Tablets to Outnumber Computers in Schools in Next Five Years

Computers have become an integral part of schools and the education system in general, in the U.S. However, that centrality is set to be usurped by its successor - tablet computers - very soon. According to a survey the results of which were revealed by Gene Munster, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at Piper Jaffray, schools are switching over to tablets from personal computers.

A new survey of Technology Directors in U.S. school districts found all of them were testing or deploying the iPad in schools and they expected tablets to outnumber computers inside of the next five years, AppleInsider reported.

The small survey, with a sample size of only 25, also revealed a shocking fact for Android tablet makers - none of the educational Technology Directors were testing or deploying Android tablets.

While this may be expected due to limited availability of Android tablets early in the tablet cycle, we also see it as evidence of Apple's first mover advantage, Munster said in his analysis, We also see a trend in education (which is mirrored in the enterprise) that familiarity with Apple devices among students (or employees) is causing a demand pull within institutions to also provide Apple devices.

Munster also indicated that 16 percent of the surveyed schools will move to a one tablet-one student ratio inside the next five years. At present, schools average one computer for every ten students.

In line with India's move to bring tablets into classrooms, with the indigenously-built Aakash, which is priced at just $35, U.S. educational officials see cost as the second-biggest hurdle which could slow down the rate at which iPads reach U.S. classrooms.

Among the surveyed directors, 20 percent think that cost is the most significant hurdle to getting tablets into their schools. Another concern is managing the device; 64 percent of the officials think that this could hinder any future move towards replacing computers with iPads.