Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy (IPACA) pushes the boundaries of 21st century learning with G Suite and Chromebooks

By using Chromebooks and Google Apps, we’ve been able to transform the learning experience for all of our students. This open access to online resources is key to students becoming successful independent learners, empowering them to use resources as they see best and giving them the skills they’ll need to be successful in the future.

IPACA Principal, Alison Appleyard

Reto

IPACA formed by blending together five different schools. This presented a unique challenge for the IT staff who needed a way to combine all of the schools' accounts on to one server. As leading advocates for the use of technology in the classroom, the school's administration wanted to offer all of its students access to online learning technology. This meant providing students with a personal email account and a laptop or tablet so they could engage with other students and teachers whenever it was convenient for them.

Solución

The IT team chose Google Apps for Education, a free suite of communication and collaboration tools, to meet their needs. Since there’s no license payments or in-house data storage requirements, they were able to ensure every pupil and staff member had a Google Apps account and a Gmail address within the first two months of the academy opening. Giving students devices allowed them to access learning content from anywhere at any time.