How Colleges Can Do More for Learning with Less Money

This was achieved through the use of VMware’s End User Computing Solutions for Education technology, which helped transform the way the university manages an increasingly diverse range of devices on campus, as well as the applications, information and services that students access through them.

A critical element has been the use of VMware’s Horizon Air, which currently helps the university deliver cloud-hosted desktops and applications to any device, anywhere in a highly secure fashion.

For example, the university now allows students with any kind of device – even inexpensive Chromebooks – to access their classes and manage their course loads. This allows students to seamlessly provision all courses and content from any location.

Students can now also leverage VMware’s Identity Manager, which enables them to have one secure, cloud-based URL for accessing all course content. In what is often referred to as a “digital backpack,” this fosters limitless learning from any location at any time.

With the rise of non-traditional learners, many universities are becoming supporters of BYOD, and implement platforms to support those who cannot leave their kids, jobs and families to study in the library or computer lab.

Today, these students can now have the same access and experience regardless of time and proximity to the university.

In order for our nation to maintain its global competitive edge, educational opportunities need to be available to everyone. Fortunately, the most advanced universities are adopting the right solutions that allow any student to access learning materials—anytime and anywhere.

And, this is a win-win for both students and universities.
Tim Merrigan is the Vice President of State & Local Government and Education for VMware, a leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions for higher education.