Why 1-to-1 is so important to education? With so many of us growing up without the Internet and ready access to computers, it is hard to imagine why technology might be so important to education. We can certainly see times that it would be useful, and we all know colleagues who are more enthusiastic about technology than others. But other than hype, why would technology be so important that we need to invest in something as expensive as a 1-to-1 learning with laptop initiative.
Keep in mind that education is already expensive and, in the newly revised National Educational Technology Plan (http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/plan/index.html), the US Department of Education makes clear that it is worried that the expenses we are already making in education are not paying off, and that technology is an avenue for recouping on our educational investment. Even at a time when the federal government seems to be reducing funding for most types of educational technology, except for testing and data collection, recommendations in the Plan include, "Provide every student access to e-learning," and "Encourage ubiquitous access to computers and connectivity for each student."
The President's Information Technology Advisory Committee's report "Using Information Technology to Transform the Way We Learn" (http://www.itrd.gov/pubs/pitac/pitac-tl-9feb01.pdf) includes in it's findings the established cost-effectiveness of technology and the educational benefit of technology. The report states, "Based on our findings, information technology promises to help improve learning in very exciting new ways," and "The overarching recommendation is that the Federal government set as a national priority the effective integration of information technology with education and training."
Kosmo Kalliarekos, a founding member of the Parthenon Group, a Boston-based strategic consulting firm, was so compelled by the idea of 1-to-1, that he wrote "A Computer on Every Desk," an open memo to US Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings. The memo encouraging her to make 1-to-1 a national education priority. This memo was published in Edutopia, the George Lucas Education Foundation's magazine. (http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=Art_1229&issue=feb_05)
In general, there are four main reasons to pursue 1-to-1 learning with technology initiatives: Economy, Equity, Engagement, and Digital Emigration.
Economy
Checking any weekend edition newspaper will confirm that most jobs available today are looking for candidates with computer skills. Think about it briefly: Would you hire an accountant who didn’t use a computer on your taxes? Would you trust a new bridge designed by an engineer who didn’t use computers to assist with design specifications? What newspaper isn’t written and laid out on a computer?
The document “Does Technology Improve Student Achievement?” (Educational Research Service, 2001) states, “Students need to learn to use technology to be part of the fast-moving, ‘wired’ world we live in, and this need will only grow as technology becomes a bigger part of our everyday lives.” Steven Levesque, commissioner of the Maine State Department of Economic and Community Development, wrote that a technology-savvy workforce would help boost Maine’s economy (Lewiston Sun Journal, May 23, 2002).
When Maine’s Governor Angus King announced in March 2000 that he wanted to provide every middle school student in Maine with a portable wireless computing device, it was driven by the idea that jobs and the economy were changing and that both the ability to use technology and the ability to learn would be key to Maine’s being competitive within that economy.
Equity
Technology is an important component of education and the workplace today. Infusing schools with technology will, as many have said, “level the playing field.” Increased access to technology within schools is helping to ensure that all students have access, at least at school. For example, Maine’s former Governor King makes clear, “One of the most important ideas [about Maine’s learning with laptop initiative] is that this is every kid. Big school, small school, big town little town, north, south, affluent community, poor community. It’s an equity tool” (King, 2003. Parenthetical added. http://www.sad60.k12.me.us/king/).
Equity is a public school directive. Educators already strive to create and maintain equity by providing economic support through breakfast and lunch programs, and homework support for students after school. Those who know public schools realize that there rarely is a student in a school who goes hungry or lacks a pencil, or even needs money for a field trip. Educators find a way to help.
Access to technology in the community and at home is another issue, however. Access to computer technology in schools continues to expand, but it is not available at home to many students. Most schools have students who do not have the “luxury” of technology in their homes. The Maine Learning with Laptop Studies (Muir, Knezek, & Christensen, 2004) conducted a case study of a typical middle school involved in Maine’s laptop initiative. One area of interest in the study was comparing students who were allowed to take home the laptops with those who were not. The study discovered that students who did not have a computer at home and were not allowed to take a MLTI laptop home scored statically significantly lower on computer skills, on attitude toward school, and on self concept than other students at the same school. (http://www.mcmel.org/MLLS/briefs/MLLS0402.pdf)
The Digital Divide cannot be truly bridged with laptop carts, or computer labs. Only a 1-to-1 learning with laptop initiative can extend into the home.
