Schools have become something of a tech battleground in recent years, as companies vie to grab a share of an increasingly crucial market. And while it is a comparatively late entrant, it is clear that Google is determined to go top of the class.
The latest salvo is Google Classroom, an assignment management system. Previously only available as a pilot version for selected teachers, last week Google’s classroom product manager Zach Yeskel blogged that it was being opened up in phases to all Google Apps for Education users.
Classroom integrates with Google Drive, Docs and Gmail, but more importantly for a teacher’s point of view it is free. It is also ad-free and, in the wake of criticism over the company data-mining student email messages, Google has pledged that it will not be used for marketing purposes.
But Classroom is not Google’s only weapon. Chromebook has been making significant inroads into a market that has previously been dominated by Apple, with Microsoft running second.
According to analysts Gartner, Chromebook sales will hit 5.2 million this year, up 79% on last year and predicted to reach 14.4 million by 2017. The education sector accounted for an estimated 85% of sales in 2013, the bulk of that in the U.S..
For teachers, the advantages of Chromebooks are clear. First and most important they are comparatively cheap. The days when schools had large budgets for technology are over. School leaders have to be far more discriminating in how they spend their money, and Chromebooks are an economy solution.
Second, Chromebook’s cloud-based computing encourages collaborative working, tapping into one of the key trends in educational thinking. This model also saves on the cost of setting up and managing the devices.
For many teachers, these more than compensate for any issues over lack of funcationality.
In the U.S. the screen size and built-in keyboard also means Chromebooks meet minimum specifications for Common Core assessments, while touch-based devices such as iPads need an external keyboard.
Chromebook’s has certainly been a rapid ascent. According to consultants Futuresource, as recently as 2012 it took less than 1% of the U.S. education market for new devices, with Apple on 50%. Last year Chromebook’s share was estimated to have risen to 20%.
It is easy to see why the education market is so important. According to Futuresource, the global education hardware spend was some $13 billion last year, up 11% on 2012. Most of that was on portable devices, with laptops, tablets and netbooks accounting for 62% of the total.
Even so, that might seem small potatoes when set against the 295 million PCs forecast to be shipped in 2014, according to analysts IDC.
But there is much more to ed tech than just the quantities involved.
If students are used to using particular tech at school, they may pressure their parents to buy the same for home use. And people who get used to using particular devices or systems when young may continue that habit through to university and beyond.
So far, it has been Google is making the running in the education market. Its free offering far outstrips those of Microsoft and Apple and undoubtedly helps secure a degree of customer goodwill.
Microsoft and Apple will not be stepping aside, however. Microsoft is in a better position to be able to compete on price, with Apple appears most vulnerable to squeezed budgets. Their efforts to halt Google’s rise will be eagerly awaited by school leaders.
But while Google’s rapid rise may have put its rivals on alert, it has also highlighted the volatility of the ed tech market. It may look as though Google is on its way to the top, but there is still much to play for.
