-- Since 1992, the number of K-12 schools with CD-ROM drives has nearly tripled, from 13 percent to 37 percent. More than 50 percent of high schools are now equipped with at least one drive, says QED (Quality Education Data).
-- The number of schools with modems has jumped from 22 percent in 1992 to 33 percent today; high schools weigh in at 50 percent, says QED. But only 12 percent of classrooms have a phone line, reports the SPA (Software Publishers Association), while others claim the number is as low as 5 percent. Among on-line services, 24 percent of K-12 schools say they have access to the Internet.
-- Although only a quarter of all schools and half of high schools had LANs in 1994, says QED, those figures have ri
sen from just 14 percent and 29 percent, respectively, in 1992. The leading NOSes (network operating systems) among K-12 schools are NetWare and AppleShare, with 73 percent and 59 percent usage, respectively, according to QED. In schools with LANs, says Market Data Retrieval, 49 percent use them to connect computers in a lab, 28 percent to connect between classrooms, and 20 percent to connect between buildings.
-- A 1993 study done by the National Educational Association found that 62 percent of elementary school teachers had computers in their classrooms, versus 44 percent of high-school teachers. One explanation: Children spend most of their time in one room, whereas high-schoolers move from one class to another and computers are clustered in areas such as science labs or libraries.
-- According to QED, 46 percent of the installed base of computers in grades K-12 are Apple IIs, 32 percent are DOS compatibles, and 15 percent are Apple Macs. In the 1993-94 school year, QED estimates, unit purchase
s were 61 percent Macs, 18 percent IBM-brand PCs, and 18 percent other DOS compatibles. The SPA found that 42 percent of the school districts it surveyed are testing or implementing Windows on their DOS systems.
The Evolving Installed Base
