Over the last two years, numerous studies have confirmed that students suffer when school districts can’t provide them with adequate tech support. In a recent study conducted by the RAND Corporation, 20 percent of teachers expressed that they were struggling with technical problems, including students lacking internet access or having issues with their devices at home.

School districts across the country are closer than ever to a 1:1 ratio of device to student, and now need to have a clear plan for maintaining and updating their devices. Device-as-a-Service options are a cost-effective and forward-thinking strategy for equipping K12 classrooms with the technology they need, using the budget they have.

A record-breaking number of school cybersecurity incidents have been recorded in the last two years. A K-12 cyber incident map tracked 408 publicly-announced school incidents, including data breaches for students and teachers, ransomware and malware attacks, phishing scams, and denial-of-service assaults. Furthermore, many of these events were severe: shutting down major school districts, costing taxpayers millions of dollars, and exposing student's personal data.

The cost of new devices can be a lot to manage at once, making it difficult for schools to keep up with the best equipment trends given their limited budgets. Schools often find themselves spread thin with outdated or broken devices, putting students at a disadvantage when it comes to having quality tools to learn with. Designing, purchasing, managing, and disposing of technology is an ongoing process for education administrators.

In recent years, educators have increasingly valued a collaborative, personalized, and project-based approach to teaching. Technology has made this possible and successful in new ways, and K-12 school districts have been leveraging a growing list of tech tools to build better learning experiences in both in-person and remote classrooms.