Photo by Krissy Venosdale is licensed under CC BY 2.0
As summer days wind to a close, families with students begin to anticipate the start of another school year. For most, it’s an exciting time. School officials spent most of the summer months working on budgets, curriculum, planning, building repair and technology upgrades, but they, too, are anticipating opening day.
Many students will find new technology waiting for them. Others may benefit from upgraded classrooms, libraries and labs. Spending decisions made by executives continue to be difficult and usually painful. School officials are increasingly faced with critical needs and reduced funding. There is never enough money to meet all needs.
Whatever else they budgeted and planned for, technology will again be one of the largest budgeted items in 2015-2016. School districts in the United States were expected to spend $4.7 billion on IT-related solutions and products this year. That will include new PCs and hardware which will account for about $2 billion. Newer, faster, more advanced computers are a critical component of education and they are needed in almost every room – labs, libraries, classrooms and in every administrative office. Laptops have become extremely popular both because of their portability and durability. The devices can now accommodate custom learning tools and that is important because most schools offer specialized and individualized curriculum for students. Individualized learning programs on laptops go home with students at the end of each day. Laptop spending towers to accommodate all the units will account for about $1.4 billion in K-12 technology spending.
California is a leader in education technology and the state allocated more than $2.3 billion for products and software for K-12 and higher education. Even Texas, with $1.2 billion, and New York, with $1.1 billion, are not far behind. Spending has seemingly jumped as fast as technology has changed. Manufacturers of IT equipment know that educational markets are one of the most lucrative sectors for them.
In 2014, education spending for notebooks exceeded $4 billion, but that is likely to decrease by about 7 percent this year. Many schools have already replaced older model notebooks and tablets.
Schools are investing in tablet technology because it offers a single product that can be a resource for both students and teachers. Tablets now are more durable and portable, plus they have greater capabilities. iPads are also popular as they offer solutions to those with learning disabilities as well as to students with visual or hearing impairments by providing accommodating features like text zoom, enhanced speech options and color inversion.
E-readers will be a big budget item for most schools. Those costs are anticipated to top $153 million. Learning tools will be approximately $522 million. Technology vendors who work in educational marketplaces must be smiling about this time of year. On the other hand, parents, teachers, students and educators should also be smiling. Upgraded technology benefits them as well as the rest of America. Technology is our ticket to continued prosperity in a global world.
To learn more about the procurement opportunities for technology in education, contact the Strategic Partnerships, Inc. team.