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1:1 Laptops in the Classroom—Where Are We Now?
22/3/11 4:28 PM
The article asserts that indeed, the success of a 1:1 laptop program rests in the preparation and teaching
strategies of the teacher in the classroom, pulling together findings from a variety of sources, including The
Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment, published by the Boston College Lynch School of
Education, January 2010 special edition devoted to the 1:1 laptop issue.
Researchers Damien Bebell and Laura O’Dwyer assert that the downfall of 1:1 laptop programs is the
assumption that simply giving a student a laptop is the magic bullet because there is little focus on the
education process.
“[The program] refers to the level at which technology is available to students and teachers; by definition, it
says nothing about actual educational practices,” they write in “Educational Outcomes and Research from
1:1 Computing Programs.”
Bebell, with Rachel Kay, conducted a study of five Western Massachusetts public and private middle
schools that participated in the Berkshire Wireless Learning Initiative. What they found was that the 1:1
laptop program had positive educational effects, but educational practices changed as well. Teachers had
to change their methods of instruction.
“One of the central project outcomes of the study was the documentation of fundamental changes in
teaching, particularly teaching strategies, curriculum delivery, and classroom management,” write Bebell and
Kay. “Without question, the 1:1 program had major impacts across many aspects of teaching for the
majority of teacher participants.”
In the Philadelphia area, Lower Merion High School has been conducting a 1:1 program, while nearby
Harriton High School is three-years in. In January, the Lower Merion School District’s Supervisor of
Instruction Technology told the School Board that education delivery and practices in those schools were
allowing students to reach new levels of learning.”
As reported by the Ardmore-Merion-Wynnewood Patch Hilt noted that the district uses a method called
SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition), which firsts asks teachers to substitute
technology for resources or established instructional practices. The goal, though, is to next use the
technology to augment lessons to provide additional advantages and then modify lessons based on the
advanced technology available through the program. Ultimately, 1:1 computing should redefine educational
practices. Teachers become the moderators and facilitators of a wider world of learning.
Lower Merion Spanish Teacher Allison Mellett and Biology teacher Elliott Burch have embraced 1:1
computing for their classes. Burch, for example, asked students to demonstrate animal behaviors by
producing claymation movies using their laptops’ built-in cameras and iMovie software rather than write
written reports. Mellet has a virtual classroom model—students download class assignments and upload
their completed work. Her classroom is completely paperless.
The concept is in line with the 21st Century Schools concept, which is the hot topic in education reform
right now.
A teacher at the Wichern-Schule in Hamburg, Germany, Torsten Otto agrees that it is up to the teacher and
his/her practices for the 1:1 computing model to fulfill its promise.
“In our 1-to-1 program … we put a big emphasis on project-based learning; otherwise, the laptop is no
more than an expensive notepad. Research needs to show the effects of this different style of teaching in
terms of student engagement, motivation, and so-called 21st-century skills,” Otto said in the eSchool News
story.
In Lower Merion, four students lauded the program at the School Board meeting. Harriton Senior Daniel
Carp said “ I keep everything I need for school on my computer. I can connect with students and teachers,
and any pressing question I might have can be answered with a quick e-mail.”
But a survey of parents and students show that not everyone is enamored with 1:1 computing and the
laptop program. The Merionite, Lower Merion student newspaper, conducted a student survey that showed
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