EFFECTS OF ONE-TO-ONE COMPUTER INITIATIVES ON

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND MOTIVATION WITHIN THE

CLASSROOM
Rebekah van Oostveen
100235444
Abstract
Due to the increase and availability of technology in the world
today, uch research has been done on the e!ectiveness of
technology, s"eci#cally one$to$one co"uter initiatives on student
learning% &his research "ro"osal looks at the historical data
regarding one$to$one co"uter initiatives and their #ndings, and
"ro"oses a new direction in research for use of the one$to$one
co"uter initiatives% &he research "ro"osal suggests co"aring
three schools using one$to$one co"uter "rograing to three
schools, of siilar deogra"hics, that are not using one$to$one
co"uter "rograing% &he research would focus on collecting
'ualitative data in the for of interviews, observations and blogs
fro teachers and students to deterine the e!ects of the one$to$
one co"uter "rograing on the engageent and otivation of
students% &he data would be analy(ed by a triangulation ethod
searching for thees that would su""ort the "rinci"les of
engageent theory% &he research ho"es to su""ort #ndings that
using one$to$one co"uter initiatives would increase the
engageent and otivation of students by using s"eci#c activities
that su""ort the develo"ent of these i"ortant characteristics%
1.0 Histrica! Data R"#ar$i%# O%"-T-O%" C&'(t"r
I%itiati)"s
&echnology within the classroo has been an ongoing
discussion of whether or not it bene#ts the students in their learning
and ultiately their acadeic achieveent% )any view technology
as the ost signi#cant tool that can be used to in*uence student
achieveent, and change the roles and odels of traditional
teaching +,haberlain, 2004-% ."eci#cally, one$to$one co"uting
initiatives are becoing increasingly "o"ular around the world due
to decreased costs, wider availability to internet access, and a
changing view of education% / one$to$one classroo environent
"rovides every student in that classroo with the o""ortunity to use
a la"to" with lessons or activities that are student$centered and
s"eci#cally designed for the use of the la"to"s +0enuel, 2001-%
One of the ain studies in one$to$one co"uter initiatives has
been develo"ed by the )aine 2earning &echnology 3nitiative, which
andates that all 4
th
and 5
th
grade students and teachers be
"rovided with a la"to", technical assistance and "rofessional
develo"ent +enabling 34 000 students and 3 000 teachers-% &he
study, re"orted by .ilvernail and 2ane +2004-, used a blended
ethod of 'ualitative +through site visits, surveys, observations, and
interviews- and 'uantitative +data retrieved fro surveys and
docuent analysis- research%
&he study also focused on the i"acts on learning skills used
within the classroo fro teachers and student "ers"ectives% &he
student "ers"ectives +based on survey results- found that over 506
of students were better organi(ed for class, 406 were ore involved
in school and related activities, and would do ore work with a
la"to" than without% 506 of the students surveyed entioned that
they would rather use the la"to" than any other technology
available if given the choice% &eachers also re"orted that students
were ore actively involved in their lessons and within their
learning% 3nterestingly, the results showed arkedly ore
i"roveent in students who are labeled as s"ecial education
students and students who are considered high risk in the areas
entioned above +.ilvernail 7 2ane, 2004-%
3n another one$to$one co"uter initiative, conducted by
,haberlain +2004-, students in 8irginia +Henrico County Public Schools)
were also given the opportunity to use laptop computers as an effective tool for
learning. This study involved 45 randomly selected students from a pool of ! """ in
a #ualitative manner using focus groups$ observations$ and student logs.
%ue to the #ualitative measure of the study$ results were mainly seen through
comments of the students within their focus group sessions. &n the focus groups they
were as'ed ( #uestions specifically related to their e)periences with the laptop in each
session. The comments were also logged in terms of how many students actually
responded. The students reported large change in their classroom and school
e)perience whereby the students completed more wor' in one class period$ and they
en*oyed being able to access information #uic'ly as well as new information that they
could not previously access. The students also recogni+ed that individuals that are shy
or generally unresponsive to typical school activities were more willing to interact
with others and the material. The students also highly recommended the program and
commented that it not only taught them computer s'ills$ but it also taught them
responsibility and gave them more independence in their learning.
