Computer and Internet Availability

Highlights

• In the 1998-99 school year, the ratio of students per computer was 6 to 1, compared to 9 to 1 in fall 1995.
• Between 1995 and 1998-99, the proportion of private schools connected to the Internet increased from 25 percent to 67 percent, and the proportion of instructional rooms in private schools that were connected to the Internet increased from 5 percent to 25 percent.
• While about two-thirds of private schools reported having electronic mail (e-mail) or World Wide Web (WWW) availability, these Internet resources were less likely to be available to students than teachers or administrators.
• Catholic schools were more likely than nonsectarian or other religious schools to be connected to the Internet, and to report having e-mail and WWW availability. However, nonsectarian schools reported a higher proportion of instructional rooms with Internet access than Catholic and other religious schools.

This chapter reports on the extent to which computers and the Internet are available to schools and their students. Making available sufficient and adequate hardware is a critical first step toward ensuring student access to computers. Some technology experts suggest that four to five students per computer is a reasonable level to allow adequate access (President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology 1997). To assess the extent to which computers have been introduced in private schools, the survey asked about the total number of computers available in schools and for instruction.

Similar to past research, several measures of availability are used including measures based on averages, ratios, the purpose for which the resources are used, and location of the resources. Where relevant, comparisons between fall 1995 and the 1998-99 school year have been made to provide insights into changes in computer and Internet availability in private schools.

Availability of Computers

School-level estimates of computer availability are typically reported as averages, such as the mean number of computers and the mean number of computers with Internet access. However, unlike ratio measures, averages do not take the school's enrollment size into account. Because ratios (e.g., the number of students per computer) indicate the extent to which the available resources might be sufficient for the student population, ratios have been commonly used as approximations of student access to the resources. Moreover, some measures of computer and Internet access consider whether those resources are available for instructional purposes. For example, the ratio of students per instructional computer excludes computers that might be available only for administrative use.

Mean number of computers

In the 1998-99 school year, private schools reported an average of 37 computers, including those used for administrative and/or instructional purposes (table B-1). This was a significant increase over the number of available computers in private schools in fall 1995-at that time, the mean number of computers available was 24 (U.S. Department of Education, 1997a). A measure that more closely approximates the potential use of computers in learning activities is the number of computers used for instructional purposes. During the 1998-99 school year, the mean number of instructional computers in private schools was 29 (table B-1).

Student-computer ratio

Ratio measures, such as the number of students per computer, provide closer approximations of computer availability than estimates based on averages. In the 1998-99 school year, private schools reported six students per computer, including computers used for administrative purposes (table B-2). This represented a lower level of computer availability than is recommended to allow for adequate access- four to five students per computer (President"s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology 1997), but a higher level of availability than fall 1995 when private schools reported nine students per computer (U.S. Department of Education 1997a).

To explore the extent to which computers might be available for teaching and learning (i.e., excluding computers used only for administrative purposes), the number of students per instructional computer was calculated for each school. In 1998-99, private schools reported eight students per instructional computer (figure 3 and table B-2). The student ratio to instructional computer differed by affiliation; nonsectarian schools had fewer students (six) per instructional computer than computer also differed somewhat by instructional level, with secondary and combined schools reporting fewer students per instructional computer than elementary schools (seven versus eight students).⁴

Types of Advanced Telecommunications

Advanced telecommunications cover a broad range of modes of communication, including the Internet, local area networks (LANs), two-way video, and broadcast and interactive television. In the 1998-99 school year, most private schools (85 percent) reported that they had stand-alone computers available, that is, computers that are not connected to any network (tables 2 and B-4). Of these schools, 83 percent had at least one classroom with stand-alone computers. In 1998- 99, private schools were also asked whether they had computers with modems. Almost three fourths of private schools (73 percent) reported having a computer with a modem, and 41 percent of these schools indicated that a computer with a modem was available in at least one classroom. This represents a substantial increase from 1995 when 48 percent of all private schools reported having a computer with a modem, and 24 percent of these schools had at least one classroom with the resource (U.S. Department of Education 1997a).

Local area networks allow students and teachers to share local resources including peripherals (e.g., printers) and software within one room, and across classrooms or school buildings. In the 1998-99 school year, about half of all private schools reported having computers connected to a LAN, and of these, 51 percent had the technology available in at least one classroom (tables 2 and B-3). This was higher than the proportion of private schools reporting they had computers with LAN connection in fall 1995; at that time, 43 percent of private schools had a computer connected to a LAN, and one-third of these had at least one classroom with a computer connected to a LAN (U.S. Department of Education 1997a). In 1998-99, relatively few private schools (12 percent) reported the availability of interactive televisions/computers with two-way audio/visual. Of these schools, over half (54 percent) reported that interactive televisions/computers with two-way audio/visual were available in at least one classroom.

