Data-driven technique to estimate the required broadband speed for K-12 schools

Technology becomes more and more involved in the learning process (specifically blending learning) of K-12 schools. The broadband requirements must be assessed for cost-effective and efficient (a reasonable download wait time) access to the Internet. With the arrival of videoconferencing, collaborative tools besides, social media, the amount of data incoming and outgoing based on students' activities need to be increased to guarantee a smooth access and effective usage of technology in K-12 school environments. In this paper, we present a novel study that analyzes broadband requirements for students and staff (teachers and administrators) in K-12 schools. Our study takes into consideration different types of applications that students and staff use, number of users and their usage behaviors. It presents to decision makers, recommended broadband per devices for a specific application and expected time to wait for downloading these applications.