Students did also comment on a few negative aspects including a lac' of
technology support for their computers when not wor'ing functionally. They
recommended that every school have a computer technician that was available at any
moment. The students also commented that some students cannot handle being on the
computer because they become too distracted by the material they can access. The
students were also concerned with the filtering process of websites$ saying that
incorrect sites were filtered and that they may get in trouble for finding an unfiltered
site accidentally.
,nother study$ completed by -ule' and %emirtas .!""5)$ included "/5
students who were split into study groups of 0
th
to /
th
grade students who were using
laptops and students who were not using laptops. This study was done in a private
school where over 4"1 of parents have attended graduate school$ //1 have
graduated from college or university$ and less than 1 of students are 2economically
disadvantaged.3 %ue to these demographics$ a comparison between students with
laptops and without laptops within the same school was necessary. The study used
#uantitative measures to gauge student achievement such as grade point average
.-P,)$ end of course grades and scores on two standardi+ed tests. The results showed
that the students using laptops had significantly higher -P,4s as well as higher end of
course grades. They also noted that the students using the laptops on a day5to5day
basis also performed at a proficient level .a rubric scoring of 6 out of 4) on a district
writing assessment standardi+ed test signifying that a ma*ority of the students with
laptops met the district grade level e)pectations$ but a lower percentage of students
without laptops did met the same level. The students using laptops also go beyond the
national average for proficiency in language arts and math within the 7nited States$
where students without laptops were found to have average results.
Schaumberg .!"") conducted two studies$ which were concentrated on a
variety of student demographics while using laptops in a one5to5one classroom
environment. The first included 6"" students .from grade 8 to grade ") and the
second included 45 students .(
th
grade). The first study used video logs and on site
observation in 5 minute intervals to determine the student use and affect on student
learning. The second study was primarily focusing on the difference between female
and male computer literacy and confidence with the laptop.
The first study4s .Schaumberg$ !""a) results showed students were led in
purposeful guided discussions that included research using the laptops. The researcher
noted students were more actively involved in group wor' and were able to critically
analy+e their written and finished wor'. The researcher also found that student
organi+ation increased over time and the students were actively archiving previous
wor' and data. The laptops also fostered and increase in individual wor'.
The second study4s .Schaumberg$ !""b) results demonstrated that boys
generally have a greater confidence in their computer s'ills than girls$ however girls
usually outperformed the boys in certain program s'ills and computer 'nowledge. The
girls also gained significant confidence in their s'ills over time and increased their
comfort with the machine for day5to5day use. Schaumberg related these findings to
possible increase in student learning$ not only in computer literacy$ but also in a
number of different sub*ects.
The last study focuses on online collaborative pro*ects while students are
using laptop computers in their classrooms .-aynor and 9raser$ !""!). This study was
measuring the efficacy of the laptops$ as well as the online learning and collaborative
wor' using a common online program and tas'. The students were as'ed to create an
e5postcard using the online program given to them. The sub*ects were interviewed and
#uantitatively measured based on the common tas'. They found that as the students
used their laptops in increasing amounts$ the ability to engage in larger in#uiry5based
activities increased. The research demonstrated that the students were highly
motivated. The #uantitative data$ however$ showed that academically the tas' and
laptops mostly increased their communication s'ills and vocabulary usage$ but other
areas such as information return and 'nowledge did not show a mar'ed increase. The
research mentioned that due to the vague nature of the assignment it allowed students
the opportunity to design and create their ideas based on their interests. This created a
chance for the students to develop independence and a sense of ownership over their
education.
