The Effects of the One-to-One Initiative

1. The Effects of the One-to-One Initiative Action Research Presentation Amber D. Dorsey Doane College Masters in Education Program

2. Primary Question How will the implementation of the 21st Century one-to-one initiative program affect students’ success at school?

3. Guiding Questions How might the one-to-one initiative increase student accountability for learning? How might the one-to-one initiative increase higher-level learning in the classroom? How might the one-to-one computing affect teaching styles? What challenges might teachers have while integrating technology into the curriculum?

4. Context • Two sections of 7th grade Science classes (09-10) • 44 total students: 24 boys, 20 girls • 36 Hispanic, 6 White, 1 African America & 1 Asian American • 31 of those students receive free lunches and 8 receive reduced lunches. • 13 students receiving Special Education services

5. Purpose • The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the one-to-one initiative. • This study will take into account • Parental opinion • Student opinion • Classroom teacher opinion • Student work

6. Data Collection

7. Data Collection • Journal • Student • Self • Core Teachers • Portfolio • Collection of Student artifacts (X3) • Interviews • Before Projects & After projects (X2) • Student Project Interviews (X3) • Surveys • Parent • Student • Teacher

8. Journals • Students wrote in their technology journals once a week using a prompt. • I wrote in my technology journal once a week. • A team journal was written in once a week during team time, using a prompt. The purpose of the journal was to track how much technology was being used in the classroom with how much technology the students were actually using in and with their lessons. Data was also collected on which classes utilized technology and which ones did not, how teachers integrated technology into their curriculum and how the computers helped or hindered student success at school.

9. Portfolio Collection • Students turned in one technology artifact with each of the three units. • Plants • Plant Quizlet • Webquest – Great Plant Escape • Seed Lab – Which Way Do Seeds Grow? • Fungi Unit • Fungi Wiki • Fungi Quizlet • Pages – Informational Poster • Genetics Unit • Cootie Family • Distance Learning – Henry Doorly Zoo: Conservation Genetics

10. Interviews • Interviews after each project were conducted to collect information on how students used their time while completing a technology project. The purpose of this data was to see how much time was spend on the “bling” or creative part of a technology project versus the content of the project and how technology helped express or hinder what was learned during the unit.

11. Surveys • Surveys were taken three times during the study. (Parental, Student and Core Team) • One in the beginning of the project (beginning of January) • One in the middle of the project (end of February) • One at the end of the project (beginning of April) Purpose of the survey was to gain information on how comfortable parents, students and teachers were with technology; the use of technology in the classroom, integrating technology into lessons, monitoring the use of technology at home and how much parents help their student with their homework with the technology.

12. Findings

13. Student Accountability increased with the one-to-one initiative 54% 50% 37%

14. Student Accountability increased with the one-to-one initiative • Parents surveyed stated that their child took more responsibility in their homework because their grades increased and they were more engaged in their schoolwork. • Teachers agreed with the students that having all the tools in one spot helped students become more organized and increased their accountability in learning. • I noted that with the one-to-one initiative, students took more pride in their work which increased their taking an active role in their learning.

15. The one-to-one initiative has increased higher-level learning in classrooms. 51% 37%

16. The one-to-one initiative has increased higher-level learning in classrooms. • Teachers noted that having the technology being at students’ fingertips allowed for teaching the interconnectedness of topics visually and quickly. • Teachers also indicated that the implementation allowed students to use multiple intelligences while working on projects. • I observed that students working with one-to-one applied their knowledge instead of memorizing and regurgitating knowledge.

17. Teaching styles have changed to some degree 59% 43% 20%

18. Teaching styles have changed to some degree • Some teachers surveyed stated that the one-to-one had no effect on their teaching styles. They did not change how they were teaching their content. • I observed that as the year progressed, more collaboration was happening among teachers which led to technology slowly being integrated into all levels of curriculum.

19. Teacher barriers that impede student success • Time to prepare lessons, learn Studywiz, and time needed to catch up to what the students know were the top three time challenges stated by teachers. • Inconsistency of computers working and not working was a challenge. • No clear plan of when broken computers will be returned. • Learning how to manage a classroom with some students working on computers and others not due to broken computers was a difficult task for teachers to manage. • Parents surveyed felt like they didn’t have enough technology skills to monitor or help their student be successful.

20. Student Portfolio Work Artifacts were collected for each unit during this study. A collection of student work is located at the following address: http://edu604examples.wikispaces.com/ On the left hand side of the wiki is a navigation tool. Use it to locate the specific items you are looking for.

21. Conclusion • There is strong support for continuation of this school wide initiative. • Students have shown growth in being responsible. • Students are learning to take ownership for their learning. • Students are producing work using higher-level reasoning.

22. Students are learning to collaborate with students and teachers. • Inclusion students have taken on a leadership role in class. • Inclusion students feel like the computer has equalized the classroom. • The one-to-one has empowered students. • The one-to-one has boosted student confidence with their academics. • The computer has taught students to be organized.

23. More work still needs to be done with school policies and procedures. • More data needs to be collected on what technology is being used in the classroom. • The one-to-one initiative is currently seventh and eighth grades and to be successful it needs to move to being school-wide. • Parents need training on technology skills, monitoring skills, and how to work with their child and their homework on the computer.

24. Applications to Classroom Teaching Lexington Public Schools Should… • Continue with the one-to-one initiative school wide and work towards the goal of district wide for the near future • Give ample staff development opportunities to keep staff updated with technology • Give time for teachers to develop higher-level curriculum to enhance student success • Monitor student accountability and teacher implementation of technology • Offer parent classes on how to use the computer, how to monitor their students’ computer usage and help them become familiar with the technology to help their child be successful

25. On-going Questions: • What successes will this surveying class have when they graduate from high school? • What kind of students will the middle school produce when the initiative has been school- wide for a minimum of three years? • What types of training can be offered to parents to help with the transition to one-to-one?