The Interactive Education Market A primary goal o:'" the current educational standards movement is to rectify unequal learning opportunities. A major watershed in this moyement was the creation of the federal governmentinitiated objective, Goals 2000, in 1994. Goals 2000 established a clear expectation that all students would be held to challenging academic standards and that lower expectations for poor or disadvantaged children would not be tolerated. The U.S. Department of Education has stated a goal of having every public school wired by the year 2000, and, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, expects to meet that goal by year end. Teachers and administrators are faced with increased accountability for student performance and parents are trying to take more resp : :msibility. Despite computer technology present in over 70% of U.S. schools, educators continue to rely on multiple sources for preparing lessons, measuring performance and
Station.com~ The ASP Solution
resources, administrators can obtain attendance and grades, and parents can receive messages and progress reports. In addition, teachers are able to tailor instruction to individual needs. Networks and computers have
"'Statistics show that up to 55% of our school systems' desktop computers are incompatible with current software. It's easy to see that the problem of staying current will eventually catch up with any school district." Jim Pennington, Chief of Innovation, The LearningStation.com reporting results - limiting their valuable time to help students reach newly expected academic achievement. By subscribing to an interactive educational ASP, the schools would have one convenient place for teachers, administrators and students to access instructional management tools, educational resources and student data, thereby focusing more attention into the classroom and making the instructional process more efficient. With the benefit of an ASP, the classroom becomes the focal point from which teachers can create lessons and post assignments, students are ab le to retrieve assignments and utilize digital
greater charlotte biz
transformed the business world in ways that no one could have imagined a few decades ago. While computers have been used in educational administrative offices and some classrooms over the past decade, they have not yet been fully integrated into the learning process. Lack of funding, technical complexity, and ever-changing software applications have all contributed to slow the enterprise-wide adoption of technology in education. However, social and politi cal forces are finally aligned in producing an educational environment where technology is funded and embraced. Instructional technology expenditures are predicted to grow from $5.2 billion
in 1997-1998 to $8.8 billion in 2001-20. Some of the largest growth areas within this market include telecommunication services, personal computers and educational software, according to Technology & Learning's "Technology Expenditures Overview".
More Bang for the Buck Access to the LearningStation network allows schools to focus on the business of education and not the management of technology. Educators have access to vast resources of pertinent information, helping them to integrate technology and teach a better curriculum in a fraction of the time. LearningStation offers ways to lower both long-term desktop management costs, as well as short-term capital outlay. Their technology allows schools to use existing equipment to access the latest releases of software and educational resources. Using this cost-effective alternative, more students have access to modern software applications, improving the student-to-computer ratio substantially. "Statistics show that up to 55% of our school systems' desktop computers are incompatible with current software. It's easy to see that the problem of staying current will eventually catch up with
march 2000
>-
23