By storing and serving web content locally, caching dramatically improves page load time, transforming your user experience. In schools this can mean the difference between keeping students engaged and losing their attention as they wait for videos to buffer.
When a student or teacher downloads an object, a copy is stored on the cache. Subsequent requests for the same file can then be served instantly, without re-downloading. As well as using less bandwidth, this improves response times for your users. This is particularly powerful in schools where students are often directed to visit identical online content at the start of a lesson.
Slow access to online resources stops educators from using content that improves students’ learning experiences and helps prepare them for 21st century careers. Teachers use tools like YouTube to encourage independent learning, keep younger students engaged and to clearly communicate complex ideas. But for network managers, this bandwidth-intensive content can be a real headache.
As such, transforming user experience is often the #1 reason that schools deploy a cache, particularly:
- in high-cost bandwidth locations, often rural, where students are at a disadvantage compared to those in urban areas – if more time is spent waiting for content, then less time can be spent teaching and learning
- where higher bandwidth capacity is not available and existing capacity is too low all the time, not just at peaks – such as in remote regions relying on satellite links
- when specific education content or a learning management system is unusable in the classroom and upgrading bandwidth is not improving delivery speed