4. How connected are canadian schools?

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In general, the speed with which schools have been connected to the Internet has been impressive considering Canada’s geographic reality. In 2003/04, computerization was widespread and Internet connectivity nearly complete: over 97% of schools were connected and nearly 93% of school computers were used to access the Internet for educational purposes. This is substantially higher than the nearly 55% of Canadian households that regularly used the Internet from home in 2003 and the 78% of private sector enterprises that reported being connected to the Internet that same year (Statistics Canada 2004b, 2004c).

Internet connectivity was most prevalent in secondary schools, where 95% of computers were connected. Size was also a factor, with small schools reporting only 88% of their computers connected to the Internet, compared to 94% in large schools. Public schools also had a higher proportion of Internet-connected computers (93%) than did private schools (85%), which may be partly explained by the fact that private schools are typically smaller than public schools (Table 6).

Across the provinces, the proportion of schools connected to the Internet in 2003/04 ranged from 91% in Manitoba to over 99% in Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick. Moreover, all elementary and secondary schools in the three territories reported being connected. There is an important distinction, however, between the proportion of schools with Internet-connected computers and the proportion of Internet-connected computers in a given school. In general, the proportion of schools connected to the Internet is higher than the proportion of school computers connected to the Internet for each province and territory (Table 7).

Nunavut had the lowest proportion of Internet-connected computers (88%), although all schools in that territory were connected. New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories, the Yukon and Nova Scotia had the highest proportions of school computers connected to the Internet (96%).

By examining the proportion of Internet-connected computers in a school, relative to the proportion of students, a more direct assessment of connectivity is possible. As there were about five students for every computer, there were slightly more students (5.5) per Internet-connected computer, since not every computer used for educational purposes was connected to the Internet (Chart 5).

The smaller the difference between the two ratios, the more the proportion of connected computers is approaching the proportion of computers.

Quebec had the most students per Internet-connected computer (6.5), followed by Ontario (5.8), and British Columbia and Prince Edward Island (5.6). The Yukon had the least number of students per Internet-connected computer (2.9), which is the same number of students that was reported per computer. Thus, all of the computers being used for educational purposes in Yukon schools were also reported as being connected to the Internet.

Chart 5
Student-to-computer and student-to-Internet-connected-computer ratios (median) by province and territory, 2003/04

4.1 Type of Internet connection

By increasing the speed at which information is transferred between networks and computers across the Internet, broadband technologies are able to support larger and faster applications than are possible using a dial-up Internet account. For schools, a broadband connection enables greater use of multi-media education applications by integrating images, text, data and sound (Industry Canada 2004b). The "always-on" feature of broadband is also significant. Unlike dial-up connections, the Internet is always immediately available and there is evidence that this alters patterns of Internet use (Veenhof, Neogi and van Tol 2003).

An overwhelming majority (86%) of schools used broadband technologies to access the Internet. This is quite remarkable, given that this was the case for only 65% of Canadian households that regularly used the Internet in 2003¹ and 66% among the private sector enterprises that use the Internet (Statistics Canada 2004b, 2004c). Among the most popular Internet access methods for Canadian elementary and secondary schools were high-speed (ISDN/DSL) (32%), optical fibre (23%) and cable modem connections (15%) (Table 8).

More than 90% of secondary and large size schools used broadband technologies to connect to the Internet, followed by schools in urban areas (89%). In contrast, only 9% of schools reported using dial-up access, largely represented by rural (21%) and small (19%) schools, where there may be significant challenges with respect to the deployment of broadband. This is likely due to the cost of providing broadband services in rural or remote areas, which is typically higher than in urban areas due to a smaller customer base spread over greater distances. Wireless broadband delivered by satellite or terrestrial systems may present an attractive option in rural or remote areas (Veenhof, Neogi and van Tol 2003). This is illustrated by the fact that just over 12% of rural schools used a satellite connection to access the Internet, while 11% used fixed wireless technologies.

All elementary and secondary schools in the Yukon were connected to the Internet through broadband technologies (Chart 6, Table 9). New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan were also leaders, with more than 90% of schools connected by broadband. The territory of Nunavut had the lowest proportion of schools connected via broadband, at 50%.

Chart 6
Percentage of schools using broadband to access the Internet by province and territory, 2003/04

* Lower reliability estimates due to sample size.

