One to One Computing! Is it for you??

Technology is being integrated into classrooms somewhere across the world as I type.  It started slowly but has picked up the pace and is in our classrooms today.  We are fortunate to be able to teach using laptop computers, iPads, tablets or desktop computers.  Our students today are racing to the proverbial front of the classroom with their current interests and abilities involving technology.  We as teachers are forced to run with them, no matter what age we are.  Technology as we know it is becoming more and more important as the years go by.  By them time our kindergarteners reach college, I foresee all textbooks as being practically non-existent.  By then the majority of students will have used and/or owned some device that could be used within the classroom setting.  I see already children that are less than two years old using their parents iPhones so it is exciting to think of the possibilities of what is to come!  I can see from my own experiences how students have advanced already in the area of technology.  My own daughter learned how to do a Power Point presentation as part of technology enrichment when she was in the fourth grade so guess who had to teach mom how to do one a couple of semesters ago??  I am fascinated as to where technology may lead us so jump on board the Technology Train because before long, it won't stop at all!  

Article Critique 

1.     Provide the complete article title and author

Laptops and Fourth-Grade Literacy:  Assisting the Jump over the Fourth-Grade Slump  by Grimes, D., Hernandez, D.A., Suhr, K.A., and Warschauer, M.

2.     State the intended audience. (What is empirical research and how does it help the classroom?)                                                                                                                    

Any certified school personnel, especially fourth grade teachers, would be the intended audience as well as parents (especially fourth and fifth grade parents).

Empirical research is research that obtained knowledge is gained through the use of direct as well as indirect observations and/or experiences.  That data can then be analyzed. It helps in the classroom because it is easy to obtain and analyze.

3.     What is/are the research question/questions or hypothesis/hypotheses?

“Were there longitudinal changes in English Language Arts (ELA) achievement of students participating in a one to one laptop program (treatment group) with students who did not participate in the program (control group)?”

4.     Describe the subject (participants) and the procedures (methods) used by the researcher(s)?

There were 54 fourth-grade students in the treatment group and 54 students in the control group for a total of 108 participants.

The procedures/methods used to collect data was interviews, teacher and student surveys, and  observations were used to collect data during this research study.

5.     What were the conclusions of the researchers? Do you agree or disagree with the conclusions? Support your position.

The conclusions of the research proved that the lap-top students outperformed the non-laptop students in literary response and analysis and writing strategies.  The reading comprehension scores were negative for both groups but the laptop or treatment group didn’t fall as low as the non-laptop or control group did. Overall there was an increase in literacy after the second year as opposed to the first.   

I agree with the conclusions and wasn’t surprised at all to discover the laptop group outperformed the non-laptop group.  I was however a little shocked that both grades lost some reading comprehension no matter how small it was.  I realize it is called the fourth-grade slump but was expecting at least a maintenance level and not a decline.  I believe that in the times in which we live technology is going to be what is used in every aspect of life eventually.  Technology will be a part of school, work, and play.  We, as educators, need to move into the technology age and access computers and tablets to aid our students in their educational process. 

 6.   What suggestions for further research do the authors suggest? What other suggestions for future research would you suggest?

      It was noted several things that were not taken into account prior to the research.  One is cost-effectiveness as well as the extended time frame in which the research was conducted.  The control and treatment groups were a little larger than normal which could have skewed the results as well. 

      I think that further research could be done to incorporate laptops into more subject areas within a classroom.  I think across the board it could promote such positive impressions among our students.  When students see that there is more to a computer than Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, I believe their educations will soar!

Click here for an article on One to One Computing! Enjoy!!

Shout out to #ED505UWARAY! Laptops in the classroom are great educational tools when taught correctly! Who's game to give it a try?? Me!!!
— C. Anne Johnson (@anne_j3) June 19, 2013