Pity tomorrow's students. Because of technology, "snow days" could go the way of the buggy whip. Kids' assignments will be posted online. Teachers' lectures will be available in podcasts. All their textbooks will be stored and searchable on the hard drive of a notebook PC that goes home with them. They will post their homework on Turnitin.com, where teachers can grade it online. On the bright side, today's kids have more entertainment and communication tools, such as iPods and cell phones, at their fingertips than ever before.They may be snowed in at home, but that won’t stop them from socializing with their friends.

For education solution providers, this increasing mobility and the infrastructure that enables it presents a golden market opportunity. Savvy integrators and VARs who are serving as trusted advisors to school districts are finding a number of ways to capitalize, including installing telecommunications and computing networks; helping schools select mobile computers, phones and other devices to leverage those networks; deploying the most useful applications; and training educators on integrating mobile devices and applications into school curricula.

One-to-One Mobility
" With the pervasive availability of the internet, students and teachers are increasingly using mobile computers as the central hub for everything they do," says Brian Becker, director of education for Hewlett-Packard Personal Systems Group. "It’s where they keep their schedules, their projects, class notes, research, phone numbers and other contact information, photos, music -- everything that's part of a person's digital life."

Still, the degree of network pervasiveness and the proliferation of access devices varies greatly depending on the school. Many private schools and some public schools already have a "one-to-one" ratio -- a mobile computer for every student. "In the more affluent school districts, we're seeing them require students to have laptops," says Jason Bystrak, senior manager of Ingram Micro channel marketing. "In other schools, students share. They might just have a 'classroom on a cart' that is stocked with laptops and wheeled from room to room.” But many schools are pushing to attain that one-to-one ratio within the next several years.

"I don't think many school districts have achieved one-to-one at the public sector level," says Henry Fleches, president and CEO of United Data Technologies, a GovEd Alliance solution provider who focuses on the K-12 market. "But I have seen public schools go 10-to-one to as low as three-to-one in a short time.We are getting closer.

A Means to an Endpoint?
In moving toward these ratios, educators need help selecting from a wide variety of end-point devices, bundled with the appropriate software and accessories such as locks.

Endpoints are evolving from desktop PCs to laptops and smaller mobile devices. In the past, because computers were not ubiquitous, teachers would have to arrange to check out computers to use in a particular class and plan a specific lesson around them. "Now we're reaching the point of pervasive computing, where integrating technology into the curriculum isn't something teachers need to reserve and plan," says Russ Johnson, director of technical services at Technology for Education (TFE), a Cisco solutions provider in central Texas, and a member of the GovEd Alliance Advisory Council. "Now it’s just part of the curriculum."

Notebooks have been getting lighter,more rugged and less expensive, encouraging more schools to adopt one-to-one programs. But they still aren't ideal. Today's average notebook weighs about five pounds, says Fleches, and for the education market it should be half that. And educators would like extended battery life so they don't have to recharge during the school day.

But vendors are starting to fill that gap. In April HP introduced a miniature notebook designed specifically for the K-12 education market. The HP 2133 Mini-Note is a full-function PC, yet it is very lightweight (2.5 pounds) with a starting price of less than $500. For increased ruggedness and reliability, it has an anodized aluminum casing, coated keyboard, and a 3D accelerometer that senses when the notebook is being dropped and quickly parks the head of the drive, thus reducing the risk of data loss. HP’s Becker thinks the product will be in high demand by school districts planning largescale one-to-one initiatives. "Resellers will see an incredible pull from the market because this product hits the sweet spot for K-12," he says.

HP and other vendors have also seen tablet PCs take off popularity in the last couple of years, particularly in college science and math classes. After several years of experimentation and refinement of the technology, schools have become more familiar with the tablet'’ capabilities and how to work them into the curriculum.

Simpler Mobile Devices
Tablets are still too heavy and costly for many K-12 schools, however, causing educators to look for smaller, less expensive devices."What I’m hearing is they'd like to see devices in the $300 to $400 range," says Donna Shepard, vice president of K-12 sales and operations at M&A Technology, a GovEd Alliance solution provider and systems builder. Schools seem increasingly interested in some of the low-end mobile computing devices that are beginning to come onto the market, such as Intel's ClassMate and ASUSTeK’s Eee PC, she says.

Some schools are even using handheld devices that students may already own --posting podcasts of lectures and other material on their Web sites for downloading to iPods. Others are starting to develop educational web applications for mobile phones. Bowling Green State University and Case Western Reserve University, for example, have developed a program that creates a 3D virtual space that students can explore via the screens on their mobile phones. The goal is to allow students to take virtual field trips to far-flung places like the Amazon rainforest, or even outer space.

Simpler Mobile Devices
The Infrastructure Play To get the most from these end-point devices, however, schools need state-of-the-art networks and internet access. Technology for Education (TFE) focuses on education infrastructure,installing telecommunications systems and networks, including wireless. The company equips schools and advises them on how to leverage those capabilities not only to better educate students, but also to increase communications capabilities within the district and improve physical security in school buildings.

Networked IP-based video cameras throughout the buildings can be monitored or accessed by a variety of mobile end points, including laptops of school security guards or even the local police. TFE is even supplying schools with wireless IP phones that tie into the network. "So the principal, rather than having his phone and computer tying him to his desk, is now able to roam the halls -- as principals love to do -- with his 802.11 wireless telephone," notes Johnson.

In addition, Johnson's putting an IP phone in each of the classrooms in many local school districts. If a gunman enters the building, the phones can be programmed to ring with a special ring-tone followed by a text message on the phone's display that clearly but subtly signals a lockdown emergency.

Johnson also installs 911 notification technology with the phones, so that if a teacher has a medical emergency in a classroom, such as a student having a seizure, he can immediately call 911 for help.

The Trusted Advisor
TFE is a good example of how a solution provider can become a critical resource for schools. Its essential value-add is listening to what a school is trying to accomplish and equipping it with the appropriate technology and services to meet its goals."If you're just responding to requests for proposals, you won’t be successful," says Fleches. "You have to know their pain points, their requirements, what their challenges and opportunities are."

The key is to take the time to learn how the schools operate, help them determine exactly what technology they need and how it should be delivered, and then deliver superior service and support. Get out and talk to school administrators and teachers. Identify their pain points. Do they need help with deployment? What software bundles would be most useful? Perhaps they need better tech support and maintenance. Shepard agrees in the importance of zeroing in on the specific needs of schools.After hearing school districts complain that they couldn’t get good backup services, for example,M&A Technology built a data center and started offering disaster-recovery and VPN services to the districts. The company has been highly successful with these managed service offerings to education because, she notes, " “we listened carefully to our customers."