Laptops for achievement research article…Class 2 Research Methods
I read the article http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/view/158/152 in class on Friday and thought, “Why am I not doing something for my thesis on educational technology?” I need to talk with my advisor and see about doing a mixed-method research thesis on a brilliant topic that I am passionate about. I hope it comes to me soon.
Off to the dock to have lunch on the Cobalt with 3 nieces and family at the lake!
July 6th, 2009 at 6:06 am
Hi Stacey,
(I’ve also included this response on my blog.)
Thanks for taking the time to look at my blog and to write a comment.
I read through the Canadian peer reviewed research on laptops (most, but not all of it – I admit) and found it quite interesting.
It seems that in general, there is no significant increase in outcomes by students who were involved in a laptop program, other than they had a higher degree of technology skills.
I think that this is good and can support the view of using a 1-1 laptop program.
Firstly, we want students to have good technology/computer skills so as to be able to interact in society (both now and after leaving school) but we don’t want learning standards to fall as a consequence of spending more time using technology.
Secondly, if we consider the type of 21st century learning experiences that students should be getting, if they did have greater access to technology, then this would also be advantageous. I suspect that these skills are not assessed in 1-1 laptop programs and that they are not easily assessed using a form of standardised testing.
Overall, the fact that students didn’t learn less, had higher technology skills and were hopefully exposed to 21st century skills would support a 1-1 laptop program.
Hope this makes sense. Colin