Internet Availability

To assess the extent of Internet availability, the survey asked whether schools were connected to the Internet. As with measures of computer availability, school-level access to the Internet does not reflect the extent to which this resource might be available for teaching and learning. Therefore, schools were also asked to report the number of instructional computers and instructional rooms with Internet access. Moreover, because the usefulness of Internet resources for instructional purposes might be associated with the speed at which the Internet can be accessed during regularly scheduled classes, schools were asked about the various ways in which they connected to the Internet.

Schools with Internet access

Private schools have made considerable strides in connecting to the Internet. In the 1998-99 school year, 67 percent of all private schools had Internet access (figure 4 and table B-5), representing a substantial increase from fall 1995 when 25 percent of private schools were connected to the Internet (U.S. Department of Education 1997a). In 1998-99, 13 percent of all private schools reported that they planned to gain Internet access by 2000 (figure 4). If these expectations are realized, then about 80 percent of all private schools will be connected by the end of 2000. Nineteen percent of all private schools neither had Internet access nor reported plans to obtain it.

The proportion of private schools with Internet access differed by affiliation, instructional level, and enrollment size (figure 5 and table B-5). A greater percentage of Catholic schools had Internet access compared with other religious schools or nonsectarian schools (83 percent versus 54 and 66 percent, respectively). Secondary schools were more likely than either elementary or combined schools to have Internet access (90 versus 64 percent). Moreover, large schools (with 300 or more students) and medium-sized schools (with 150 to 299 students) were more likely than small schools (with less than 150 students) to be connected to the Internet.⁵

Internet availability for instruction To explore the extent to which Internet resources might be available for instruction, the survey asked about instructional computers with Internet access and instructional rooms with this technology. Instructional rooms include classrooms, computer labs, library/media centers, and any other rooms used for instructional purposes (e.g., gymnasium).

Mean number of instructional computers with Internet access.

Among private schools with Internet access in the 1998-99 school year, the mean number of instructional computers with Internet access was 18 (figure 6 and table B-7). Although Catholic schools were more likely than other religious or nonsectarian schools to be connected to the Internet (see figure 5), nonsectarian schools had more instructional computers with Internet access on average (40) than did Catholic schools (18). Other religious schools had the least number of instructional computers with Internet access (12) on average. Secondary and combined private schools had more Internet-connected instructional computers than did elementary schools (35 and 30 computers compared with 10 computers, respectively).

Ratio of students to instructional computers with Internet access.

Among private schools with Internet access, the ratio of students per instructional computer with Internet access was 15 to 1 (figure 7 and table B-8), compared with the number of private school students per instructional computer (8 to 1, see figure 3). On average, nonsectarian schools had fewer students per instructional computer with Internet access (7 to 1) compared with Catholic schools (19 to 1) and other religious schools (18 to 1). In addition, the ratios of students to instructional computer with Internet access were significantly lower at secondary and combined schools (10 to 1) than elementary schools (24 to 1).

Instructional rooms with Internet access

In the 1998-99 school year, 25 percent of all instructional rooms in private schools were connected to the Internet (figure 8 and table B-10), representing a sharp increase from fall 1995 when 5 percent of instructional rooms in private schools were connected (U.S. Department of Education 1997a). The percentage of instructional rooms with Internet access differed somewhat by affiliation, instructional level, and enrollment size of the schools. Nonsectarian schools reported a higher proportion of instructional rooms with Internet access compared with Catholic and other religious schools (41 percent versus 27 and 18 percent, respectively). Secondary schools reported proportionately more Internet-connected instructional rooms than elementary schools (32 versus 21 percent). Large schools reported proportionately more instructional rooms with Internet access (34 percent) than medium-sized or small schools (17 and 16 percent, respectively).

Of private schools with Internet access in 1998- 99, most (83 percent) had at least one instructional room with Internet access (tables 3 and B-11). Thirty-eight percent reported Internet access in one instructional room, 19 percent had access in two to four rooms, and 26 percent had five or more instructional rooms with this technology. The proportion of private schools with five or more instructional rooms with Internet access differed by affiliation; Catholic and nonsectarian schools were more likely than other religious schools to report having five or more Internet-connected instructional rooms (31 and 36 percent versus 18 percent, respectively).⁶

Among private schools with Internet access, the proportion of schools with no Internet-connected to 17 percent in the 1998-99 school year (tables 3 and B-11). Moreover, the proportion of private schools with five or more instructional rooms with Internet access increased sharply from 9 to 26 percent during this period.

