The Growth of Technology Expenses in Education Infographic

The Growth of Technology Expenses in Education Infographic

With technology growing so rapidly, it's not surprising to see that the technology spending in American school districts is growing just as fast. The Growth of Technology Expenses in Education Infographic presents how funds are being used in schools and which types of schools are adopting technology most rapidly. Technology expenses are projected to only increase in the future, and you might be surprised at some of the uses of technology in the classroom. Not only is technology aiding students in their learning, but it also streamlining the ways teachers and education faculty work together, making communication faster and easier.

Biggest Expenses

• Real spending per pupil ranges from a low of $12,000 in the Phoenix area schools to a high of nearly $27,000 in the New York metro area.
• Education leaders say they want to focus resources on the core subjects of math, reading, history, and science, but per-pupil spending tends to be much higher for electives, extracurricular activities, and sports.
• Chicago Public Schools report spending about $40 million a year on technology.
• This year, $34 million was invested in big data for K12, up from just $5 million last year. The influx of new technical talent into education, crossing over from other industries, is promising to build the quality of tools needed in K12.
• Schools in the U. S. spend a lot of money on education technology—estimated soon to be $56 billion dollars—36% of which is spent in K–12 education. That's about $400 per student per year.
• Public schools are spending 93% more than the estimated median private school.

Growth of Technology

• One Illinois School District provides about 2,000 computer workstations for 3,100 students, and students can login to district computers from home to continue work they started at school.
• Students are taking notes on iPads and developing ideas for a game they would create over the course of the semester in teams.
• Over the 10 year span from 1995 to 2005, the percentage of schools with Internet access rose from 8% to 97%
• 23% of all public school teachers have an interactive whiteboard in their classroom and 4% have a handheld device.

A survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education

• In 2009, Internet access was available for 93% of the computers located in the classroom every day.
• The ratio of students to computers in the classroom every day was 5.3 to 1.
• Teachers reported that they or their students used computers in the classroom during instructional time often (40%).
• Teachers reported that they or their students used computers in other locations in the school during instructional time often (29%).
• In 2013, 68% of students stated that their teacher uses technology effectively.
• 90% of teachers had either a laptop or PC in the classroom.
• 71% of teachers said that apps are beneficial for teaching.
• 64% of teachers used tablets for educational websites.
• 60% made use of educational e-books/textbooks.

The Education Cloud

Cloud storage saves space, money, and time for teachers, parents, students and administrators. Through the cloud, students are able to talk, view, and interact with presentation and media content, record notes, and access the web, all at the same time, from anywhere.

A report by CDW Government found that over 40% of schools use cloud applications to store their data and by 2016, schools are expected to spend 35% of IT budgets on the cloud. Through K-12 cloud platforms like Edline, teachers have better communication with parents and students regarding assignments, tests, and projects. Parents can login from anywhere (including their phones or tablets) and instantly know how their kids are progressing.

Right now, K-12 schools report that their cloud initiatives are saving them an average of 20% on IT costs. By 2016, those savings are expected to reach 27%.