Do laptops really improve learning? Some folks ask if laptops improve learning. Often they mean deeper questions about if improvements in learning are linked directly to the laptops or to other factors. In response to a preliminary study that showed there is evidence to believe that students from Maine's Exploration (pilot) Sites did slightly better on Maine's 8th grade standardized tests than students that did not yet have the laptops, one educator wrote to me, "Were the increase in scores due to the laptops or to increased efforts by teachers and staff? To improvements in teaching and programs?"
1-to-1 advocates readily recognize, however, that laptops do not raise test scores or improve achievement. Only good teachers and teaching improve learning.
Does that mean that we don't need laptops?
Not at all! Educators are finding that technology, especially when students have access to it anywhere/anytime, is a powerful tool that allows for improved teaching and learning. This isn't a contridiction, it is simply placing credit where credit is due. A classroom full of laptops which aren't being used, or aren't being used well, will have no benefit to students and their learning. Only when teachers are using them well does learning improve.
In fact, the research on technology initiatives indicates that when they focus on the technology (ie a "tech buy") there is no significant benefit to achievement. Analyzing over 700 studies, Schacter concludes that technology initiatives have to focus on teaching and learning, not the technology, in order to be successful: "One of the enduring difficulties about technology and education is that a lot of people think about the technology first and the education later" (1995, p. 11). Studies that show a negative impact of technology often indicate that the initiatives themselves focused on hardware and software, or teachers taught about the technology instead of using the technology to enhance learning experiences. "One of the enduring difficulties about technology and education is that a lot of people think about the technology first and the education later" (Schacter, 1995, p. 11).
In fact, Maine recognized from the beginning that the initiative could never be about laptops alone. As the Educational Research Service maintains, "…The true value of technology for learning lies not in learning to use technology, but in using technology to learn" (2001). You cannot separate the technology, and learning and teaching, and the professional development in MLTI or other 1-to-1 initiatives. The initiatives are all those things together. Intentionally. You can't just say, "well then it was just the professional development and the technology doesn't matter." You have to remember that many students are doing things with their laptops that aren't convenient/possible without the laptop.
Sure you can write with pen and paper, but research shows that the quality and quantity of writing improves because of the perceived ease of revision and editing. Sure you can look up extra facts in the library after class, if you want to go to all that trouble. But it's a lot more likely to happen when a student can just flip open the laptop, open the browser and do a search. The technology extends our capabilities as teachers and the engineers of learning experiences. Only when technology initiatives focus on teaching and learning (includinng well supported teachers) do they impact achievement.
"Do laptops improve learning?" is not, nor should it ever be, the right question. The right question is "How are teachers using technology to improve learning?"
Strategic Responses:
- When people ask if laptops improve learning, reply with confidence, "Only good teaching improves learning. But 1-to-1 can be one of their strongest tools for improving learning." (See the Research segment)
- Share with School Board, community, and other stake holders the evidence of improved learning from your own initiative and from others. (See the segment on Telling Your Story)
- When people ask how you know it was the laptops and not the teachers or the professional development, respond that yours is a learning initative including all of those things, not just the laptops.
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The Maine Learning Maine Center for in collaboration with The Institute for the
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Maine Center for
Mike Muir, Director |
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The Institute for the
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Gerald Knezek, Director Rhonda Christensen, Associate Director |
Created by Mike Muir
Last updated:
March 24, 2005