Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), is dominating Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the classroom, according to a new report.
The report, released by educational gaming platform Kahoot!, includes responses from more than 550 teachers who were asked questions about the use of technology in their classrooms.
Researchers found that Google’s Chrome OS is increasing overall market share in U.S. classrooms at the expense of iOS. Chrome OS is increasingly becoming among students, with its share almost doubling in last two years.
In the U.S. classrooms, Chrome OS is the most preferred operating system on desktop computers, while Apple’s iOS platform dominate on mobile devices.
In addition, researchers found that Google Classroom is the most popular productivity suite in classrooms. Classroom is a blended learning platform that allows teachers to create, distribute and grade assignments in a paperless way. It was introduced as a feature of G Suite for Education in2014.
On mobile, Apple’s iOS continues its dominance, with 73% share in the first quarter, versus 70% in Q1 2016. On tablets, iOS also remains very strong, as the iPad makes up 96% share of tablet share, slightly more than in the first quarter of 2016.
Overall computer usage in U.S. classrooms increased by 6 percentage points to 46% year-over-year in the first quarter. At the same time, mobile and tablet usage dropped 2 and 5 percentage points, respectively.
Meanwhile, the report shows that Microsoft is the preferred choice of U.S. schools for teachers with 56% share in the first quarter. According to the survey, 42% of teachers said they use Microsoft Windows for their own computers, while 41% of respondents said they use Chrome OS and 15% MacOS.
Sean Gaillard, principal at Lexington Middle School in Lexington, North Carolina, told Kahoot! that the use of the modern technology is important, helping him to better assess data.
“Any tools that promote collaborative thinking and collaboration among teachers and students, like Google Docs, will be important in the coming year,” Gaillard said.
Education technology is a rapidly growing industry that is expected to reach $252 billion globally by 2020.
Shares of Google’s parent, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), were trading up 1.36% in the pre-market trading session. The stock is up more than 21% so far this year.
