Bangkok school showcase for hi-tech education

While information technology is playing an increasingly vital role in fields such as business, industry, science and medicine, the International School Bangkok (ISB) is rapidly becoming a prime example of what IT can achieve in education.

The school currently serves 1,900 expatriate students from more than 50 countries living in the greater Bangkok area. It covers pre-university levels ranging from elementary and middle school to high school.

According to ISB's IT director, Stephen Lehmann, the school gives high priority to educational technologies and has implemented innovative educational coursework.

To start with, ISB is equipped with 1,400 PCs and notebooks - or approximately two PCs for every three students. Each computer can make wireless Internet connections anywhere on the campus, so students can learn, research and attend to project work at all times.

ISB has adopted an e-learning system as a teaching medium, allowing teachers and students to gain access to a central unit and instantly use data through online educational processes.

In all classrooms, smart boards are used to provide interactive connections to computers. These allow teachers to deliver lessons or offer new knowledge via multimedia, from Internet-based systems or other resources, simultaneously to the whole class.

Lehmann said ISB's progressive vision incorporated new technologies and massive amounts of data. However, because multimedia data includes data files, pictures and voices, and video has become more vital to the teaching and learning processes, the need to back up tremendous amounts of data became problematic.

After attending an Acer/Hitachi Data Systems customer solutions interactive workshop, ISB decided on a platform that would involve new hardware, software and services to improve the academic experience for teachers and students. The school selected Hitachi's Adaptable Modular Storage 200 System, coupled with Hitachi Data Protection suite software, to deliver the high performance and data protection needed to maintain the school's progressive vision.

The school switched its storage and disk backup to a storage area network (SAN) system, which could store huge amounts of audio and visual data with lower total costs of ownership, while supporting the implementation of an e-learning system in the future. It settled on a platform that would deliver sophisticated virtualisation, tiered storage management and exceptional administrative tools, making the focus of ISB's IT the improvement of the student experience.

As result, even the parents of students can join the school's network to share information between teachers and their children. The new system supports everything from online homework assignments and online teaching instruments to social networking and community interaction through open-source software.

Lehmann said a storage solution was one of the key factors in implement an e-learning system at ISB. The new storage set up allows teachers and students to quickly access and use data for the online educational process. It is expected to be one of ISB's main tools in enhancing its high academic standards.

For students, the high-performance and scalability of the system means that their educational opportunities through online learning platforms and technology tools can develop with the curriculum, Lehmann said. Student information and course management - among other things - are all now tied into a reliable and efficient storage device, allowing the campus as a whole to enjoy an improved IT experience. The students, for example, are enjoying a greater amount of personal storage.

The system allows the school's curriculum to focus on the most innovative and useful e-tools to supplement student education.

Moreover, the school is using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology embedded in electronic cards - called campus cards - that allow students to buy food, drink, and stationary. The system also sends short messages to parents whenever the children make purchases.

"Technology is now a part of everybody's life; a part of everything. We plan to develop and provide video-streaming services next month," Lehmann said.