Engagement
Certainly a well-educated population is critical to the country and economy. What challenges schools today isn’t access to education, nor high quality content. Every community has schools and compulsory education, and decades of standards work has provided schools access to high quality content. What continues to challenge schools is how to make that schooling and curriculum engaging and meaningful to students; how to ensure that every child is learning effectively.
Muir (2001) showed that good learning experiences: grow from strong relationships; involve hands-on, active work; adjust for differences in learning styles; make learning interesting; allow students to make choices; make connections to previous knowledge, the students lives, and the real world; and put learning into context. (see http://www.mcmel.org/mel.html) Technology can be an asset to curriculum development that respects and reflects these characteristics.
Technology integration promotes a shift in teaching paradigms from whole class instruction to small group learning environments, as well as a change from passive learning to more engaged learning (Pelgrum & Anderson, 1999; Roblyer & Edwards, 2000; Voogt & Odenthal, 1999). Computer-Based Technology and Learning: Evolving Uses and Expectations (NCREL, 2001) concludes, “Technology offers opportunities for learner-control, increased motivation, connections to the real world, and data-driven assessments tied to content standards that, when implemented systemically, enhance student achievement as measured in a variety of ways, including, but not exclusively limited to, standardized achievement tests.”
Emigration
Here we don't mean students or teachers moving from your district. Rather we mean digital emigration: the migration of teachers' pedagogical approaches to include the digital tools today's young people use regularly outside of school.
In "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants," Marc Prensky states, "Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach." He refers to our students as "Digital Natives" since they have grown up exposed to and using digital tools. He refers to the adults as "Digital Immigrants" since we are growing into the use (to various extents) of these tools.
In "Do They Really Think Differently?" Marc Prensky makes the case for how they do think differently (their brains are literally wired differently) and what the implications are for schools.
Tom March (http://www.ozline.com), one of the co developers of the idea of the WebQuest, asks the question, what does school have to offer the student loaded with digital tools? He states, "These devices can be weapons of mass distraction and kids can tune out if we aren’t engaging students." One reaction to this statement might be to forbid students from having digital devices in school. Another, however, is for educators to harness that energy and engagement.
In Growing Up Digital, Don Tapscott explores the characteristics of today's generation - the Net Generation (N-Gen). Tapscott explains how we (adults) grew up with television as our medium, a broadcast medium, and our pedagogy reflects that approach: teachers "broadcasting" their information to students. But today's youth is growing up with a broad assortment of digital technologies: computers, communications devices, and the Internet. Computers are an interactive medium, and Tapscott explains how students learning by both consuming and producing information and how they are looking for interactive approaches to their learning.
Technology, especially ubiquitous technology, can become the powerful tool for teachers to create interactive learning environments.
Resources
Educational Research Service. (2001). Does technology improve student achievement? (Available at http://www.ers.org)
Muir, M. (2001). What engages underachieving middle school students in learning? Middle School Journal, 33(2), 37-43.
North Central Regional Education Laboratory. (2001). Computer-based technology and learning: evolving uses and expectations. (Available at http://www.ncrel.org/tplan/cbtl/toc.htm).
Pelgrum, W. J. & Anderson R. E. (1999). ICT and the Emerging paradigm for Life Long Learning: A Worldwide Assessment of Infrastructure, Goals and Practices. Amsterdam: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement.
Roblyer, M. D. & Edwards, J. (2000). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching, (2nd ed). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Tapscott, D. (1998). Growing up digital: The rise of the net generation. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Voogt, J.M. & Odenthal, L.E. (1999). Met het oog op de toekomst. Een studie naar innovatief gebruik van ICT in het onderwijs. [With a view to the future. A study on innovative use of ICT in education]. Enschede: University of Twente.
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Created by Mike Muir
Last updated:
April 12, 2005