FAQ Answered: What is a Virtual Desktop/Instructional Desktop?

Last updated 2 months ago

When appropriately implemented, cloud computing enables the creation and delivery of a ‘virtual desktop’ for each user. This ‘virtual desktop’ can be tuned to the unique needs of each user (teacher, student, administrator) based on the users’ unique information and computing needs and the ‘credentials’ for this user as established by school system IT personnel.

Conversely, in a typical implementation of computing infrastructure, end-user files and applications are stored and accessed from the local hard drive (or solid state flash drive) of an end user computer and thus the end-user (or an IT support person) is tasked with managing and maintaining, and keeping current, the suite of files and applications stored on the local computer.

In K-12 education, this support of end-user devices is an extraordinary challenge given often limited availability of IT support personnel. In an education cloud implementation, these same applications and files are delivered to the computer (via a public or private network connection) from the cloud. The end user desktop is now ‘virtualized’ and rendered visible to the client computer (whether laptop, tablet, traditional desktop, thin-client, netbook, or mobile smartphone) unique to each user profile.

This effectively lowers administration costs of computing (particularly in one-to-one computing environments) and provides a centralized environment from which services can be provisioned and managed. Using a virtual desktop an end-user student, for example, can access their files, applications, and learning tools, from any machine, anywhere, so long as this device has access to the public or private network infrastructure.

ClassLink offers this cloud-based educational environment in the form of LaunchPad. LaunchPad provides a cloud-based virtual desktop that allows students and teachers to access the same files, applications, and collaboration tools from any device. To learn more about BYO, LaunchPad, or any of ClassLink’s other products, call us at (888) 963-7550 or visit us online.