Arizona’s Fastest-Growing School District Offers Laptops in the Classroom
Dysart Unified School District promotes laptop learning with Hewlett-Packard laptops and laptop tracking software from Absolute Software
Summary
Headquartered in the cities of Surprise and El Mirage, Arizona, Dysart Unified School District (DUSD) is Arizona’s fastest-growing school district. Despite the district’s extremely rapid expansion, it remains focused on its mission of “Increasing in Excellence” – or, preparing students for life in the new century. Recognizing that technology will play a major role in the livelihood of its K-12 students, the district is moving aggressively toward making laptop computers an everyday learning tool for its 23,100 students. To manage the growing fleet of mobile computers, the district has implemented secure Information Technology asset management and laptop recovery software from Absolute Software. Computrace®CompleteTM from Absolute Software was installed to deter theft and recover laptops should they go missing. This turned out to be money well spent as the school district experienced its first laptop theft since implementing the program, and had the computer recovered within two weeks. This incident has helped the district continue to embrace its leading approach to technology adoption in education.
Growth with an Eye for Excellence
Dysart Unified School District is growing incredibly quickly. Since 2000, the school district has built no less than 15 new schools and currently welcomes more than 2,500 new students and 300 new staff members from around the nation each year. A 10-year analysis confirms Dysart is Arizona’s fastest-growing school district.
In spite of the exponential growth, Dysart Unified School District has remained focused on academic performance, high-caliber staffing and continuous improvement. Six district schools received the state’s “Performance Plus” ranking for overall performance in implementing the state’s “Arizona Learns” program. Extremely competitive staff recruitment objectives have also seen the district provide a 15 percent increase in teacher salaries over the last four years.
In spite of the exponential growth, Dysart Unified School District has remained focused on academic performance, high-caliber staffing and continuous improvement. Six district schools received the state’s “Performance Plus” ranking for overall performance in implementing the state’s “Arizona Learns” program. Extremely competitive staff recruitment objectives have also seen the district provide a 15 percent increase in teacher salaries over the last four years.
The Shift Toward Laptop Learning
As with a growing number of schools districts across North America, Dysart is increasingly turning to laptop computers as an everyday learning tool in an effort to produce better results in the classroom and prepare students for life in the new century.
The move is evident in the district’s work with computer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard. In 2006, the school purchased 1,000 desktop and 300 notebook computers. One year later, the emphasis on laptop learning was obvious. In 2007, the district worked closely with HP to purchase more than 1,700 HP Compaq laptop computers with a goal of putting 5-6 in selected district classrooms.
The move is evident in the district’s work with computer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard. In 2006, the school purchased 1,000 desktop and 300 notebook computers. One year later, the emphasis on laptop learning was obvious. In 2007, the district worked closely with HP to purchase more than 1,700 HP Compaq laptop computers with a goal of putting 5-6 in selected district classrooms.
“Laptop learning helps address many of our New Century Learner initiatives – increasing opportunities for flexible and collaborative learning environments, small group instruction and problem based learning,” says the district’s Director of Information Technology Evan Allred. “However, with increased portability, comes increased opportunities for theft, and keeping track of computers that are no longer bolted to a school desk becomes more challenging. We wanted to use technology to help us deter theft, track our laptops and recover those that went missing.”
Using Technology to Protect Laptops
To keep watch over its new computers, Allred and his team turned to Hewlett-Packard’s laptop tracking partner Absolute Software. “Having made a major investment in new HP laptops, one of the options we had for keeping track of them was ComputraceComplete from Absolute Software,” said Allred. “It uses the Internet to help us track each computer, where it is located, who is logging in and, should one go missing, where it has been taken. We just report the missing computer to Absolute and they work with local law enforcement to find it and recover it for us. We can also inventory our computers at any time – which is an amazing feature for helping us with our budgets and appropriately allocating new computers to schools.”
At present, more than 2,500 computers at the Dysart Unified School District are protected with Absolute’s ComputraceComplete, including the district’s fleet of HP laptops.
