The Internet

A key trend driving the need for classroom printing is the Internet. Students are being trained to use the Internet and its rich color content in multiple school environments. By the end of 2000, nearly 100% of all public schools had Internet access…driving a growing need for classroom printing. School Environments with Computer Access (Market Data Retrieval: School year 1998-1999) Do Teachers Use the Internet to Teach? (QED Research: Internet Usage in Public Schools 2000)

Technology Spending

The US Department of Education is playing an integral role in expanding and encouraging access to technology within public schools. From 1994 to 1998 the number of public schools using the Internet grew from 35% to 89%. By the end of 2000, nearly 100% of all public schools had Internet access. Computers play an increasingly important role in daily class work, and the number of computers is forecasted to grow by more than 1 million units a year through 2002. Network color printer demands are also increasing to meet the need for shared printing. In the U.S., there is a substantial opportunity to sell network printers to 16,336 public school districts. Major appropriations in school district operating budgets, along with city, state and federal grants, are being directed at technology. "The Schenectady School District has 105 Phaser Solid Ink printers in our schools, and we expect that to surpass 200 within the next 12 months. It's becoming our color printing standard for the classroom."    — Sal DeAngelo Technical Services Coordinator Schenectady School District, NY (Source: Electronic Business) Due to the increase in technology spending, K-12 public school students have access to over 8.9 million computers. Districts report giving computer access to students in the classroom,computer labs and libraries.