Bexley City Schools

Success Story

Challenge

The district's legacy system was the IBM Classroom LAN Administration System (ICLAS) powered by a NetWare 3.11 network. Setting up access to applications proved complex, even requiring teachers to shoulder some of the system's administrative chores. Scott Bushman, MIS Director, recalls, "Clearly, we had to make a change enabling teachers to concentrate less with administration and more on using curricular software." They needed to leverage existing network components to protect taxpayer dollars, support for Macintosh and Unix systems, stability and reliability, and a leakproof system security.

Novell solution

"Teachers no longer worry about application administration tasks. They focus on learning."

Breaking away from ICLAS, the Bexley City School District chose to implement Novell's IntranetWare rather than Windows NT. IntranetWare offered more effective security and administration capabilities while equipping the district to fully leverage existing technology. According to Mason, "The ability of NDS to encompass several organizations under a single directory tree so that we can manage the entire network from one location was the single most important reason for choosing IntranetWare." Furthermore, access to network applications is exceptionally simple and intuitive, eliminating administration chores from teachers' desks. Mason asks, "Who else offers this kind of application control with the flexibility NAL has? Windows NT doesn't."

Results

Bushman estimates that support costs for Bexley City Schools' new computer network "are down significantly. Beyond the savings, however, we're also seeing benefits from teachers and school administrators using email." Plans for the future include an upgrade to Novell's GroupWise messaging, Managewise, and a Novell Web Server so that students can access the school intranet and web pages from home via the Internet. About the impact on fundamental learning issues, Bushman notes, "The goal for us in this school environment is to help the students learn better. We're seeing the improvement from these recent investments; both students and teachers are having very positive experiences. Students create PowerPoint presentations, use Freelance graphics, and they work on math and science projects using their computers in the classrooms. Teachers no longer worry about application administration tasks. They focus on learning."