University students are early adopters of technology. As a result, university IT departments must be proactive in assessing IT requirements. A review of the emerging trends in technology use among students indicates that network management and storage will remain priorities into 2007.

Technology Used by University Students

• Most university students own mobile phones.
• Over 55% of university students own laptop computers.
• Over 25% of university students have the required adapters to connect to the Internet wirelessly.
• An important consideration for network administrators is how students connect to an educational facility's digital resources.
• Most students now own a personal computer. The prevalence of ownership will drive changes in the usage patterns of on-campus computing facilities.

• Few students currently use wireless as their primary means of Internet access. Less than 10% use either school-operated or commercial wireless offerings. Wireless usage will increase dramatically in the next two years due to greater ownership of laptop and wireless technology.
• School-operated broadband services are used by almost 80% of students who live on campus. School-operated broadband services are used primarily by freshman and other students that live on campus.
• Commercial broadband services are used by almost 60% of student who live off campus.
• Dial-up services are lightly used.

• Engineering students are the power users of specialized applications.
• The majority of students use spreadsheets and presentation software. Graphics programs are also popular.
• The popularity of certain applications is changing on a regular basis.

• Instant messaging is rapidly increasingly in popularity among university students. This popularity has a dramatic effect on network management priorities.
• Other technologies increasing in popularity include the creation of presentations and the creation of video and audio. Both of these technologies require a large amount of storage. Institutions may have to upgrade storage capacity and revisit archiving policies.

Technology Implemented in the Education Sector

Source: Info-Tech "Education: 2005 IT Budget & Staffing Report"

• Most institutions have implemented firewalls. Given the increasing popularity among students of applications such as instant messaging, and the popularity of broadband access, all institutions should implement firewalls.
• Other security precautions are less popular. Anti-spam solutions have only been implemented in 77% of institutions, while intrusion detection has been implemented in 51% of institutions.
• Almost 70% of institutions have implemented wireless networks in reaction to the large number of students that own laptop computers.
• Advanced storage technologies are relatively unpopular. Only 33% of institutions have implemented Storage Area Networks (SAN) technology and 31% have implemented Network-Attached Storage (NAS). Educational institutions must make investments in storage technologies to drive down infrastructure costs.

Source: Info-Tech "Education: 2005 IT Budget & Staffing Report"

• Consistent with the patterns of technology usage among students, firewalls and anti-spam are high-ROI technologies.
• SAN technology also returns high ROI and addresses the burgeoning use of storage-intensive applications for audio and video editing.
• Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology also garners high ROI. This ROI is driven by the increasing number of students with laptops and wireless access, and by offsite students using commercial broadband services.

Key Takeaways

The analysis reveals four emerging trends for educational facilities:

1.Wireless access is crucial for students. The large number of students with laptops and wireless adapters will require universities to invest in wireless technology. Universities must prepare their networks in anticipation of rapid growth in demand from students for wireless services.

2.Network security and VPNs are an ongoing concern. Wireless technology in addition to the wide-spread adoption of broadband connectivity means that universities must put renewed focus on networking technologies. Fortunately, IT administrators in educational settings report a high ROI for both network security and VPN technologies. The increasing use of instant messaging technologies among students will require additional security measures.

3.Storage is still a priority. As the popularity of video and audio editing applications increases, IT departments will be required to provide additional storage space. Universities must expand their investment in SAN and NAS technologies to meet this need.

4.Start with engineering students. They are the power users in terms of early technology adoption and application use. Engineering faculties will increasingly serve as early adopters for new technology pilot projects.