Top Ten Minnesota School District Quadruples Number of Classroom Computers with Virtual Desktops from Wyse Technology
SAN JOSE, Calif.-(Business Wire)-September 18, 2009 - Wyse Technology, the global leader in thin computing and client virtualization, today announced another success story at a school district in Minnesota. The Minnetonka Public School District chose Wyse to deliver upon the district's mandate to increase student access to technology. The combination of thin clients and virtualization has maximized the school's technology budget, allowing the district to put in four times as many thin clients than PCs. Currently, more than 600 Wyse V10L devices are being used in the district's six elementary schools. According to National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education, and Minnesota Department of Education, the Minnetonka Public School District is ranked as No. 8 out of 167 school districts across the state.
"We're proud of the way that we've delivered our students and taxpayers an astonishingly high return on their investment in education. We couldn’t have done it without Wyse," said Julie Carter, Executive Director of Technology, Minnetonka Public School District. "Thin clients offered greater ease of implementation, management and maintenance compared to any desktop computers. Best of all, we could afford to put many more thin clients in classrooms for the same amount of money."
More computers in the classrooms help teachers to incorporate more hands-on project-based instruction. In the classrooms, students use Wyse thin clients for graphic-rich programs that help with math and reading, such as Tumblebooks, an online book reader. They also view streaming instructional videos and specific topics from Discovery Education. Most of these are Web-based educational programs for which the district has purchased a license, but students also use standard productivity software such as Microsoft Office. Other educational software and applications in use are: Audacity, Google Earth, Type to Learn, Inspiration, and EM Games.
An added benefit of replacing PCs with Wyse thin clients is that ongoing maintenance costs are kept low, allowing for future gains in the district's technology investment. "In our first full year with thin clients, we had a failure rate of less than 1%," according to Robert Wakefield, Network Security Specialist, Minnetonka Public School District. "In contrast, approximately 12% of our PCs break in a typical year. The PCs have to be physically removed from the classroom and brought in for repair. In contrast, our thin clients are centrally managed so that troubleshooting and repair occurs from the data center, minimizing downtime and staff resources."
Because thin clients last longer than PCs, the district will continue to reap cost savings over the course of the lifespan of each thin client device. "We don’t get more than four to five years' work out of a PC," added Wakefield. "But a thin client device is expected to last for ten years. If so, for every thin client we have in a classroom over a ten-year period, we save up to 90% of the hardware and set-up costs we'd be paying if we had a PC instead of a thin client." The district estimates that they could avoid two cycles of buying and setting up PCs where thin clients are being used.
"Minnetonka is a shining example of a school district getting more computers into the hands of students," said Maryam Alexandrian, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Channels at Wyse Technology. "The Wyse thin client devices are not only easy to use for students, but also are easy for administrators to manage, an important consideration especially when they are being tasked with doing more with less resources."
For more information on Minnetonka’s use of Wyse Technology, download the complete case study at: http://www.wyse.com/solutions/education
Wyse Technology and Education
Wyse has been providing thin client and client virtualization solutions to K-12 and higher education schools around the world since 1995. With Wyse in place, IT administrators are replacing their high-cost, high-maintenance PCs with thin clients. The benefits to schools include having a safer computing environment, lower TCO, greater energy efficiency, and less maintenance; all while getting more computers into the hands of more students. At the 2009 National Educational Computing Conference (NECC), Wyse products were recognized by ChannelWeb Magazine as one of the "25 Hot Products For Education." Also in 2009, Wyse received the annual Community Service Award from one of its customers, the Charter School of Morgan Hill, CA.
About Wyse Technology
Wyse Technology is the global leader in thin computing-based virtualization software and hardware solutions. Wyse and its strategic partners, including, Citrix®, IBM®, Microsoft®, Novell®, VMware®, and others deliver the innovative hardware, infrastructure software, and services that formulate the benefits of cloud computing, virtualization and Green IT. These thin computing solutions allow consumers, public and private enterprises to access the application information they need, but with better security, manageability, and at a much lower total cost of ownership than a PC. Wyse is headquartered in San Jose, California, with offices worldwide.
For more information, visit the Wyse website at http://www.wyse.com or call 1-800-GET-WYSE.
About Minnetonka Public Schools
Minnetonka Public Schools is a high performing suburban school district serving 8,500 students, early childhood through grade 12, in ten school facilities. The district prides itself in using a technology as an accelerator of learning that changes the way teachers teach and children learn. The district points to dramatic gains in all measurers of student achievement — including local and state assessments and college entrance examination scores — since voters approved referenda for dedicated technology funding in 2002 and 2007. Minnetonka has been recognized by the National School Boards Association Technology Leadership Network and the American Association of School Administrators for vision and leadership in educational technology.
For more information, visit www.minnetonka.k12.mn.us.
* All brands and names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective holders.
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