Digital Schools Statistics

Roger Pryor at Leaders in Public Schools has a post explaining the many and varied benefits of utilizing web2.0 tools in your school. In it he links to tech learning articles on web 2.0 and professional development, which has a great list of resources to share.

Roger also links to Key technology trends , another techlearning article. Note point 4. bandwidth crisis looming. I've blogged about this before using the term exaflood.

1. Not long ago very few schools had a large number of laptop computers.

2. Ubiquitous Computing Is Growing Rapidly
3. Ubiquitous Computing Practitioners Report Substantial Academic Improvement
4. A Bandwidth Crisis Is Looming

Today the Internet bandwidth per student is 2.90 Kbps (or kilobits per second per student) according to the survey. Furthermore, schools say they will grow this to 9.57 Kbps per student by 2011—a 3.3-fold increase. But the ADS 2006 team believes that as much as 40 Kbps may be needed in five years. As the number of computers in schools increases and the ways in which students use computers change, more and more bandwidth will be needed.

It is unlikely, however, that many schools are budgeting for a 14-fold increase, although technology directors are generally aware of the challenge. The hard costs of the bandwidth required to support the growth in online learning, home connectivity, and ubiquitous computing are unknown and likely to require additional research.

5. Online Learning Is Growing
6. Professional Development Is Key
7. Low Total Cost of Ownership Is Increasingly Important
8. Some Product Categories Will Grow at a Rapid Rate (IWB's and handheld/mobile devices)

The article gives graphs and stats, well worth a read.