Wil, Switzerland (PRWEB) August 06, 2014
Dr. Mark Edwards envisioned a “Digital Conversion” at Mooresville G.S.D., and just five short years later the tiny school district in the heart of North Carolina’s NASCAR country is the place to visit. It has become a preferred destination and not just for the excitement of the roaring engines. Winning the titles of “Apple’s Distinctive District” and “1:1 Showcase Site”, Mooresville attracts thousands of educators and administrators each year, hoping to discover the secrets of Mooresville’s technological success and integrate them into their own districts.
To implement Mooresville’s digital conversion, the school district invested in a laptop computer for every student and staff, which resulted in an initial order of over 5000 computers. The brand-new learning environment allowed the educational focus to be on personalized and project-based learning, using all digital resources. In order to keep their vision on track, Dr. Edwards and his Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Scott Smith, realized they needed an innovative solution to managing 5000 computers, along with all of their software, applications and files. They found their solution when they discovered FileWave.
Manually distributing wide varieties of software to over 5000 computers located in eight different buildings was the overwhelming task facing the Mooresville GSD IT department. They needed a new and systematic way to support the MacBook Airs that were being delivered into the excited hands of their students and teachers. To be successful, the “Digital Conversion” demanded that the IT staff was utilized in an effective and efficient manner, while relying on technology to lighten their workload.
“Through FileWave, we’re able to reach out and touch 5000 machines at one time. So it’s not the human infrastructure that we’re having to invest in. That’s a huge cost-savings in terms of IT and total cost of ownership and what is going on technically in our department,” states Dr. Edwards. “Previously, when we had issues and had to pull files back in, just the entire time-intensive, labor-intensive process…now we have the means, the capacity, the efficiency and the precision with FileWave to reach every student, every teacher’s laptop in immediate fashion.” The time efficiencies that Mooresville enjoys has allowed their IT department to initiate projects like the student-run help desk, where students use elective class credits to troubleshoot and repair computer problems for teachers and their peers. The teachers view these students as “experts” and often utilize their services in class.
Currently, Mooresville distributes the MacBook Air as the model laptop to their third grade through high school students. They use iPads with their Specialized Learning population and their K-2 students. The tablet’s versatility help visually and auditory-impaired students keep up with their peers through the use of enlarged screens and text-to-speech programs. The touchscreens enable tactile learners. The functionality of early math and reading apps on the iPad have been a huge hit with K-2 students, helping them adapt to learning new skills. Encouraged by these initial successes, Dr. Smith is very enthusiastic about incorporating Mobile Device Management solution into Mooresville’s agenda for future growth.
Dr. Edwards considers Mooresville’s investment in FileWave, “a game-changer”. “When we look at the Digital Conversion and the means to bring efficiency to operations, that’s the personification of FileWave. When you think about the manpower, the hours, the planning that it takes to retrieve machines manually, rather than to be able to push out software and, in an instant, click. So the efficiency, the precision and ultimately, the effectiveness of FileWave – it’s huge!”
When Dr. Mark Edwards stepped into his position as Superintendent of Mooresville G.S.D. in North Carolina, academic performance and graduation rates were at 65%. Five years after initiating his “Digital Conversion”, Mooresville is Apple’s Distinguished District and has risen from 38th to 3rd on North Carolina’s list of schools of distinction. Composite test scores have risen 21% and the dropout rate has fallen 54%.
Enter any classroom at Mooresville High School and you’ll find students engaged in learning, collaborating on projects with open laptops and not a textbook in sight. According to Edwards, “We decided that to really meet the needs of students in the twenty-first century, it was vitally important that we link their work in school to their future and not our past. So we moved to provide every student with a device, we moved to all digital resources and we’ve created an environment where personalized learning, project-based learning, interactivity and collaboration are the daily norm for all students and staff.”
Read the complete case study here: https://www.filewave.com/index.php/solutions/testimonials/print-testi/item/testis-mooresville.
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