Providing Remote Computer Access for the Next Generation of Music Producers and Sound Engineers
How Abbey Road Institute leveraged Splashtop remote access software to ensure academic continuity in a remote learning environment
Summary
When the lockdown started in March 2020, Abbey Road Institute moved from teaching in-person to teaching online quickly. Natalia Rodrigues Milanezi, a Senior Audio Technician at Abbey Road Institute London, explains how her institution leveraged Splashtop Enterprise for remote labs to meet the new challenges raised from switching to remote learning and changing the way they delivered their specialist music production and audio engineering curriculum during the pandemic.
The Challenge: Providing Access to Powerful On-Campus AV Machines
As a Senior Audio Technician at Abbey Road Institute, Natalia Rodrigues Milanezi’s role entails supervising the technical aspects of the facilities and putting together technical procedures for the daily operation of the school.
The Institute had installed the latest industry software and plugins like Pro Tools and Logic Pro X. These programs are integrated into the audio recording, editing, and mixing curriculum of the students. A significant part of Natalia’s role was to ensure that students have access to these crucial resources.
So when the lockdown started in March 2020 and Abbey Road Institute was forced to move to online learning, Natalia and her team became confronted with an unusual challenge: remotely offering students access to the powerful school computers and programs from the students’ own devices at home.
“We needed to remotely offer students access to our computers in order for them to do their assignments/practical work,” explains Natalia. “This was very important because the school computers had programs that most students did not own themselves. This would have made it difficult to carry on teaching students in a remote environment.”
Natalia needed to find a solution that would ensure undisrupted learning in the new remote environment of Abbey Road Institute.
The Solution: Remote Access Software With HD Audio Streamer
As the head of the technical department at Abbey Road Institute, Natalia carried out the research to find a solution for remote learning at the institute. She needed a remote access software solution that would enable students to remotely access the Institute’s computers and stream audio through the network.
“My most important criteria were the ability to not only access another machine remotely, but also, to be able to stream audio through the network and use it simultaneously with Zoom, which is the platform we currently use to deliver our lectures,” said Natalia.
Since Natalia used Splashtop remote access software to remotely access her computers for her personal work, she decided to test Splashtop Enterprise for remote labs as one of the solutions for Abbey Road Institute.
“I signed up for a free trial and simulated situations in which the students could use Splashtop to test how practical and convenient it would be,” explains Natalia. “I also carried out some tests with another provider, but we encountered some problems with their audio streamer device, so at the end, Splashtop proved itself to be a much more well-developed and comprehensive tool for our remote access needs.”
With Splashtop Enterprise for remote labs, Abbey Road Institute could:
Enable students to remotely access lab computers from any device (including Chromebooks), so they could use all the on-campus applications they needed from home.
Give faculty and staff access to their work computers from home so they can work remotely, and enable them to access student devices to provide one-on-one guidance.
Ensure that IT can quickly access and provide remote support to any student or faculty device the moment help is needed, including computers, tablets, and mobile devices.
Splashtop for remote labs also came with handy features, and Natalia was particularly fond of the file transfer feature.
“My favorite Splashtop feature is the file transfer,” said Natalia. “It is very useful and practical since our students need to transfer their files to their computers at home after working on their projects.”
The Results
After successfully testing Splashtop remote access software, Natalia and her team decided to purchase 20 iMac computers for the mac labs to support students in distant learning.
As a result, up to 80 students and 10 staff members of Abbey Road Institute use Splashtop to benefit from an enhanced remote learning and teaching experience.
Things are running smoothly, and Natalia and her team are happy with Splashtop.
“Splashtop is a handy tool in a learning environment and a creative context for our music production and sound engineering students,” said Natalia. “It has been helping us a lot during these difficult times!”
Natalia added that Splashtop gave the Institute a competitive edge.
“During these times when teaching can only be delivered online, we, unlike many other schools, can continue to provide our students with access to industry-standard software to support their learning process. This provides us with a competitive edge.” – Natalia Rodrigues Milanesi
Splashtop for remote labs has been trusted by many academic institutions like Abbey Road Institute, Harvard Law School, Duke University, and MIT. It is low cost, high performing, and very secure. Contact us to learn more, to set up a demo, or start a free trial and see for yourself how easy it can be to provide your students and faculty with access to on-campus machines.
Watch Abbey Road Institute's Testimony
Details
About Abbey Road Institute
Abbey Road Institute is a specialist music production and sound engineering school that trains audio professionals with a practical, hands-on curriculum delivered through a one-year professional Advanced Diploma in Music Production and Sound Engineering.
Learn more about the Abbey Road Institute.
About Splashtop Enterprise for Remote Labs
Splashtop Enterprise for remote labs enables academic and training institutions to enhance and support their learning programs by allowing students and teachers to remotely log into and use lab computers just as they would in person. With Splashtop Enterprise for remote labs, you can:
Access Windows, Mac, and Linux computers from any other Windows, Mac, iOS, Android or Chromebook device.
Remotely control computers with ease over fast connections (streaming in 4k) with HD quality and sound.
Get the top features needed to stay productive while working remotely, including drag-and-drop file transfer, remote print, remote wake, remote reboot, chat, USB Passthrough (use of Wacom tablets), remote mic, SSO, granular privileges, group-based access permissions and more.
Save up to 80% or more when you choose Splashtop over other more expensive remote access products.
Use the scheduled remote access features to schedule open lab hours and specialized lab sessions, enabling different groups of students to remotely access the computer lab during their scheduled class time.
What Customer are Saying
Splashtop is a very useful tool in a learning environment and in a creative context for our music production and sound engineering students. It has helped us a lot during these difficult times!
Natalia Rodrigues Milanesi
