Extreme Networks Driving Digital Learning in Schools

Extreme Networks, Inc. has announced that primary and secondary schools across the globe continue to select Extreme to create a foundation for modern, tech-based curriculums.

As schools are challenged to quickly alternate between online and hybrid learning while also increasing their use of technology, schools including: Chinese International School in Hong Kong; Harrogate Grammar School in North Yorkshire, England; King-Chavez Neighborhood of Schools in San Diego, California; the School District of Elmbrook in Brookfield, Wisconsin; and Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School in Northampton, Massachusetts have selected Extreme to help improve student and teacher experiences and streamline school IT operations.

With new technology-driven teaching methods such as augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), robotics and flipped classroom learning models, schools must re-think how their network infrastructure can support high-density environments. Extreme makes it easy to expand network capabilities, manage network security and gain visibility into application usage and analytics while powering network performance – helping to reduce operating costs and simplify IT team oversight.

Customer Highlights

Cost-Effective Cloud Management: To benefit from greater control, security, flexibility and lower cost of ownership, the King-Chavez Neighborhood of Schools decided to transition to an independent cloud-based network. The district has moved to an entirely serverless network powered by ExtremeCloud™ IQ, giving the six-person IT team full network visibility and control across all five school sites. The IT team also has access to AI/ML-enabled network automation which reduces the number of manual tasks and frees staff members to support new programs that advance learning.

Simplified Network Deployment: ExtremeCloud IQ enables effortless deployments of new infrastructure including wireless access points (APs). The simplicity of installing the APs enabled the School District of Elmbrook and Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School to provide student interns with an opportunity to get hands-on experience installing new network gear. These programs allow students to develop their skills in practical environments to coincide with the core STEM curriculum. One student intern at Elmbrook installed over 300 APs independently.

Powering In-Classroom AR/VR: Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School's high-capacity network from Extreme enables it to support bandwidth-heavy applications such as welding in VR and interactive AR human anatomy demos. Extreme's solutions also ensure that the deployment of these new digital tools does not affect network performance or create security risks.
Executive Perspectives

Carlos Salazar, Director of Technology and Innovation, King-Chavez Neighborhood of Schools, commented, "Extreme's solutions provide the capacity we need to ensure everyone in our schools has a seamless experience and can focus on teaching or learning. Before, some of our teachers were using hotspots to provide enough connectivity for their classroom. With our new network from Extreme, having reliable connectivity is something our students and teachers don't even think about, which is how it should be."

Dan Scott, Director of Technology, School District of Elmbrook, explained, "The level of insight we now have with ExtremeCloud IQ and ExtremeAnalytics™ gives us full transparency into what's happening across our network, ensuring learning is not disrupted. Now that our IT team isn't spending as much time in the classroom addressing network issues, we can focus on things that drive greater value for our entire school community."

Josh Shearer, Director of Technology, Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, said, "As a vocational school, we support a wide variety of technology across our diverse programs, which can include everything from labs for architecture design to VR welding. Everything relies heavily on our network infrastructure. With solutions from Extreme, I can manage our entire network from the cloud and remotely maintain our network to ensure we can provide a high-speed, stable, reliable connection."

Ed Meyercord, President and CEO, Extreme Networks, commented, "It's inspiring to see the various ways primary and secondary schools around the world are using technology to enhance learning experiences and engage students, from hybrid learning to in-classroom experiences like robotics or AR/VR. Extreme's solutions and analytics provide new ways for schools to deliver better outcomes for teachers, students and IT staff by facilitating next-generation curriculums that best prepare students for future careers, simplifying network management across an entire school organization and providing insights into student preferences and course effectiveness."