Internet connections

Types of connections differ mainly with respect to the speed and amount of information that can be transmitted, with faster types of connections being more desirable. When asked whether they used various ways of connecting to the Internet,⁷ about two-thirds of private schools with Internet access reported having dial-up connections in 1998-99 (tables 4 and B-13). This includes modems and Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) or Point to Point Protocol (PPP) connections. Schools also reported having higher speed connections using dedicated lines. In the 1998-99 school year, 21 percent of private schools with Internet access connected using a dedicated line. Considering the various types of dedicated lines, 17 percent of schools connected to the Internet using a 56Kb connection, 11 percent relied on a T1/DS1 line, and 6 percent on a fractionalized T1 connection. In fall 1995, 2 percent of schools reported connecting to the Internet using a 56Kb connection and 2 percent indicated that they used a T1 line (U.S. Department of Education 1997a).

Schools were also asked whether they had cable modems and wireless connections. ⁸ In 1998-99, 12 percent of private schools connected to the Internet through cable modems compared with only 1 percent that used wireless connections (tables 4 and B-13). Moreover, 14 percent of private schools with Internet access reported having Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) lines in 1998-99, compared with 3 percent in 1995 (U.S. Department of Education 1997a).

The proportion of schools reporting they used dedicated lines differed by affiliation, instructional level, and enrollment size (tables 5 and B-14). Catholic and nonsectarian schools were more likely than other religious schools to connect to the Internet using dedicated lines (27 and 28 percent versus 14 percent, respectively).

Moreover, secondary schools were considerably more likely than combined or elementary schools to report having dedicated lines (43 percent versus 21 and 18 percent, respectively). Finally, the likelihood of having dedicated lines varied by enrollment size, with larger schools more likely to have this type of Internet connection.

Availability of electronic mail and the World Wide Web

To explore the availability of e-mail and the WWW in private schools, the survey asked whether those resources were available in schools and to students, administrators, and teachers.

Electronic mail.

E-mail was available in 62 percent of all private schools (tables 6 and B-15). A higher proportion of Catholic than other religious or nonsectarian schools had e-mail capabilities (79 percent versus 50 and 62 percent, respectively). Secondary schools were more likely than elementary schools or combined schools to report having e-mail (83 versus 60 percent). Moreover, large and medium-sized schools were more likely than small schools to have e-mail capabilities (81 and 73 percent versus 44 percent, respectively).

Schools also indicated whether e-mail was available to students, teachers, and administrators. Overall, e-mail was more likely to be available to administrators than teachers, and it was least likely to be available to students (tables 6 and B-15). While 61 percent of private schools indicated that e-mail was available to their administrators, 51 percent reported that it was available to teachers, and 28 percent indicated that this resource was available to students.

A higher proportion of nonsectarian than other religious schools reported e-mail availability to students (39 versus 22 percent; tables 6 and B-15). Secondary schools were more likely than elementary or combined schools to make e-mail available to students (47 percent versus 25 and 29 percent, respectively). Moreover, large schools were more likely than small schools to report e-mail availability to students (35 versus 23 percent).

World Wide Web.

In the 1998-99 school year, 64 percent of private schools reported the availability of the WWW (tables 7 and B-16). The proportion of schools reporting WWW availability differed by affiliation, instructional level, and enrollment size. Catholic schools were more likely to have WWW access than nonsectarian schools (81 versus 65 percent), and other religious schools were least likely to report the availability of this technology (51 percent). More secondary schools (89 percent) had WWW access compared with elementary (62 percent) and combined schools (59 percent). Moreover, the likelihood of private schools reporting WWW availability varied by enrollment size, with large schools being more likely to report this Internet capability.

The WWW was more likely to be available to administrative staff and teachers (61 and 56 percent) than to students (47 percent; tables 7 and B-16). Catholic and nonsectarian schools were more likely than other religious schools to report WWW availability to students (63 and 54 percent versus 34 percent, respectively). A greater proportion of secondary schools (82 percent) reported WWW availability to students compared with elementary and combined schools (43 percent). Moreover, the likelihood of reporting WWW availability to students increased with enrollment size, with larger schools more likely to report that the resource was available to students.

⁴It is likely that the differences by affiliation are affected by the differences among private schools by the level of students served. Catholic schools are less likely than other religious or nonsectarian schools to be combined schools; i.e., they are less likely to serve elementary and secondary grades (see table 1).

⁵For the remainder of this report, small schools will be considered as having enrollments of less than 150 students, medium-sized schools with 150 to 299 students, and large schools with 300 or more students.

⁶Catholic and nonsectarian schools tend to have larger enrollments than other religious schools; thus, the likelihood of having five or more instructional rooms with Internet access may reflect this size differential.

⁷Schools could report having more than one type of Internet connection.

⁸Cable modems provide faster data transfer than modems used to establish dial-up connections, and wireless connections do not require wires or cables to connect to the Internet.

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