The City of Glasgow College has opted to implement NetApp's data management infrastructure to help students share resources and data across the organisation.
It will allow current students to access the files they need as part of their studying, while also providing the infrastructure for those partaking in evening classes and off-site courses to access learning resources wherever they are, at any time of the day.
"Flexible data management will continue to grow in importance when it comes to driving education forward as tighter budgets and emerging technologies increase the pressure on learning establishments to do more with less," Nick Thurlow, managing director for the UK & Ireland at NetApp said. "We are pleased to have supported the City of Glasgow College as it continues to transform the delivery of college education for students in Scotland."
Craig Dowling, head of infrastructure at the City of Glasgow College added that the implementation will allow the college to develop other parts of its infrastructure too, such as introducing VR technology for more immersive learning. For example, students could visualise their designs in 3D using VR, and then 3D print their prototype.
"We have a duty to our students to look at where technology in education is going and make sure we are able to adapt our courses to the studies and technologies of the future," Dowling added. "Working with NetApp has allowed us to make sure our data management infrastructure is ready for this challenge."
It forms part of the college's plans to build multi-purpose classrooms that can adapt to become a CAD Studio, a business studies classroom or any other set-up that will help students get the most from the environment they're working in.
The college has already built two new campuses as part of its 228 million project supported by Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Funding Council.
"Having the ability to work closely with NetApp and tap into the technical expertise available in our region has been a huge advantage for us," Dowling added. "As a result, we are hoping to expand our IT services to other education establishments in the area, offering our datacentre as a service, as well as exploring the potential for centralised student timetabling systems, library databases and financial systems across the region. This could lead to cost savings and continuity for local colleges."