How it Works
The Computrace agent that powers ComputraceComplete is supported by a module embedded in the BIOS, or firmware, of each computer. This agent calls into Absolute Software’s monitoring center daily to report information such as the computer’s physical location, installed software, virus protection status – even missing hardware. Using the Absolute Software Online Customer Center, Allred and administrators at the Dysart Unified School District can more effectively manage the district’s mobile computers.
When a computer equipped with ComputraceComplete is reported stolen, the Computrace agent sends a silent signal over the Internet to Absolute’s Monitoring Center, providing critical location information. Absolute then works with local law enforcement to recover the computer. ComputraceComplete can even remotely delete sensitive information for schools that are concerned about the data contained on stolen laptops. With BIOS support, the Computrace agent is capable of surviving operating system re-installations, as well as hard-drive reformats, replacements and re-imaging.
The First Test
“Our rationale for going the high-tech route in protecting our new laptops was the need to recover our expensive computers should they go missing or end up stolen, “said Allred. “We knew the school construction process would bring countless people onto our campuses and that would create a security vulnerability in the district. It wasn’t long before one of our teachers had her laptop stolen.”
After a weekend construction project at one of the district’s schools, a teacher discovered her laptop missing when she returned to her classroom on Monday. Realizing her computer had been stolen, she reported the theft to the school district. District administrators alerted Absolute’s Recovery Team. Within a few days, the computer called into Absolute’s Monitoring Center and reported its location. Local law enforcement used that information to secure a search warrant for the home of a contractor who had done some work at the school. When confronted, the contractor said they had purchased the laptop from another contractor affiliated with the school for $300.
Local law enforcement plans to charge the alarm installation contractor with receiving stolen property and continues to investigate accusations of alleged thief.
“We were impressed with our first experience working with Absolute’s recovery service,” said Allred. “They literally looked after everything from the moment we let them know it was stolen to the point where we could go pick it up at the Surprise (Arizona) Police Department. In the past, we wouldn’t have had a chance of recovering that laptop, but the sheer speed with which it was found in this case should be a major deterrent for would-be thieves.”
“We were impressed with our first experience working with Absolute’s recovery service,” said Allred. “They literally looked after everything from the moment we let them know it was stolen to the point where we could go pick it up at the Surprise (Arizona) Police Department. In the past, we wouldn’t have had a chance of recovering that laptop, but the sheer speed with which it was found in this case should be a major deterrent for would-be thieves.”
Tips for Managing Laptop Computers in Schools
- Physical theft protection. Physical deterrents and common sense can provide a valuable first line of defense in the protection of company laptops. Keep laptops inconspicuous while they are out of the classroom by covering them when in cars, locking them out of sight and avoiding carrying them in tell-tale laptop bags. Take advantage of physical deterrents such as cable locks, which can slow or deter thieves but, like car door locks, shouldn’t be relied on to prevent a computer theft.
- Accurate asset management. Knowing where all your computers are, what is installed on them and who is using them is a powerful security measure. Seek asset management systems that can track your laptops regardless of their location.
- Post-theft plans. Consider what would happen if a laptop containing sensitive data was stolen. Imagine a criminal scrolling though the files wondering what value they can derive from the data. Put measures in place to recover lost laptops and, failing that, delete the information on them.
Next Steps
Dysart Unified School District plans to continue the expansion of its successful laptop learning initiative and hopes to largely phase out desktop computers for classroom use. “The need for mobile computing is here to stay in today’s K-12 classrooms, and the technology for protecting and managing them in the school environment is now readily available,” says Allred. “The combination of Hewlett-Packard laptops and ComputraceComplete is proving to be a great package for supporting our laptop learning programs.”
1 Certain conditions apply. For full details visit: www.absolute.com/Service_Agreement.pdf
2 For a complete list of firmware-supported computers visit www.absolute.com/firmware.
2 For a complete list of firmware-supported computers visit www.absolute.com/firmware.
