It is not easy, however, for a school to simply purchase systems designed for the business setting. Compared to office environments, schools are very large, complex and volatile with students changing grades and classes every year. The lack of LAN-WAN connections for teaching and learning in schools is not due merely to a lack of resources. Many LANs are in place. There are schools with wiring in place for their intercom systems that could serve adequately for a reasonably sophisticated LAN connecting all classrooms.
Many school districts have WANs in place for administrative functions.
Currently, none of the local area network vendors selling specifically to schools offer a product that is appropriate for connecting an instructional LAN to a wide area network. Vendors of administrative systems understand the connection between the local and the wide area networks but the concept has not been applied to instructional uses. Without any means of transmitting data, electronic mail, and documents around the school, the constraints of scheduling access to a single network terminal will limit the number of network projects that a school can engage in and the number of students and teachers who can have significant contact with the network resources. Existing school infrastructures will favor the students who are already privileged. The limited access to network projects will likely favor students who are assigned to enrichment activities.