Deborah L. Lowther

When Each One Has One: The Influences on Teaching Strategies and Student Achievement of Using Laptops in the Classroom

In this study, we examined the educational effects of providing fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-grade students with 24-hour access to laptop computers. Specifically we examined the impact of laptops on classroom activities, and on student use of technology and their writing and problem-solving skills. Participating teachers received computer integration training using the iNtegrating Technology for inQuiry (NTeQ) model to develop problem-based lessons that engage students in critically examining authentic issues, and strengthen research and writing skills. A matched treatment-control group design was employed, in which classes taught at the same grade levels in five participating schools served as the laptop (1 computer per student) and control (5+ computers per class) contexts. Participants included students, teachers, and parents from the two groups. Although systematic observations revealed relatively few differences in teaching methods between laptop and control classrooms, laptop students used computers more frequently, extensively, and independently. Writing assessment results showed substantial and significant advantages for laptop over control students, with six of eight effect sizes exceeding +0.80. Results also showed significant advantages for the laptop group on five of the seven components of the problem-solving task.

The Success of Schools in Implementing Eight Restructuring Designs: A Synthesis of First‐Year Evaluation Outcomes

*Much of the research reported in this series was supported by a grant from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, to the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (Grant No. R-l 17D-40005). However, any opinions expressed by the authors are our own and do not represent the policies or positions of the U.S. Department of Education.

DO ONE-TO-ONE INITIATIVES BRIDGE THE WAY TO 21st CENTURY KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS?

This article presents findings from an investigation of the overall effectiveness of Michigans Freedom to Learn (FTL) One-to-One initiative. The major goal of the FTL initiative was to help students to gain 21st century knowledge and skills while increasing their learning and achievement through the integration of over 20,000 laptop computers with comprehensive teacher professional development. This study used a mixed-methods descriptive and quasi-experimental design. Data were collected with validated observation and survey instruments. The findings reveal greater use of research-based best practices in FTL classrooms and greater teacher confidence to integrate technology as compared to normative data. FTL students performed as well as control students yet demonstrated greater 21st century knowledge and skills.

Moving from Computer Literate to Technologically Competent: The Next Educational Reform.

This article proposes that educators must go beyond computer literacy to achieve technological competence if successful integration of technology into the classroom is to occur. An educator who is technologically competent understands the relationship between basic computer functions and student learning. They use this understanding to design, facilitate, and manage a student-centered multidimensional learning environment that embeds the use of technology into the curriculum. Technological competence also requires a transition from using the computer as an instructional delivery system (traditional computer-based instruction) to one of using the computer as a learning tool (computer-supported instruction). With the computer-supported instruction approach, students do not learn about computers, but rather learn with computers by using them in the same way as they are used in the workplace to solve real-world, meaningful problems.

Impacts of the Co-nect School Reform Design on Classroom Instruction, School Climate, and Student Achievement in Inner-City Schools

This study evaluated the Co-nect school reform design in 5 inner-city schools relative to a matched comparison sample of 4 schools in the same district. Schools in each group were categorized into a lower- or middle-socioeconomic status (SES) subgroup based on the percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, percent minority enrollment, and student mobility rate. Co-nect schools relative to comparison schools demonstrated more positive outcomes on (a) school climate on multiple dimensions; (b) teacher commitment, satisfaction, and buy-in; (c) teacher usage of learner-centered teaching strategies (e.g., projects, teacher coaching); and (d) student usage of technology as a learning tool. On most measures, these effects were more evident in the schools serving lower-SES. Results on the state-mandated standardized achievement test, using both percentile communities and value-added scores, showed a mixed pattern of success, with 3 Co-nect schools demonstrating more positive progress and 2 demonstrating less positive progress relative to comparison schools and state norms. Interpretations of the achievement results and of Co-nect impacts overall are made relative to implementation issues and school characteristics.

Teacher and Technologist Beliefs about Educational Technology.

This study investigated perceptions of teachers and educational technologists about the following areas: instructional design, cooperative learning, learner control, school reform, computers and media, and implementation of a key practice in each area in their teaching. Subjects were 477 individuals representing four respondent groups: educational technology faculty, educational technology graduate students, K-8 teachers, and 9–12 teachers. Data were collected using a 30-item, five-choice Likert-type questionnaire containing five items per topic area. Significant differences between groups were found on 16 items, with an overall total of 32 significant between-group differences. Nineteen of the 32 differences were between K-8 teachers and either the educational technology faculty or the graduate students. K-8 teachers had significantly more positive perceptions than one or both of the educational technology groups on all five of the cooperative learning items and on three of the five learner control items. The results suggest approaches that educational technologists can use in teaching instructional design courses and in designing instructional programs for the schools.

Using Experimental Methods in Higher Education Research.

EXPERIMENTAL METHODS have been used extensively for many years to conduct research in education and psychology. However, applications of experiments to investigate technology and other instructional innovations in higher education settings have been relatively limited. The present paper examines ways in which experiments can be used productively by higher education researchers to increase the quality and rigor of studies. Specific topics include types of experiments, common validity threats, advantages and disadvantages of experiments, operational procedures for designing and conducting experiments, and reporting and disseminating results. Emphasis is given to helping prospective researchers evaluate the circumstances that favor or disfavor usage of experimental designs relative to other methods.

Technology as a Change Agent in the Classroom

The focus of this chapter is the results of a 3-year implementation of a one-on-one laptop program in a Midwestern school district. Using a mixed methods quasi-experimental design including classroom observations; perception data from students, teachers, and parents; and achievement scores from state-mandated and supplementary assessments of writing and problem-solving, we found that a technological innovation can serve as a change agent in making learning more problem-based and constructivist in nature. Further, the combination of the student “owned” laptops and the transformed classroom environment resulted in sustained gains in writing and problem-solving relative to comparison students. Implications for practice and research in technology integration are drawn from the results.

The Role of School Leadership in a Large-Scale Student Laptop Implementation

Researchers have frequently found that leadership plays a key role in the successful and effective implementation of technology in K-12 school districts. A key component of the Michigan Freedom To Learn (FTL): One-to-One Learning initiative evaluation was to obtain valid data from a rigorous and comprehensive research study to gauge the impacts of the program relative to its primary goals. An evaluative research component examining the effectiveness of leadership in FTL initiative as perceived by FTL teachers and lead teachers was added as an extension to the initial multi-year evaluation plan to examine the roles of school leadership (principals, assistant principals, or others) in relationship to the effective implementation of the FTL laptop program. This paper summarizes the 2007-2008 evaluation results of the leadership survey distributed the to Michigan Freedom to Learn (FTL) program teachers, in their effort to improve student learning and achievement in Michigan schools through the integration of laptop computers with teaching and learning in K-12 classrooms. The results obtained from the survey provided insight into the relationships between the identified leadership attributes and successful program implementation.