One-to-one laptops in K-12 classrooms: voices of students

Abstract

In planning educational technology initiatives, the concerns of many stakeholders are typically taken into account, including the concerns of administrators, teachers, parents, and employers. The perspective of students are recognized as valuable, but not often queried or considered. This paper explores the opinions of K-12 students about a one-to-one laptop programme implementation through content analysis of 362 blog postings made by these students expressing their thoughts on the topic at three time points in two years. Employing a bottom-up coding strategy, this paper identified seven themes that represented students’ opinion of technology use in schools: more efficient and productive learning, tools for better writing, access to information, engagement with new media, remaining relevant in a technological world, share and learn from peers, and individualized and differentiated instruction. This study suggested that, when new technology tools are used in schools, students should not only be viewed as learners but also be considered as real writers with valuable opinions. Students also should be provided the opportunity to write for an authentic purpose and audience using diverse forms of digital media.

Keywords:

• digital media
• student voices
• technology literacy

Acknowledgement

We would like to extend our appreciation to the teachers and students of Littleton Public Schools for inviting us into their classrooms.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Binbin Zheng

Binbin Zheng is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education at Michigan State University. She received her PhD degree from the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine, in 2013, under the supervision of Dr Mark Warschauer. Dr Zheng’s research focuses on new technologies and students’ language and literacy development, as well as educational programme evaluations. She is particularly interested in investigating the effect of social media on at-risk learners’ language learning.

Kathleen Arada

Kathleen Arada received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and English from the University of California, Irvine, in 2010. She then went on to pursue her Master of Arts in Teaching and Multiple Subjects Credential from the University of California, Irvine, in 2012. Since graduating, she has been teaching Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math at the elementary school level. She is currently the Lower School Makers Lab Teacher at an independent school in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Melissa Niiya

Melissa Niiya is a doctoral student in the University of California, Irvine School of Education in the Language, Literacy, and Technology specialization. She taught digital literacy and media technology courses to underrepresented and minority youth and adults. Melissa’s research interests include technology and literacy education, digital literacies in underserved populations, and interactive media in and out of the classroom.

Mark Warschauer

Mark Warschauer is Professor and Associate Dean of Education at the University of California, Irvine, and director of the Digital Learning Lab. Professor Warschauer’s research focuses on the relationship of digital media use to literacy and learning processes and outcomes among culturally and linguistically diverse students. His books include Technology and Social Inclusion: Rethinking the Digital Divide (MIT Press), Laptops and Literacy: Learning in the Wireless Classroom (Teachers College Press), and Learning in the Cloud, How (and Why) to Transform Schools with Digital Media (Teachers College Press). He is the inaugural editor of American Educational Research Association Open.