Summertime upgrades: Learning takes a leap forward thanks to IT

How to upgrade your IT in a cost-effective way

Summer is fast approaching which means schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions will be looking to upgrade their IT hardware and infrastructure to aid the classroom experience for both students and teachers. Crucial upgrade projects are often carried out at this time of year due to the sites being closed for the summer, and the extended holiday offers the ideal opportunity to update the existing IT system. But why are these upgrades so vital to the education sector?

Neither a chalk nor blackboard in sight!

Classrooms now use more technology than ever. With interactive flat panel displays (IFPDs) as the focal point of the front of class experience, we are increasingly seeing a wide range of products being connected to display and store information. Teachers now have access to vast amounts of online content curated by fellow teachers. This is typically downloaded to the teacher’s PC and then displayed to the class on the IFPD. It can be shared to student devices, edited and restored to the cloud for future use. To make this a seamless experience having an efficient system in place is essential.

Cost saving solutions

With schools, colleges and universities working with limited budgets, it is paramount that smart, cost-effective choices are made. Replacing slow-performing IT equipment, often considered the only option, can be cost prohibitive. However, in recent years we have seen more and more investment in SSD and RAM upgrades instead of replacing the IT hardware itself. This offers significant savings whilst at the same time maximises the lifetime of existing desktop and laptop PCs. As a result, it provides the teachers with the performance they need to keep pace with the convergence between pedagogy & technology, and also keeps costs low.

With schools, colleges and universities working with limited budgets, it is paramount that smart, cost-effective choices are made.

Upgrade welcomed by students

Upgrading components such as RAM and SSD provide a cost-effective solution for educational establishments in need of high capacity and high performance storage and memory, but without the price tag of new equipment. The upgrades help meet the increasing computing demands and workloads by improving reliability and efficiency, boosting capacity and increasing speed. Students of today are used to having access to things instantly, so it is only natural that their school/university environment reflects this. Such improvements enable them to work much more effectively.

Keeping costs low and learning opportunities high

As memory and storage has become commoditised over time, the only difference between one make and another is the label and the price tag. Ortial’s components offer a fine combination of performance and value providing superior speed, reliability and responsiveness at a substantial price differential compared to traditional brands. Paying less for what is effectively the same product is the smart move in the education sector and with the added benefit of a lifetime warranty on Ortial’s memory and 10 years on SSDs, the opportunities presented are endless.

What does the future hold for the classroom?

Looking ahead to the future, technology will play an important part in the schooling of our children, with more emphasis than ever being placed on technical and engineering disciplines and significant investment being made by government to raise the profile of these as careers of the future. Future classrooms are being pitched as spaces where students can work collaboratively or individually with the teacher at the heart of the learning experience and not just a lone figure at the front of class. To facilitate this fundamental change in pedagogy, students and teachers are utilising a wider range of technologies than ever before.

As memory and storage has become commoditised over time, the only difference between one make and another is the label and the price tag.

Recently we have seen VR /AR become a feature in classrooms. Students can experience things or visit realistic digital creations of cultures past and look around these places in a more engaging way than ever before. An example of this is a simulation of the pyramids in Egypt. These technologies rely heavily on fast storage (SSD) and RAM to render these detailed 3D models in real time allowing the student to explore them in ways previously impossible.

We see design and CAD studios requiring vast amounts of storage for student projects and even an increase in art as more creation is done on powerful workstations or just the scanning of traditional media. We only see the requirements for more storage and faster RAM increasing with more devices (phones & cameras) already recording at 4K and the move towards an 8K future for display & creation on the visible horizon. The future for storage looks bright.

Benefits of choosing Ortial:

  • Prolong the life of IT equipment with Ortial memory & SSD upgrades at a fraction of the cost
  • Education discount
  • Trade-in scheme – discount on new purchases when trading in any brand of memory
  • Guaranteed compatibility with leading brands
  • Try and buy
  • UK stock
  • 10 year warranty on all SSDs
  • Lifetime warranty on all memory and transceiver modules
  • Free technical support

For more information on how Ortial can help your institution realise learning objective with cost-effective IT hardware upgrades, go to www.ortial.com