New wave of wireless. (Research corner: essentials on education data and analysis from research authority AEL).

Wireless technologies have quickly moved from pilot programs to the mainstream in K-12 education. While overall education spending is likely to be flat this year, projections indicate that school districts will significantly up their spending on wireless technologies.

In school year 2001-02, about $495 million was spent in this category; for this school year, educators estimate spending to be $776 million. About two-thirds of that money will go to hardware and 13 percent to networking. Total wireless expenditures will account for about 14 percent of districts' tech budgets.

Although enthusiasm for wireless and mobile computing is high and the technology is improving rapidly, there remain some important concerns, including cost.

Total cost of ownership is a particularly visible issue in technology purchase and integration. Forty-two percent of respondents listed cost as their top obstacle to purchasing wireless technologies. However, in many instances where traditional networks are not feasible or are prohibitively expensive (e.g., over large campuses or in buildings where cinderblock walls or asbestos make traditional wiring impossible), wireless networks provide a cost-effective alternative.

As expected, the districts with the highest number of wireless networks are those whose students are stretched across hard-to-reach areas. Hawaii has almost 30 percent of its schools with wireless networks, while Alaska (26.7 percent) and Iowa (22.7 percent) are second and third on the list.

The report, Wireless Technologies in Education: Moving from Pilots to Mainstream, 2002, can be ordered online for $79 at www.peakgroup.net.

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Wireless Tech Purchases

School districts that spend between $10,000 and $100,000 on wireless
technology expect the largest spending increase in the next two years,
up 4 percent in each year. But the small group of districts spending
between $500,000 and $1 million on these products expect to decrease
their spending in the next two years.

                         2001-02   2002-03   2003-04

Less than $1,000             23%       14%       11%
$1,001 to $10,000            17        19        13
$10,001 to $100,000          35        39        43
$100,001 to $500,000         13        14        18
$500,001 to $1 million        4         2         2
$1 million or more            1         3         2

Software Purchases By Type

School districts were asked to identify what type of wireless software
applications they purchased or intend to purchase for last year and
this year. Respondents were allowed to choose more than one category.

                       2001-02   2002-03

Teacher productivity       37%       44%
Student productivity       36        41
Management                 25        39
Curriculum                 26        28
Communication              23        27
Research tools             20        26
Assessment                 16        20

Source: The Peak Group and AEL, Wireless Technologies in Education
Survey, 2002