High-speed ISDN/DSL lines and cable modems were among the most popular types of broadband access for schools across the provinces and territories, while optical fibre was prevalent in New Brunswick, Quebec and, to a lesser extent, Ontario (Table 9). T1 lines were the method used most often for connecting schools in Prince Edward Island. Nearly one-third of schools in Nova Scotia also used T1 lines, albeit high-speed ISDN/DSL lines were used by more than half of the schools in that province. Schools in the Northwest Territories (18%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (16%) were most likely to have used satellite connections to connect, followed by Manitoba (15%). A relatively high proportion of schools in Manitoba (17%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (16%) also used dial-up methods to access the Internet.

4.2 Website and intranet use in schools

Nearly three-quarters (74%) of K-12 schools in Canada had a website in 2003/04. Half of the schools reported having a formal corporate or administrative site, while just over 44% reported having a nonadministrative educational site for teachers and students to share information. Large schools (84%) and secondary schools (86%) were most likely to have a website during the 2003/04 school year, while rural (63%) and small (60%) schools were least likely (Chart 7). In 2003, only 34% of private sector enterprises in Canada had a website – less than half the proportion of elementary and secondary schools (Statistics Canada 2004c).

Intranets were also used by the majority of schools (76%). This was substantially higher than the 16% of private sector enterprises that used an intranet in 2003 (Statistics Canada 2004c). For about half of these schools, the intranet was accessible to students and teachers within the same school board, while about onethird of schools had intranets that were only accessible within an individual school.

Secure intranets are now one of the fastest growing segments of the Internet because they are much less expensive to build and manage than private networks based on proprietary protocols (Veenhof, Neogi and van Tol 2003). Large schools had the highest proportion (85%) of intranet use, while only 44% of private schools reported using intranets. Private schools may not require such networks in order to share information, since they are typically smaller in size and have fewer Internet-connected computers. Moreover, there may be less of a need to communicate or share information with other schools, given that private schools do not belong to a school board and have more flexibility in their administration.

Schools in the Yukon (96%), Prince Edward Island (92%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (90%) had the highest proportion of websites (Chart 8). New Brunswick was not far behind, and that province also boasted the highest proportion of schools with intranets (82% and 86%, respectively).

Chart 7
Percentage of schools with website, intranet by school characteristic, 2003/04

Chart 8
Percentage of schools with website, intranet by province and territory, 2003/04

* Estimate for intranet suppressed for the Yukon and estimate for website suppressed for Nunavut to meet confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act.

4.3 Videoconferencing technology

Videoconferencing technology allows two or more people at different locations to see and hear each other in real time and share computer applications such as Internet pages, library catalogues, documentation and software aids, including presentations. Overall, only 7% of principals reported having videoconferencing technology in their schools.

Videoconferencing technology also helps to reduce the barriers of distance and isolation experienced by schools in rural and remote areas, enabling access to educational applications that may not have otherwise been possible. Rural secondary schools were most likely to have videoconferencing capability (21%).

A video conference system requires audio-visual equipment – monitor, camera, microphone and speaker – as well as a means of transmitting information between sites. Broadband and satellite connections are ideal, but also carry expenses – 91% of the schools with videoconferencing technology accessed the Internet through broadband.

Among the most popular methods to access the Internet for schools with videoconferencing technology were high speed line (ISDN/DSL) (33%), T1 line (25%), and optical fibre (21%). Only 6% of the schools with such technology used a dial-up telephone line to access the Internet, however this may have limited the capabilities of the videoconferencing system.

Small schools with videoconferencing technology were more likely to use dial-up connections (14%) than medium (5%) and large schools (2%). The same was true for private (15%) and rural schools (12%) compared with public (6%) and urban schools (4%).

While about one-third of principals reported that videoconferencing technology was used in their schools for professional development and training for staff, collaboration between students in different locations and staff meetings, nearly 40% of principals reported that such technology was either used as a primary mode of delivery for courses or as a supplement to other modes of delivery (e.g. face-to-face and asynchronous online²). Rural, secondary and public schools were more likely to use videoconferencing technology for such activities, compared to urban, elementary and private schools.

Schools in the Eastern provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador (20%), Nova Scotia (17%) and New Brunswick (11%) were most likely to have videoconferencing technology. About 30% of secondary schools in Newfoundland and Labrador had such technology – the highest proportion of schools across the country.

4.4 Endnotes

1. Includes only those households with a high-speed link to the Internet through either cable or telephone connection (Statistics Canada 2004b).
2. Asynchronous online learning refers to a learning event in which people are not online at the same time and cannot communicate without time delay. Examples are self-paced courses taken via the Internet or CD-Rom, Web presentations, videotaped classes, streamed audio/video presentations, Q&A mentoring, discussions groups, and e-mail.