South African schools and tertiary institutions, like any others globally, require the latest computer technology to give students access to the benefits of the Internet. This is, however, a costly exercise and not always as effective as one would have hoped.
An average student's day consists of running around classes, juggling numerous assignments and accessing loads of information. It is in many cases a "touch and go" scenario, which is not always an ideal way of getting the maximum work done.
Sun Microsystems Sun Ray enterprise application is an ideal solution to institution and student headaches. Sun Ray is a user-friendly and a cost-effective way of increasing education effectiveness and student productivity, through providing the latest "Hot Desk" technology and reliability.
One of Sun Ray's outstanding features is the use of a SmartCard as part of the "Hot Desk" concept. With a SmartCard students working on a project don't need to save everything, when the bell rings they can simply stand up, remove their smart card, move to the next class and resume working at another computer.
The SmartCard ensures that students can go about their hectic life styles without having to worry about information being lost or PC hardware problems.
Sun, which stands for Stanford University Network, has its roots in education, says Rodney Smith, account executive at Sun Microsystems SA. "Sun believes in helping the education community."
An American elementary school recently ran a pilot project with the Sun Ray enterprise appliance.
The teachers and students' reactions were very positive. They all commented on the user-friendliness and reliability of the enterprise appliances. "It is better for browsing the Internet, because with the SmartCard it saves your stuff, while with other PCs you have to start all over," says one student.
Education institutions are mostly cash-strapped and can't afford to upgrade their IT systems regularly. Sun Ray once again provides a workable solution. It does not need to be upgraded and requires no desktop administration.
The "plug in and work" enterprise appliance easily connects to platforms and Web-based systems, while eliminating the need to perform desktop upgrades. This is regardless of the underlying platform whether it is Sun's Solaris, Windows NT or other environments.
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