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Three billion. That’s about how many miles the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft travelled before dropping a capsule of asteroid dust from the miniplanet Ryugo to earth. The scooped up samples from the surface of a space rock landed about 500 kilometres northwest of Adelaide. Three billion is also the size of another extraordinary achievement—the biggest spend on education in school building the state of Victoria has ever seen. Premier Daniel Andrews recently announced this allocation for new schools and infrastructure as part of the 2020/21 Victorian Budget. “Education unions said the investment would go a long way to bringing every government school in the state up to a good contemporary standard”, reports The Age.

What’s included in the $3 Billion Funding Boost?

Of the $3 billion, almost half will go to investments for schools in critical need of upgrades and renovations. The government is also attempting to ensure that no child is left behind as Victorians recover from the global pandemic. To help reduce the digital divide, “families who were loaned devices to help them access online learning during the lockdown will be allowed to keep them”, explains ABC News. Funds will also be available to schools to replace the 71,000 laptops and iPads that were loaned out.

Make the Most out of New School Funding

Like a trip to space and back, investments in education require careful planning. Purchasing devices for students to use at school and home is a great step towards providing tools and resources that will enhance learning outcomes. However, whether you’re talking textbooks or technology, if you don’t plan for deployment and distribution, your investment will sit unused and wasted. Here are just a few of the benefits of using some of your new school funding on device management and deployment solutions.

1. Save Serious Money with Future-Proof Designs

Think inside the box, and you won’t be stuck with a bunch of outdated carts. Removable racks and baskets allow Carrier™ Charging Carts to adapt to future needs when devices change, or new technology is adopted.

2. Give Teachers Back Vital Class Time

When compared to a PC Locs top-loading cart with baskets, one traditional cabinet-style cart can easily waste an additional two weeks of class time per year. Our unique and innovative basket designs reduce the time spent by teachers in distributing devices, as well as the time spent by children queueing up to put them away.

3. Encourage Safe Distribution

Baskets also allow the deployment of up to 10 iPads in separate ‘mini’ stations, which means less risk of accidental damage by students and easy collection at the end of a project.

4. Reduce Physical and Online Theft

Schools make significant investments in iPads, laptops and tablets but often overlook security. 10% of mobile devices break or go missing in the first year of deployment, and 41% of data breaches are due to lost and stolen mobile devices. One critical way to secure devices from physical attacks is to keep them out of the wrong hands in the first place. Implementing durable charging stations with ultra-secure locking systems safeguard devices when not in use, protecting them from theft, breakage and loss. You’ll see significant savings on replacement hardware while avoiding costs incurred from compromised data, and give educators peace of mind that their devices are always safe and sound.

5. Raise Your School’s Infrastructure Grade

With school-owned and personal mobile devices in heavy use, they’re bound to lose their charge at some point during the day. While plugging a device into any available power outlet may seem like the obvious solution, outlets are hard to come by and don’t protect against breakage or theft. On-demand, centralised and secure charging towers offer a modern convenience without expensive infrastructure upgrades. An optional pedestal for the Putnam 18-C Base Charging Station™ allows charging up to 36 Chromebook, small laptop or tablet devices in two stacked charging stations with one outlet plug.

6. Modernise Your School

With its Intelligent Asset Management System, individually-lockable compartments, and sleek design, the FUYL Tower™ Charging Locker is the future of EdTech. Smarter mobile device management can assist in bringing your school up to a contemporary standard by automating device management for break/fix programs, loaner device programs, device distribution and more.

7. Help Make Students Health and Well Being a Priority

Managing classroom bacteria can be a challenge. Just as baskets can reduce the time spent by teachers in distributing devices, UVone UV-C disinfection for mobile devices can decrease time spent sanitising them. Traditional wipes can take upwards of three minutes to disinfect, while UVone UV disinfection works in just 30 seconds. If you’re looking to mitigate the spread of viral bacteria, UVone reduces SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, by 99.99%*—that’s 10x more effective than leading disinfecting wipes. With touchless sensors, students never physically touch the station, reducing cross-contamination.

By planning for device management in your 2020/21 funding strategy, you’ll be more likely to succeed in delivering and dispersing valuable tools to the people who need them most, get a positive return on investment, and save valuable time. Don’t worry; it’s much easier than planning the launch of a spacecraft! Get in touch with PC Locs to find out how we can help support your short-term needs as well as your long-term educational technology goals.

Notes:

*PC Locs’ kill rate claims are based on data conducted by an accredited, GLP compliant, BSL-2 laboratory. Kill rate claims for MRSA at a 5-log kill or 99.999% are based on final GLP testing. Kill rate claims for C. Diff are at a 4-log kill or 99.99% in 60 seconds and a 3-log kill or 99.9% in 30 seconds. C. Diff results are based on final GLP testing. Real world results may vary. Testing data available upon request.