SCIENCE

FRAMINGHAM, MA -- eLearning is quickly becoming an accepted form of education at U.S. colleges and universities -- if you can't leave an apple on the teacher's desk, you can certainly email a picture. According to new research from IDC, U.S. Higher Education IT Spending and the eLearning Effect, 2000-2005, roughly 90% of all U.S. higher education institutions will offer some type of elearning by 2005. With the widespread acceptance of elearning comes a tremendous opportunity for IT suppliers. The infrastructure build-outs needed to implement and manage these programs will be quite substantial. Hardware, software, support services, and communications vendors are all positioning themselves to grab their piece of what will grow to be a $5 billion market by 2005. "The largest portion of IT budgets is still spent on computer hardware," said Stephen Webber, analyst for IDC's K-College eLearning program. "However, spending on software and communications hardware used to expand and manage campus networks will grow at significantly faster rates." Key findings from IDC's new research include the following: -- Overall IT spending by U.S. colleges and universities will grow at an annual rate of 10.1% for the years 2000-2005. -- The market for network servers will continue to grow, even as the market for institutional PCs slows. -- The greatest growth opportunities for IT vendors will be in communication products and services and in software. -- Smaller colleges and universities will be looking for third-party IT support services and computer training to manage new institution and student-owned devices. These schools, along with larger ones, will devote more resources to train faculty and administrators in the use of the latest technology. Additional information can be found at http://www.idc.com