A MORE than £150,000 investment in new technology will make laptops more accessible, trackable and sustainable for students at Wiltshire College & University Centre.
The college introduced a LapSafe – a smart locker system for laptops – at the new Wiltshire Business School when it opened at the college’s Lackham campus earlier this year. Now it is in the process of rolling them out to other areas at Lackham and to its campuses in Chippenham, Trowbridge and Salisbury.
“The LapSafes are better for students because they make the laptops more accessible for students and we are getting the best value on our investment,” said Head of IT Services Phil Lewis.
Students access the self-service cabinets which can store between 20 and 44 laptops securely, with their ID badges and are assigned a fully charged laptop. Once they have finished using it, they return it to the cabinet and connect it to the charger so it is ready for the next user. The system records that it has been returned.
The system can be configured so that if they don’t return it they get a reminder by email or staff are alerted. “It improves security and ownership of the device by the student because we’re able to keep a log of who took it out last, so there’s a good audit trail,” said Phil.
The system will also ask students if they need to report a fault when they log out, which triggers an alert to the IT department. The LapSafe uses just the optimum amount of power to recharge the device, which conserves electricity and reduces the college’s carbon footprint.
Both measures can also prolong the working life of the device to minimise the need for replacements.
“Another advantage for us is that the system will monitor how often the laptops are used and where,” said Phil. “We can use that information to ensure we invest in new devices correctly, so that each area of the college has sufficient numbers.
“We even have the ability to limit which department has access to a particular cabinet to ensure there are enough for students in that area.”
LapSafes have been installed in reception and the Learning Resource Centre at Lackham and there are plans to introduce them in similar areas at the other campuses over the next few months.
Previously laptops for students have been stored in classrooms on caddies but if the classrooms are locked they are inaccessible – and if they haven’t been reconnected for charging after use there is no way of knowing until another student takes it out.
“The LapSafes allow us to store the devices in more central locations like reception areas, corridors and LRCs so that they are always available, working well and fully charged,” said Phil.
“Quite a few universities and some colleges have adopted this system and we’ve already been visited by a college to see how it is working, so we are being forward thinking with this. It will help us to use our resources more effectively but equally importantly it is better for our students.”
