Ericom Software, a company that specializes in application access and desktop virtualization solutions announced that Greater Lawrence Technical School (GLTS) has selected Ericom Software to extend their 1:1 Chromebook initiative with web-based access to industry-specific Windows-based software.

Located in Andover, Mass., the four-year Greater Lawrence Technical School has between 1,350 and 1,400 students enrolled in 19 career area programs across auto repair, culinary, dental and marketing industries. The school has a goal for growth of 375 students per year.

Recently transitioning to the cloud, GLTS adopted Google technology across the board, therefore reducing the need for costly technical labs. As each career area program uses a unique Windows-based application, GLTS needed a robust solution that could service all of them. Ericom’s clientless solution provided GLTS a solution that performed well with Chromebooks, and assured an entirely web-based learning environment.

“We’re pushing everything completely to the cloud – printing, storing student information, and managing finance – and implementing Chromebooks for use by our students,” William Jakubec, Director of Technology for Greater Lawrence Technical School said. “I completely believe in a mobile society where the educational environment is no longer restricted by its walls.”

The boundaries of EdTech have been widely discussed over the last decade or so with the implementations of new products like Ericom.

The school saved $30,000 in its choice to implement Ericom over its competitors, allowing them to update a lab and make other necessary upgrades in other departments. The software was easily implemented in an hour, and immediately ready for use by GLTS’s students and teachers. Currently, end-user devices consist of about 400 Chromebooks; various teachers are also using Ericom to log in from PCs and Macs.

Saving money is high on the nations education facilities despite the government funding that exists for education technology. It’s become a top priority to have schools focus more on what technology they acquire rather than how much it costs. Companies that assure schools a safety net in their budget might be the one the nation’s facilities turn to first.

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Release posted by Navindra Persaud, Education World Contributor