IDC Government Insights recently released a new report that details how much the U.S. education sector will spend this year on technology, and it revealed K-12 will spend a total of $4.7 billion this year with $1.3 billion being spent on laptop computers.

In addition to a large sum of money being spent on laptops, [t]ablets and readers are also expected to contribute to the spending. IDC said that use of these devices will increase eight percent in all levels and types of education by the end of this year, representing $522 million of IT spending," according to Channelnomics.com.

According to TheJournal.com, the K-12 sector will specifically spend 29 percent of that total, or $153 million, on tablets and e-readers, "an upswing driven, according to Research Director Shawn McCarthy, by 'classroom use.'"

So while notebook computers and laptops represent a majority of tech spending in 2015, the anticipated spending is down seven percent from its all-time high last year. In other words, as tablets and e-readers gain popularity in the classroom, spending on laptops will likely start to decline from here.

Further information from the report, according to TheJournal.com, revealed that California, Texas, and New York lead in overall education IT spending in 2015 with $2.3 billion, $1.2 billion, and $1.1 billion spent respectively.

"'While the drop in PC spending was a bit surprising last year, we expect tablet computers to have a bright future in education, particularly for use in science classes and for one-off training via apps,'" McCarthy said, according to the article.

Read the full article here and comment below.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

05/15/2015