Educators in the US choose Dell tablets to help personalize learning
Dell has reported that schools are already deploying recently announced Dell Latitude 10 tablets designed to address the costly and time consuming device management challenges faced by schools undertaking large deployments of tablets. Fargo Public Schools, Southern Illinois University, Spartanburg School District 3 and Westwood Independent Schools have selected the enterprise-ready Windows 8 tablets for their compelling touch experience, reliability, security and ease of management.
Fargo Public Schools: “We want our students to learn the needed skills to be successful in the 21st century and we believe they must have the right devices at the ready that will help them not only consume information but also produce new projects and content,” said Bill Westrick, IT Director, Fargo Public Schools. “We chose Dell Windows 8 devices because teachers can integrate them into their existing curriculum; students can now produce information as easily as they can consume it and the Dell Latitude 10 tablets are easy for us to manage within our existing IT infrastructure.”
Southern Illinois University: “This tablet initiative will enhance student success and help them become more engaged in the campus experience,” said Rita Cheng, Chancellor, Southern Illinois University. “Being the first comprehensive research university to launch a large-scale, campus-wide tablet initiative that focuses on student success lets our students know that we are working to revolutionize their SIU experience. We know our students and their families also will appreciate the financial benefits of e-textbooks.”
Spartanburg School District 3: “Ultimately, it’s all about the learning experience,” said Eric Levitt, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, Spartanburg School District 3. “Dell Windows 8 devices deliver our teachers and students an intuitive device for self-directed learning that delivers a personalized approach to education.”
Westwood Independent School District: “We were seeking solutions that would bring technology into the classroom, sparking students’ desire to learn, and also expanding our district’s educational opportunities beyond the classroom,” explains Dr. Clint McLain, Assistant Superintendent and High School Principal, Westwood Independent School District. “Additionally, Dell’s tablets provided the best way to address our online student assessment needs here in the State of Texas. These devices are innovative and will be enjoyable for our students to use.”
Study Reveals Multiple IT Challenges of Deploying Tablets in K-12 Schools
A recent Dell and Intel-commissioned Harris Interactive online survey of 203 US school system administrators and IT decision makers highlights the tablet management challenges faced by schools today. The results show that tablets are increasingly becoming a standard IT device (53 percent of IT decision makers surveyed have deployed them in their schools). However, other studies show some tablets can cost significantly more time and money to manage. According to the results of the Harris survey:
Preparing tablets to work in a school’s existing infrastructure can cost more than $1,4002, 3 on average.
These costs include time spent on tasks such as device management, password setting and resetting, enterprise domain and access configuration and policy development.
Fifty-seven percent of education IT decision makers using tablets say there are applications currently used on their desktops and laptops that cannot be currently accessed on their tablets; 46 percent say some can only be used with limited functionality.
Additionally, 41 percent say they have to purchase applications to mirror desktop and laptop functionality.
And 31 percent say they require additional software or tools to manage tablets.
Fifty-nine percent of school system IT decision makers and administrators say choosing devices that integrate with their existing IT infrastructure and that can be managed by existing tools is the best way to minimize total cost of ownership for tablets
The Dell Latitude 10 tablet was designed to overcome these challenges by combining a great user experience with ease of management and deployment by IT. The tablet fits easily and securely into existing school IT environments to help improve IT efficiency and decrease total cost-of-management. Because it is managed like any standard Windows-based laptop, the Dell Latitude 10 tablet is significantly easier to deploy and manage than the iPad in large scale implementations.
According to third-party testing performed by Principled Technologies, when compared to the iPad in large scale education deployments, the Latitude 10 essentials configuration:
Requires 52 percent less time to manage.
Is 99 percent faster for software updates, saving approximately 197 hours with automated updates.
Saves IT time, doubling the number of devices a single IT staff member can manage.
