More Schools Reach Out to Web for Digital Content
89 percent of U.S. public schools use the Internet to provide data for instructional planning at the school level, according to the U.S. Education Department. That’s a giant leap considering that only 35 percent of schools had Internet access at all in 1994.
Some 87 percent also reported providing high-quality digital content from digital libraries or museums, or any text, images, sounds and video that have been digitized. More than half of these schools also use the Internet for online professional development courses for teachers, and one-third use the Web to access student distance-learning courses.
According to a Global Attitudes survey, 56 percent of American adults believe that too little pressure is being placed on students to achieve, while only one-quarter think that parents are exerting the right amount of pressure. The U.S. results differ greatly from China, India and Japan, where the majority of adults believe too much pressure is placed on children to achieve in school.
| Too Much | Right Amount | Not Enough | |
| United States | 15% | 24% | 56% |
| China | 63% | 20% | 11% |
| India | 61% | 15% | 22% |
| Japan | 59% | 30% | 9% |
Bandwidth Formula
To calculate the amount of bandwidth needed for a typical high school implementing one-to-one computing in 2011:
- Number of computers accessing the Internet: 1,600
- Percentage of the time computers access the Internet: 25%
- Minimum acceptable bandwidth per computer while surfing: 100 kbps
Number of students and faculty: 1,600 - 1,600 x 25 percent x 100 Kbps / 1,600 = 25 Kbps per student
Source: America’s Digital Schools 2006: A Five-Year Forecast
