Capturing information never tracked before about technology trends and progress across school districts around the country, Jeanne Hayes of The Hayes Connection and Tom Greaves of The Greaves Group, have launched the America’s Digital Schools 2006: A Five-Year Forecast survey. SSM sat down with Jeanne to learn how the survey can help shape future sales and marketing plans.

SSM: Even though the survey is still in progress, can you share any preliminary findings?

Hayes: Certainly! Tom Greaves and I presented some early results at FETC in March. The highlights include:

• 63% of superintendents report they had bond issues passed in the past three years with all of them including new construction, 45% including new technology, and 28% including new curriculum.
• One-to-one computing has grown rapidly from only 4% of districts in 2003-2004 to 24% now.
• The student appliance--low-cost, wireless, lightweight units is the fastest growing single device. Purchases of electronic whiteboards are expected to double in the next two years.
• One-to-one computing is having a positive effect on student learning when properly implemented.

SSM: How do you anticipate the survey results will impact schools and the vendor community?

Hayes: We believe that this survey will have a positive effect on schools that are craving this information to support their technology wish list and subsequent planning. The insight that we’re getting will give schools methodologically sound data on one-to-one computing that will help them build the case for more investments in technology. We’re very fortunate to have organizations like CoSN, ISTE, AASA, SETDA, and NSBA support this effort as they can be instrumental in bringing these findings to the attention of legislators.

SSM: How can MDR customers benefit from survey results?

Hayes : I think there’s a treasure trove of information that MDR customers will take away from this survey and subsequent report. We’re convinced that the results will provide a broader picture of technology and learning and will showcase how important it is for our schools to move forward with technology.

• The school of the future is starting now; schools show a desire for digital content and changes in textbooks that reflect the environment of their “digital native” students. As publishers expand their offerings, schools express a thirst for more, better, and more affordable choices.
• The sales of electronic whiteboards (predicted to double in the next two years) suggest a whole-class solution for use of the Internet that teachers love.
• The desire for digital content is driving a projected seven-fold increase in the bandwidth needed to support schools. Are telco providers taking advantage of this?

Knowing what schools are planning can help marketers find new opportunities, develop new products, and market their existing ones better. The survey will provide a wealth of information that isn’t available now, answering questions such as who are the key technology decision makers in districts? What are the obstacles districts face in integrating technology into schools? What are districts planning for this year, next year, and five years out in terms of e-learning, professional development, and infrastructure?

SSM: Do you think increased visibility of the issues addressed will create more opportunities for education suppliers? How?

Hayes: There is no question that bringing these issues to the forefront will benefit educators, students, and suppliers alike. In addition to highlighting what districts need to do to advance technology, the survey responses will also bring obstacles to light, which will hopefully inspire companies to develop products and solutions. In addition, marketers will find it highly useful as a product development and business planning tool. So there are winners all the way around.

SSM: Jeanne, what insight do you hope to gain from this survey?

Hayes: We see the responses from this important survey as a vehicle for districts to share information, as the voice to inform legislators and policymakers who need to understand the current environment, and as the critical product development link between educators and vendors.

SSM: Your survey asks questions that have not been tracked before in our schools. Can you elaborate on that?

Hayes: You’re correct. There are questions in this survey that are going to reveal information that has not been tracked but needs to be. A survey such as this has not been done since 2003, so frankly, we’re overdue. It seems that the focus is and has been on NCLB—certainly an important topic—but the spotlight has dimmed on technology. Yet we’re finding that superintendents still are very committed to the future of technology. So we’re excited to be forging ahead with collecting this information. Another major aspect of this survey is that it’s one of the most forward-looking educational surveys ever conducted. We’re asking school leaders to predict the future five years out. This is difficult for many of them, but it will be valuable information for the marketplace.

SSM: Who is responding and how representative do you think the results will be?

Hayes: We’re very pleased that we’re getting an across-the-board response, hearing from every group—superintendents and curriculum and technology directors. We’re also happy to report that almost every large district has responded to some degree. We’ve received more than 1,100 responses to date.

SSM: Are you surprised by anything that is emerging in the data?

Hayes: Yes, the most amazing bit of information for me is the acceptance of the student appliance. It’s certain we’ll be hearing a lot more about this in the future.

SSM: Where do you think ubiquitous computing will be five years from now?

Hayes: With the findings we’ve seen so far, it’s very likely that districts that are already entrenched in piloting ubiquitous technology approaches will expand their usage dramatically. In five years, we project that 50% of districts will be at some stage of implementing 1:1, and fully 25% of America’s students (or over 13 million students) will actually be using 1:1 technology in the classroom on a regular basis.

SSM: Do you have any other nuggets of wisdom for MDR customers?

Hayes: Yes, look at your own children, and you’re bound to see what’s driving this. Children today are “digital natives.” Their home environment can be much richer than that of the school: schools need to adapt to that changing environment. Children today are motivated by technology and the ability to explore in a robust learning environment. We need to keep their motivation level high and provide the tools they need to maintain their interest for learning.

In addition, U.S. schools need to remain competitive. A report last November from the America’s Institutes for Research showed U.S. kids at all three grade levels (4th and 8th grades and age 15) ranked 8th or 9th when compared with the other top 12 industrial countries in math. The reason we have a bi-partisan series of initiatives to improve math and science teaching and learning is this realization of our lagging competitiveness. We know that we can’t get a high-performing math and science education program without a 1:1 technology infusion.

And, finally, many thanks to our sponsors, Discovery Education and Pearson Education, for seeing the importance of this groundbreaking study as we all look to the future of learning for our “digital native” kids. And we couldn’t have delivered the survey as effectively without MDR’s generous support for this study—by supplying databases, phone follow-up, and support for the production of the final report.

Jeanne Hayes , President
The Hayes Connection

In 2005, Jeanne Hayes established The Hayes Connection to consult for both established and start-up education market companies.

In 1981, Jeanne founded Quality Education Data (QED). After she facilitated the sale of QED to Scholastic Inc. in 1999, she held the position of Vice President of Marketing Development at Scholastic until 2004. She has served on the boards of several national educational organizations, including SIIA and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), and has spoken at numerous national conferences about instructional technology and other education issues. In December 2002, she was inducted into The Association of Educational Publishers' Hall of Fame. You can reach Jeanne at jhayes@hayesconnection.com.
www.hayesconnection.com

Tom Greaves, Chairman, The Greaves Group, LLC
Member of the Board of Directors, Global SchoolNet

Tom Greaves is a highly regarded visionary with over 30 years’ experience in educational technology. Tom was a leader of IBM's dominance in distributed networking in schools and later co-founded NetSchools Corporation, which set the standard for comprehensive, high-performing 1:1 e-learning solutions in K-12 schools. He has participated in the development of over 100 award-winning educational software and hardware products and holds multiple patents and patent disclosures for educational products.

Tom has been the CEO of two educational companies and has served on the boards of many others. He is a well-known keynote speaker and panelist at national and state education conferences.