*.0 T+"r"tica! Fra&",r-. R"s"arc+ /("sti% a%$
H0't+"sis
9ithin the study of one$to$one co"uter initiatives, not any
research studies have looked u"on the increase in engageent and
otivation with students who are involved in the one$to$one
co"uter "rogra% :ngageent theory, develo"ed by ;earsley and
.chniederan +1<<<-, is a "roinent theory develo"ed "ur"osely
for use within technology$integrated classroos% &he theory states
that while using technology, students ust be engaged in
eaningful learning activities that will allow the to interact with
others and "erfor tasks that are "ractical beyond the classroo%
;earsley and .chneideran +1<<<- believe that technology enables
student to be involved in =active cognitive "rocesses such as
creating, "roble$solving, reasoning, decision$aking, and
evaluation% 3n addition, students are intrinsically otivated to learn
due to the eaningful nature of the learning environent and
activities%> &his study will focus on the ability for the co"uters to
"rovide engageent o""ortunities for the students based on several
"rinci"les that build engageent% &hese o""ortunities include?
activities that are grou" conte@t based and deand collaboration,
creative "roAects that are de#ned by the students, and value or
contribution based where students are creating a "roduct for the
outside world +;earsley 7 .chneideran, 1<<<-%
;earsley and .chniederan +1<<<- also related engageent
theory to increasing student otivation when using technology
within the classroo% &he "rinci"les that are involved in increasing
engageent have also been looked at in increasing otivation for
students as well% Bor instance, collaboration and creating "roducts
with an authentic a""lication have both been seen to increase
students otivation to co"lete the task they are re'uired to do
+;earsley 7 .chneideran, 1<<<-% Cowever, there are two ty"es of
otivation that can be seen% 3ntrinsic otivation is the otivation in
which a "erson is able to internali(e the value of an activity and can
identify with the activity% 9here e@trinsic otivation is the result of
e@ternal deands such as rewards or conse'uences +.tory et al%,
200<-% 3ntrinsic otivation factors that can be seen with any
students is the belief that the students can succeed and co"lete
the task, ado"ting a sense of astery within the task, and being
con#dent in their abilities to do the task% :@trinsic otivation relies
on factors such as "erforance outcoes, laid out acadeic goals
that are not associated with astery, as well as the conse'uences
of failure +.tory et al%, 200<-% .tudy is needed to deterine whether
engageent activities involving technology, s"eci#cally one$to$one
co"uter initiatives, can build otivation within students, intrinsic
or e@trinsic, while "erforing these activities%
&he research 'uestions that will be addressed by this study are?
/re one$to$one co"uter initiatives i"roving student
engageent and otivation within the classrooD
/re teachers noticing a di!erence in student engageent and
otivationD
/re students noticing a di!erence in student engageent and
otivationD
/re there any issues that hinder student engageent and
otivationD
&he "redicted outcoes of this study is that if technology is
ade'uately used within the classroo through a one$to$one
co"uter based initiative, then students will becoe ore engaged
and otivated to succeed because of the use of engageent
activities which "rovide the students with o""ortunities to
collaborate, create and develo" authentic "roducts%
1.0 M"t+$!#02 D"si#%
&he study would be using ethodological triangulation of
three di!erent 'ualitative data recovery ethods? interview,
observations, and blogs &riangulation hel"s to build validity of
'ualitative results and hel"s to better understand the results by
erging and analy(ing i@ed ethods of data collection%
&riangulation "rovides a better background, in ters of validity and
reliability for the collaboration of the results% Bor instance, the
observations seen in the classroo will hel" to validate the re"ort
given by the teacher and the student +RisAord et al%, 2002-%
&riangulation will be done to analy(e the results, using the
studentEteacher blogs, the interviews and observations% &he
researcher will be looking for siilar issues and thees that will be
deonstrated% Bor e@a"le? all three of the data collection ay
show a thee of increasing leadershi" roles by the students using
the co"uters in grou" "roAects% &he thees will be categori(ed
de"endent u"on the three "rinci"les of engageent? collaboration,
creativity, and authenticity of "roducts% &here will also be a
recurring thee of issues that ay be hindering the aount of
