Florida District Gives Users One Stop Access to Files and Applications

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 06/16/14

A Florida school district is adopting an online service that provides users with single sign-on, gaining them access to their files and applications from any device. Brevard County Schools is using LaunchPad from ClassLink to provide a "framework" for centralized access to disparate systems "that, collectively, make up the district's learning management system," a sales agreement stated.

The district is spending $485,000 for a five-year contract that covers 80,000 users, including about 72,000 students. That funding will come out of the district's local Race to the Top allocation.

The district tested the program for about six months before pursuing a long-term purchase. "LaunchPad will provide anytime/anywhere access to all of our files and folders," said Matt Frey, educational technology manager. "It provides a consistent cloud desktop across all devices, and will fully support our 'bring your own' initiatives. We are pleased to be implementing this remarkable technology solution in all of our schools."

Brevard uses Microsoft Active Directory, which the service interoperates with. The program also works with any other LDAP directory. It provides 500-plus built-in auto-logins -- connectors for Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and Dropbox, as well as many education-specific offerings.

LaunchPad has also been used at Wisconsin's Green Bay Area Public School District and Shorewood School District, Lopatcong School District in New Jersey and Catskill Central School District in New York, among others.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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