It seems that over recent years, schools’ view of a ‘satisfactory’ level of broadband connectivity has declined, as actual bandwidth has increased. The problem, of course, is partly due to the ever-increasing use of mobile technology but also can be explained by school’s mounting expectations. Reliable, high performance broadband and/or internet connectivity is also essential for today’s rising use of cloud computing.
Looking back, it was 14 years ago that the Regional Broadband Consortia (RBC) was created as the Department for Education and Skills’ (DfES) National Grid for Learning (NGfL) programme. In those days, the Regional Broadband Consortia collectively subscribed to a 2 Mbit/s standard for broadband. Today, the majority of learning content is hosted online and the only acceptable access speed is ‘immediate’.
This increasing demand for, and decreasing satisfaction in, broadband connectivity in schools has been predictable for quite some time.
Our research at BESA over the past few years has shown a steady increase in the adoption of mobile technologies, namely tablets. Back in 2013, schools were forecasting that 10 per cent of teaching computers in schools would be tablets; a significant increase from the 6 per cent forecast in 2012. When this year’s respondents looked forward two years to 2016, they suggested that 37 per cent of hardware would be tablets with a further increase to 56 per cent by 2020. To ensure the effectiveness of this technology in schools, the highest level of broadband connectivity is necessary.
The anticipated outcry from schools finally came this year when our research showed that 54 per cent of secondary schools consider themselves under-resourced in Wi-Fi connectivity, with 31 per cent stating they have inadequate broadband connectivity.
British teachers are world leaders in the use of educational technology in the classroom so it is of great concern that pupils are being denied access to innovative and effective digital learning because of poor internet connectivity.
However, what is of more concern is the indication of a digital divide appearing across the country; a clear, direct correlation between those schools stating they have less than 30 per cent of the ideal bandwidth and Wi-Fi connectivity and those based in rural areas has appeared. There are large areas of Wales, North West England and Scotland where the correlation is most identifiable. This backs the 2013 Ofcom analysis and mapping report, which stated that rural locations are likely to bring comparatively slow broadband speeds.
Those rurally located schools stating that they have less than 30 per cent of bandwidth and Wi-Fi requirements also unsurprisingly confirmed that they forecast a low adoption of tablet computers. Despite the national figure of all surveyed schools stating that on average, 37 per cent of pupil facing computers will be tablets by 2016, while schools based in rural areas forecast that only 10 per cent of pupil facing computers will be tablets by 2016.
