Technology Helps College Get Bigger in Texas

[ciscokima]

It’s one thing to use technology. It’s another to take that technology and do something extraordinary with it – especially when that involves something that benefits others. Each year, IDG’s Computerworld Honors Program recognizes organizations that use “visionary applications of information technology promoting positive social, economic and educational change.”

This year, one of those organizations happens to be Lone Star College System, a community college in Texas (naturally) that has integrated collaboration technology from Cisco to reach more students and improve the overall learning experience for an increasingly diverse student population.

They say everything’s bigger in Texas. Lone Star College serves more than 85,000 students at five campuses and ten learning centers in a service area of 1400 square miles. Oh, and the student population is growing by approximately 20% each year.

So what do you do if you’re the CIO at a school with the goal of becoming recognized as the best community college in the nation? You find the technology to meet your goals. Some of the highlights:

• Digital Signage: More than 500 digital signs throughout the school properties.
• Web Conferencing: 25,000 students enrolled in online courses delivered through WebEx.
• Immersive Video: Whether for bringing guest lecturers into classes or allowing faculty to reduce inter-campus commuting, the school has reduced travel expenses by 33% using Cisco TelePresence.

Watch the video and get the full story in the case study and round-table interview.

It’s bigger in Texas, and getting bigger than that.

For more about the Computerworld awards and another Cisco customer named as a 2012 laureate, check out Irene Sandler's recent post "Don't call our enterprise video customers innovative."