Which technology is best for K-12 education? This old debate is rearing its head up again. A market report from Futuresource shows that despite Google's recent success in the classroom, Microsoft products — Windows-based PCs and devices are outselling everyone else in this niche.

By most accounts, Google's Chromebook product has been quietly and successfully leading the K-12 ed-tech market in the last two years. But this report suggests Chromebook's rising dominance may be in question. Though there is skepticism and caution from experts who question the report.

The Futuresource report suggests Microsoft's products outsold their nearest competitors in the global K-12 education market by more than 2-to-1 in 2015. However, experts have pointed out a wider availability of cheap laptops with Web-based Microsoft programs and functions that are easy for the school's IT team to manage are some of the benefits that outsmart Chromebook's limitations.

Despite these trends, the Microsoft phenomenon in the K-12 ed-tech market may be deceptive.

A 2015 third-quarter sales report saw Chromebooks taking a 51 percent market share of K-12 operating systems in the U.S., with 1.63 million units sold. Yet outside the U.S., Google has just 3 percent of the global market share.

It could be that developing countries lack high-speed or reliable Web connectivity for Chromebook's cloud-based systems to work well — that, and the fact that Microsoft has the wherewithal to offer lucrative and bundled deals. However, as foreign countries' burgeoning interest in new educational tools and platforms begin to grow, their interests may shift drastically.

Increasing sales in 2014 and 2015 saw Microsoft's global market share rise from 47 to 55 percent. To compete with the Chromebooks, Microsoft has partnered with Lightspeed Systems for better management capabilities and come up with lower-priced notebooks in the ballpark of $300.

Still, analysts are skeptical of these figures in the long term. The advantages that U.S. schools have enjoyed with Chromebooks may soon spread beyond the borders. With budget constraints playing havoc with K-12 education tech, the competitive pricing, easy access and shareability of Google's Apps for Education makes them widely popular.

While Google, Microsoft and Apple have all been vying for the lead position, Google's advantages have slowly taken over its older rivals. Easy to customize and cost-effective, Chromebooks offer the ideal value proposition for education.

It won't be long before the emerging nations begin to see these advantages, too. Opting for cheaper notebooks and PCs may be a start, but eventually the global education technology market will look at growth in terms of scalability and ease of use.

It remains to be seen which will work better low-cost devices or low-cost apps — and which will determine the future sales.