© 2013 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. At-A-Glance Collaboration in the Cloud Collaboration tools are fundamentally changing the education landscape in K–12 schools and in colleges and universities. Tools like video conferencing and telepresence, on-demand video, Cisco ® WebEx ® , and Cisco WebEx Social help educators teach beyond the four walls of the classroom, so that students can participate in classes and consume information from virtually any location. Video and collaboration technology is enabling students, faculty, and administrators to communicate and share ideas in new and flexible ways, expanding opportunities to learn and grow. Cloud computing is critical in supporting and accelerating this kind of collaboration. Cloud technologies enable the delivery of collaboration services in an “as-a-service” model, making advanced collaboration capabilities accessible to schools and universities while minimizing the need for upfront investment and for building deep expertise in these technologies. Schools are now able to take advantage of voice, video, and mobility applications to provide new learning opportunities by shifting from a capital expenditures (CapEx) to an operating expenses (OpEx) funding model. Cloud collaboration with the Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS) delivers the advantages of Cisco Collaboration technology, with the financial, operational, and strategic benefits associated with cloud services. Cisco HCS is now even more accessible to K–12 schools. In 2007, the Federal E-Rate program expanded the Priority-1- eligible services to include interconnected voice over IP (iVoIP). The iVoIP services based on the Cisco HCS may be eligible for Priority 1 funding under the E-Rate program, which provides discounts of up to 90 percent for the cost of telecommunications services to eligible K–12 schools and libraries. Cisco HCS Delivers Value for Education By accessing collaboration services through the cloud, K–12 schools and higher education institutions can provide Cisco Collaboration solutions to students, teachers, and administrators regardless of their location on campus. Cisco HCS provides cloud-based unified communications and collaboration applications within a highly secure, cloud-ready, virtualized platform under a centralized management system. This model of delivering collaboration services is enabling schools to mitigate technology risk while reducing the upfront investment, allowing schools to pay on a per-month basis. The result is that schools can reap the benefits of new collaboration technology while maintaining fiscal responsibility. Benefits of Cisco HCS for Students • Instant collaboration with classmates and effective interaction with teachers and professors for guidance and feedback • Flexible learning environments that empower students to learn in the best way for them • Greater access to resources outside the classroom Benefits of Cisco HCS for Teachers • Improved communications with other teachers and institutions, as well as with students, parents, and administrators • Ability to accommodate student learning styles • Greater opportunities for continued development Benefits of Cisco HCS for Administrators • Accelerated communications between departments • Reduced OpEx through video meetings instead of travel • Expanded offerings: teachers are able to teach from anywhere to students anywhere • Improved school safety and security with network-powered solutions that deliver the right information, at the right time, to the right people Benefits of Cisco HCS for IT • Increased IT agility through standardized and consolidated services and management • Optimized resources and capital • More efficient resource management, allowing IT staff tofocus on other projects With Cisco HCS, schools and universities can realize the benefits of deploying Cisco Collaboration solutions wherever and whenever they are needed. Collaborative learning inspires new connections between students, teachers, schools, and the community, enables learning anytime and anywhere, and helps transform learning environments to meet the needs of next- generation learners.