Niagara College, Ontario, CA

Customer Spotlight

Niagara College (NC) is located in the heart of the Niagara Region just minutes from one of the world’s most well-known tourist destinations, Niagara Falls. NC offers more than 130 pioneering programs between their state-of-the-art campuses in both Welland and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Both campuses were recently renovated thanks to the $65-million campus redevelopment project as part of their strategy to embrace a transformational shift in learning and support a culture of modernization in their programs and services. 

This support can be seen in the types of courses they offer which are vastly different to other colleges. Examples of this include Canada’s first teaching winery, brewery, artisan distilling, and even commercial cannabis production! 

Niagara's AppsAnywhere Journey

Covid-19 Curveball

Like the vast majority of higher education establishments around the world, NC were thrown a curveball when COVID-19 hit. When staff and students were sent home for their own safety, approximately 45 computer labs could no longer be used.  Due to their continuous ability to innovate, they already had remote learning (VDI) in place ahead of the pandemic however, it wasn’t the perfect fit for the extreme situation we all found ourselves in. Instead, NC looked towards creating their own Digital Toolkit to tackle the situation head-on. 

The Student Experience

NC further added to their Digital Toolkit by building and configuring a student VPN so they could give the students the back-end experience in a secure way. They configured AppsAnywhere to open on the student computer but with the VPN in place meaning they could use a shared database or files on the College network as if they were connected to the College’s wireless or wired network.

“I think they were just so happy that they were able to get as much access as they got because they never expected to have a great experience during COVID-19. I think our experience was far more enhanced because of the combination of AppsAnywhere and other network/security innovations to make sure that it worked well." 

Quick Implementation

Before the pandemic, NC were starting a project to make AppsAnywhere the central control for their computer labs meaning they were only updating software in one location at the College.

Due to this previous understanding, they were able to navigate the tight deadlines triggered by COVID-19, and crunched from what was going to be at least a one-year project to implement remote access to all of these applications for students into approximately two weeks!

“I don't think it's ever going completely back to in person and I think we're always going to have a little bit of hybrid and flexibility. It's going to become the new normal and we're only going to get better at it.

The Future is Bright

NC say that their programs immerse students within a highly experiential learning environment enhanced by digital technologies. This can clearly be seen in how they have adapted to COVID-19, combining software to create a unique recipe that gives all their students the digital equity they deserve, even beyond pandemic life. 

The students expect access from anywhere, anytime and any place and we can deliver that with AppsAnywhere.

NC’s transformational shift is remarkable. Their commitment to ensuring that their students have the digital equity they deserve can be seen as clearly as Niagara Falls itself! We are proud to call them a partner and are looking forward to growing alongside them. 

AppsAnywhere x Niagara College