identified a need for technology to assist with collaboration in the classroom.

CRITICAL NEEDS – DEVICE SELECTION

  • Robust enough to withstand the pressures of the education environment
  • Compute power as determined by internal IT department
  • Functionality to enable learning and collaboration, including digital ink
  • Sustainable funding
  • Engaging parents, students and teachers

PROCESS

HP Pro x2 612Based on the benchmarked findings of their research, St Mark’s engaged MSS IT to assist in the creation of a four-year strategic plan to achieve the identified outcomes. Following a strategic session, the project team determined a school owned device strategy would be used up to year 5, with the senior students using a BYOD structure. To address the device lifecycle renewal opportunity, the project team sourced a range of devices from suppliers to trial for proof of concept. MSS IT worked closely with the school to work through the platforms trialed, following the feedback and workshop sessions we came to the right device.

The HP Pro x2 612 was chosen as the recommended platform for its balance of mobility, durability, and security in a challenging environment. The HP Active Pen feature fulfilled the requirements for digital ink with no lag time or pixellation. Working with technology partners HP, MSS IT was also able to offer a package including support, accidental damage protection and 0% finance option over 12 months.

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT

As a commitment to reinvesting in the school, HP and MSS IT are providing professional development sessions to enable teachers to take advantage of technology in the classroom. MSS IT & HP created a BYOD portal for the parents to access and this is kept up to date to provide the best solution with added extras such as 0% finance and support for parents online and over the phone. A series of 20 minute introductory sessions were run in conjunction with MSS IT and HP to enable parents to experience the devices first-hand, and access the project team face-to-face for any questions.

WHY SUSTAINABLE FUNDING?

With the rapid pace of change, businesses are often tied to IT investments long after the technology’s useful life. Traditional IT ownership and acquisition methods are a thing of the past. As technology evolves towards leaner IT infrastructure, you have more choice in how you source and implement technology services. You can access them in-house, have them hosted, outsource them entirely, or acquire them through the cloud. Many organisations are taking a hybrid approach to acquire technology and services as they need them. While this evolution can open endless doors, you need the right investment strategy in place to help your organisation quickly capitalise take advantage of new IT solutions and capabilities while providing the flexibility to adapt and change to future requirements. Whatever your strategy, your overall goals through the whole process remains the same: increase innovation, speed business efficiency, and drive profitable business growth.

MSS IS ABOUT INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS

MSS currently work with a number of schools to provide IT support and managed services. MSS aims to build long-term relationships with customers, working together to ensure ICT is reliable, relevant and current to the needs and site conditions of the organisation.

Our focus if professional quality IT services delivered to enterprise, mid-market, government, education, defence, healthcare and charity/not-for-profit sectors.

Key Services and Products

  • Cybersecurity
  • Wireless setup and management
  • Connectivity
  • Hardware procurement

To find out more about how MSS can help safeguard your organisation’s network, or for complete ICT service solutions please contact us here.


Related Reading >


HP retailer Perth