Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eCampus News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

UMD to become virtualization hub for surrounding community

170,000 UMD students will have access to virtualized computing.

Virtualizing software and desktops throughout the University System of Maryland’s 100 locations will be a technological boon for more than just the 170,000 UMD students who will enjoy more flexible learning opportunities: Nearby school kids also will benefit.

In what is believed to be the largest such project of its kind in higher education, UMD officials have teamed up with Dell Inc. to make available premium software such as Pearson’s MyMathLab and desktop and web publishing programs from Adobe to students and faculty members from the convenience of their own computers—or from any device on campus.

Virtualized computing is a growing trend among colleges and universities, but in a unique twist, UMD’s technology offerings stored on campus servers also will be available to K-12 students in local school systems, bringing up-to-date curriculum and software to students’ homes.…Read More

College CIO: Embrace virtualization, but not too much

Virtualization can sometimes cause IT headaches, Herleman says.
Virtualization can sometimes cause IT headaches, Herleman says.

Using one computer to power many has saved money as college budgets have been slashed, but too much of this good thing can lead to “virtualization sprawl”—an emerging problem that one IT leader is determined to avoid.

Karl Herleman, CIO at Miami Dade College (MDC), has, like many technology decision makers, moved his eight-campus school toward virtualization in the past three years. This means one computer in a campus computer lab can power several machines, reducing the IT department’s costs and saving the college on its monthly energy bills.

MDC has trimmed its energy consumption by 10 percent since 2008, thanks largely to virtualization, Herleman said.…Read More