CUNY-app-streaming-case-study

8/7/2019 CUNY-app-streaming-case-study

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Education goEs virtual

City University of New York pilots

application streaming project


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Education goEs virtual: cy uey f new Yk p pp em pje |

Fits likE a gloVE

In September 2008, CUNY introduced the Virtual

Application Streaming Pilot Project to 143 students and

six faculty members, allowing them access to campus soft-

ware from anywhere instantaneously via the Internet.

Without this technology, students faced either purchasing

an expensive application for installation on a personal com-

puter or commuting to campus and utilizing a university

computer with the software already installed. In the pilot

project, CUNY provided multi-user software licenses, mak-

ing the streamed applications free to students and faculty for

the duration of a course.

James Haggard, CUNYs deputy CIO for Strategic Ini-

tiatives, is pleased with the results of this pilot and denes

success as minimizing and/or removing barriers to ensure

successful student outcomes.We met our objective of making tools available online

using remote access, he said. The student derives the same

access to information as if he or she were sitting on campus.

Cohen added that there have been few, if any, calls to

the IT Help Desk, and the experience has been positive for

students, faculty and IT staff with no difference between

locally installed and streamed software.

Moreover, virtual application streaming technology

offers nancial benets to the university because it reduces

the need for additional hardware investment. Unlike server-

based computing, application streaming uses the computingpower of the users computer. It is not necessary for CUNY

to purchase new servers to run the students applications.

The virtualized software also separates the application from

the users operating system, eliminating software conicts.

CUNY is dedicated to promoting sustainability, and

virtual application streaming will assist the institution in

reducing its carbon footprint. With this tool, the university

uses students computing power, reducing the need for extra

hardware investment. Also, students require fewer trips to

campus, resulting in less driving time.

morE tEchnology,

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lEarning Via strEam

The technology has two components: application virtu-

alization and application streaming. Using the virtualization

piece, CUNY can run applications on remote computers

abstracted from the users operating system, away from the

troublesome registry and system les. Because the software

is delivered in a wrapper a type of virtualization that

maintains a management link back to the streaming server

CUNY collectively updates each users version of the

software, is less concerned about unexpected problems on

the users computer and can recall the software when the

user has completed a course.

The streaming component is what delivers the software.

After users log in to a Web site, they view a list of applica-

tions to which they have access and click an icon. Then, the

wrapped application is delivered to the users system and

runs as if the program is on their computer.

Haggard said that when he streamed the application to

his computer, it took about 35-40 seconds to launch and

present its rst screen. The program begins executing as

soon as the stream hits the laptop, and users do not have to

wait for the entire multiple-gigabyte application to arrive.

Students use the software as if its downloaded directly to

their devices. As the program streams in, it caches on the com-

puter, making subsequent launches identical to the performance

of having the program installed on the operating system.

sEcurity concErns

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similar tEchnologiEs

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wa reay aeag r erm e egra

wrk areay a ackage rc.


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Education goEs virtual: cy uey f new Yk p pp em pje |

managing soFtwarE licEnsing

In todays economy, managing cost is a high priority foruniversities. A technology that uses students computing

power instead of additional university hardware is a sound

investment. However, after IT departments eliminate hard-

ware costs, how can universities ebb the cost of delivering

software to hundreds of students and faculty members?

Its become harder to license products, Cohen said.

The software vendor model is extremely expensive, and,

quite frankly, its an impossible model for higher education

to sustain.

Many software vendors dont allow home usage of uni-

versities products, nor do they allow concurrent use of one

license, while some vendors require one license for every

device, making software an expensive venture. One of the

advantages of a large university, however, is it can negotiate

with vendors for shared network licenses and concurrent-

user models, Haggard said.

Most vendors in software have special programs in

place for education, he said. I dont anticipate that being

an acrimonious discussion, but its going to be work just

because you have to deal with each vendor individually.

For the Virtual Application Streaming Pilot Project,

CUNY is using SPSS, a statistical analysis software that

came bundled with a textbook for a related course. Typi-

cally, CUNY needs to arrange a license agreement with

the software vendor for the students in the course to use

the application via stream. However, since SPSS was pur-

chased with the course textbook, it was convenient for the

pilot because the university was able to test the technology

without obtaining a CUNY license.

mEasuring succEss by ExpEriEncE

At the end of the semester, pilot participants will provide

the university with feedback from their application stream-

ing experiences. CUNY expects to add more students,

faculty and applications to future phases of the project including programs such as Mathematica, a mathemati-

cal modeling application, and Dreamweaver, a tool used for

Web site graphic design.

Success is measured by the perspectives of the students

and faculty, Cohen said. Our goal is to improve access to

instructional applications and provide a positive experience.

By providing virtual application streaming, CUNY is

offering improved curricular access, which gives students

more options for a successful educational career. Whether a

student lives an hour from campus and needs this tech-

nology for convenience or a student walks to class andstreams the software to a laptop during lecture virtual

application streaming provides a level of service that ts the

needs of the traditional and nontraditional student.

Many of our students are rst-generation college stu-

dents, Haggard said. They are people who have enor-

mous demands outside of the university. Many of them are

raising families and have jobs. So if we can in some way

help make it easier for them to do their course work while

theyre balancing all those other competing life needs, then

thats a success too.

a Virtual FuturE

As the demand for distance learning increases, virtual

application streaming will be a necessity for universities,

particularly commuter campuses like CUNY.

This is a technology that helps as were moving toward

more virtual components in many of our classes, Haggard

said. It allows us to focus our campus resources on enhanc-

ing or optimizing our technology goals for students, faculty

and staff.

CUNY, dedicated to providing opportunities for suc-

cessful student outcomes, is emerging as a technological

leader by adopting cutting-edge tools while promising for

a better tomorrow.

Always think outside the box, Cohen said. There are

lots of things that can be done better. Intel and the partners

that theyve brought to this particular project are phenom-

enal. They really did open up our eyes and give us a great

opportunity to improve the service that we deliver.


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About the Center for Digital Education

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CUNY-app-streaming-case-study

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