SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY MAKES PROGRESS, YET CHALLENGES REMAIN

teens sitting outside look at their phones

CoSN’s 2016 Annual Infrastructure Survey found that, while schools are making progress increasing broadband connectivity in classrooms, significant hurdles remain. These include:

Affordability
✻ 57 percent said ongoing recurring expenses are the biggest barrier to robust connectivity (up from 46% in 2015).

Lack of Competition
✻ 54 percent of rural district leaders reported that only one provider sells Internet to their district.
✻ 40 percent of rural respondents reported receiving one or fewer qualified proposals for broadband services in 2016. This marks no progress from last year.

Digital Equity
✻ 42 percent ranked lack of broadband access outside of school as a “very high priority.”
✻ Nearly two-thirds, however, said they have no strategies for providing off-campus connectivity to students.

Security
✻ Nearly half spend less than 4 percent of their entire technology budget on security.

Cloud Migration
✻ Approximately 40 percent are considering migrating their server infrastructure to the cloud.
✻ Nearly 60 percent said that learning management systems make up the largest cloud deployment, followed by student information systems.