How IT leaders can spearhead the education transformation project

Presented by MSI

If the primary goal of education is to prepare children for the future, IT leaders play a more critical role than ever. Technology has had a profound impact on work in every industry and has opened up enormous new opportunities in new fields, from STEM and AI jobs to esports and beyond. It has also changed the way students engage in learning, skill development, high-level problem solving and critical thinking.

“Exposing students to computer science and advanced technology is not only useful for their futures as they inevitably use it in their careers, but it also changes their relationship with school,” says Mat Holley, esports program manager at MSI. “When they are more engaged, they have better attendance. They have better grades. They are better prepared for studies and the labor market. The enthusiasm is extraordinary.”

School officials are leading these initiatives, but they cannot do it alone. To deliver these learning experiences, they must work with their district’s IT leaders, education specialists, and technology industry professionals, and the challenge is to ensure the viability of these programs, as well as the technology, expertise, and future-proofing.

How technology changes the learning process

To support these initiatives, the choice of hardware and software becomes crucial. Holley points to an after-school club in the Chula Vista Community School District in San Diego, with which he has worked to help develop and equip technology education initiatives. There, students work on video design, broadcasting, artificial intelligence and music creation using MSI’s Vector GP and Raider GE series laptops, integrating Nvidia graphics hardware and Intel computing power. This high-end gaming hardware and software powers the largest high school esports program in the U.S., the Kern High School District Esports League.

“I have worked with schools that are advanced in their development and ready to upgrade their equipment to keep pace with how children work and learn, and I have helped districts build programs from scratch with the right equipment to reach students.” Holley explains. “And while much of this is uncharted territory, momentum is gaining momentum, sometimes through word of mouth.”

The surprising benefits of e-sports

Educators share knowledge, generate interest, and collaborate with peers as they work to develop a curriculum standard and a blueprint for specifications for the hardware and software that can support these programs.

While many educators and leaders were initially surprised that esports could have such a profound impact on children – especially those who often feel excluded from other sports – the number of esports programs is growing. Not only do they have enormous educational and social benefits for participating students, but esports also attracts kids who have never joined an extracurricular club: girls who have felt left out of science and math classes, and BIPOC students who they deserve greater opportunities. Clubs increase self-confidence and, most often, these students pursue computer science or another related technology career.

“There are no barriers to becoming a gamer, and that applies to computer science in general,” Holley says. “You don’t even have to be a player to join these clubs. Increasingly, esports is being connected to various technology clubs such as design, broadcasting and journalism, and previously disenfranchised children are finding their calling in these clubs in an unprecedented way.

Building a learning experience from scratch

Of course, school districts implementing these programs continue to face challenges, many of which come down to severe budget constraints. There are also challenges in ensuring robust security, integrating new technology with existing networks, and moving the environment from on-premises to the cloud. MSI works with educational institutions to ensure that they not only meet district hardware specifications, but also that new equipment is seamlessly integrated.

“As we have seen more and more esports being integrated into schools, we have worked with schools to meet their price point and warranty requirements, which are typically longer than a retail warranty,” Holley says. “We also wanted to make sure that these were machines that students would enjoy playing on and that sophisticated esports titles would be supported. As we began to work closely with more schools, we integrated products from our professional line to enhance the student experience and give them access to even more areas of technology to explore.”

Education IT leaders are thrilled: adding these computer labs is easier than ever. As computing advances, hardware size continues to shrink, making student computers lightweight and easy for IT teams to deploy. IT leaders should also look for hardware that is easy to integrate, especially from a security standpoint – but most districts are working with older hardware environments.

“When building a student technology center, consider whether existing equipment will work with the new equipment and whether it will be safely moved to the cloud,” Holley says. “But as long as we can integrate security standards like content filters, custom imaging, and autopilot deployment, it will be much easier to deploy at scale in almost any environment. We try to build directly in tandem with IT departments across the district so they can tell us what they need and what their roadmap looks like. This allows us on the producer’s side to be sure that we will all be playing together in the years to come.”

Another important issue is the product life cycle, which in the consumer world is extremely short. IT leaders should work with a partner offering dedicated education hardware that has lifecycles long enough to accommodate the relatively long bidding and purchasing schedule for education purchases.

Of course, as cloud computing becomes the standard, it’s important to stay up to date with hardware and software changes and evolving risk scenarios. This means researching, testing, and working with your vendor to stay informed about the latest hardware and software developments and when it’s time to upgrade. This also means choosing hardware that can be easily updated and expanded.

It is much easier to choose equipment

To support technology education, MSI offers the Cubi NUC and DP21, which support Intel vPro and Windows Autopilot to simplify management, increase security, and streamline the deployment process. Thunderbolt 4 technology and power ensure fast connectivity and charging. They are also easily scalable and offer real-time data processing for artificial intelligence and machine learning. Their small size ensures flexible installation and a good ratio of performance to space occupied, as well as flexible configuration.

The company also offers STEM, gaming and content creation computers such as the DP180, CreatorPro, Vector GP and Raider GE series laptops with dedicated graphics hardware that accelerates graphics-intensive applications and offers easy upgrades with memory and storage expansion options to ensure longevity.

Experienced vendors and manufacturers will work with decision-makers to provide schools with the best hardware and software their money can buy, as well as keep IT teams informed about what’s next and how to ensure students have every learning opportunity using the latest technology possible.

“We are paving the way for these students into the future, and it is important that we equip them for whatever comes next,” Holley says. “Gaming and other high-tech hardware have become an integral part of the agenda, so IT leaders must get creative when designing technology assets and work with manufacturing and resale allies to move initiatives forward.”

Dig deeper: Learn more here about the technology solutions that support today’s learning experiences.

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