student engageent that ay be seen within the classroo%
1.1 M"t+$!#02 Partici'a%ts
Schools:
&he research will be focused on three schools that are using
one$to$one co"uter initiatives% &he schools will need to be high
school aged students +"referably grades 10$12-% &he study will also
co"are results with three schools that are not using one$to$one
co"uter initiatives% /ll schools will need to be of siilar econoic,
acadeic and deogra"hics so that coon thees can be
ade'uately co"ared%
Teachers:
&he research study will need 3$1 teachers fro each school
using full integration of one$to$one co"uter "rogras and 3$1
teachers fro each school not using integration of one$to$one
co"uter "rogras%
Students:
&he research study will need 1$5 students fro the classes of
the "revious teachers using one$to$one co"uter "rogras and 1$5
students fro the classes of the "revious teachers not using one$to$
one co"uter "rogras% &he students are to be in grades 10$12 as
this is the focus age grou" of the study due to lack of "revious
research of one$to$one co"uter initiatives beyond a iddle school
a""lication%
1.* M"t+$!#02 I%str(&"%ts
&he research study will be using three 'ualitative ethods of
data recovery for this study% &he ethods being used are interviews
with students and teachers, researcher observation, and student
and teacher blogs%
Interview:
&eachers and students will be "artici"ating in interviews led by
the researcher% &he interviews will be recorded and asked in the
for of o"en$ended 'uestions that are "reviously structured to
deonstrate "ers"ectives on engageent and otivation within the
classroo% &he 'uestions will also look at any issues that are
hindering the engageent or otivation within the classroo%
&he interviews will be conducted once every two onths
during the school year% &he #rst one would be at the beginning of
the school year to deonstrate "ers"ectives at the beginning of the
"rogra% &he ne@t one would be two onths after the start of the
school year and "rogra to allow for o"tial "rogra o"eration%
Observations:
Observations will be done by the researcher based on a
"redeterined scale looking for engageent and otivation
deonstrated by the students based on "redeterined cues for
what signi#es engageent and otivation and organi(ed "reviously
de"endent u"on the three "rinci"les of engageent theory% &he
observation checklist will include such obAects such as the aount
of collaboration, tasks that involve signi#cant creation, and tasks
that ay involve the develo"ent of authentic "roducts% &he
researcher, using a digital cacorder, will record the observations%
Teacher and Student Blogs:
&eachers and students will be re'uired to co"lete bi$weekly
blogs +online Aournals- recording their observations of engageent
and otivation within the classroo using +or not using- the
co"uters% .tudents and teachers will be guided in what to look for
as cues for engageent and otivation within the classroo using
the three "rinci"les of engageent theory? collaboration, creation
and authenticity of tasks%
3.0 A%a!0sis a%$ H'"4(! Fi%$i%#s
&he analysis will be done with a triangulation ethod after the
interviews and observations are transcribed and the blogs are
analy(ed% &riangulation will look for recurring thees throughout all
of the work to see if engageent activities are been done ore
often with the classroos that are using the one$to$one co"uter
"rograing% &hese engageent activities will include using any
ty"es of collaboration activities between students, using any
ethods of creating "roducts and allowing students to design and
develo" their own "roAect based work, as well as creating authentic
and realistic "roducts fro the work that they are doing% /ll three of
the ethods of data collection are set u" for increasing the validity
and reliability of the clais that are ade in each of the ethods%
&he #ndings that should be shown fro this research is that
there is ore engaging activities that will increase student
otivation by using the one$to$one co"uter "rograing than
what will be seen in a conventional classroo% &he study will
ho"efully also #nd any issues that need to be addressed for those
that are thinking about incor"orating technology within the
classroo and how to "ossibly avoid these "robles% 3f these
hy"otheses are true, this could lead to ore research to be done
using other ethods of technology within the classroo such as
social networking, obile devices, hand held devices and any
ore% &he increase in technology can o"en a new world to these
students and ho"efully lead to a global oveent of engaging
students using a""ro"riate and e!ective technological resources%
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