Education decision-makers face the challenge of equipping young people with the skills necessary to compete in the global economy and need information and tools for formulating effective policy. This website discusses key issues related to technology in education and presents several major findings, including:
• Academic research and private-sector investment decisions indicate that computers in schools contribute to improved academic outcomes, boost a nation’s economic competitiveness, and attract job-creating economic investments.
• Governments need to consider the entire cost of school computing solutions, rather than merely the initial expenses. A total cost of ownership model takes into account recurrent and hidden costs such as teacher training, support and maintenance, and the cost of replacing hardware over a five-year period.
• Support and training are recurrent costs that constitute two of the three largest costs in the total cost of ownership model. They are greater than hardware costs and much higher than software fees.
• Ultra-low cost computers and Linux-based solutions are relatively equal in cost to traditional hardware and proprietary software solutions because they require higher labor and replacement costs over a five-year period.
• The total cost of ownership for different computer types and software platforms is relatively consistent.
Critical success factors, such as IT ecosystems and platform stability and longevity therefore need to be considered in affordable computing decisions.