2001 The relationship between models of student laptop computer use and teacher instructional behavior
Date: 2001
Author: Barbara A. Ashmore
Affiliation: University of North Texas
Keywords: models of laptop use, teacher planning, assessment, instructional strategies, student grouping, teacher/student roles
Summary:
This study investigated the relationship between four models of student laptop computer use and three components of teacher instructional behavior: planning, implementation of instruction, and evaluation of instruction. The four models of use: full access, dispersed, class set, and mixed, represented the numerous ways teachers in public and private schools and school districts nationwide implemented student use of laptop computers. Teacher planning behavior was investigated with regard to time, frequency, complexity, difficulty, the need for revision, and use of technological resources and materials. Implementation of instruction was examined with regard to student grouping, instructional strategies, instructional content/subject matter, teacher and student roles, assignments and learning tasks, and instructional activities. The evaluation of instruction component was examined with regard to assessment tasks, grading, and assessment of homework.
Research Questions Included:
*What characterizes teacher planning behaviors with regard to time, frequency, complexity, difficulty, need for revision, and use of technological resources and materials when students use laptop computers in one of four models of use: full access, dispersed, class set, or mixed?
* Are there statistically significant differences between the four models of use: full access, dispersed, class set, and mixed, when students use laptop computers and teacher planning behaviors with regard to time, frequency, complexity, difficulty, revision, and use of technological resources and materials?
* What characterizes teacher implementation of instruction with regard to student grouping, instructional strategies, instructional content/subject matter, teacher and student roles, assignments and learning tasks, instructional activities, instructional materials, and student and teacher interactions when students use laptop computers in one of four models of use: full access, dispersed, class set, or mixed?
* What characterizes teacher evaluation of instruction behaviors with regard to assessment tasks, grading, and homework assessment when students use laptop computers in one of four models of use; full access, dispersed, class set, or mixed?
Key Findings:
* The role of both students and teachers became more constructivist when students had access to laptop computers in the full access and mixed models.
* Instructional activities became more constructivist in the full access and mixed models as did assessment practices in the full access and mixed models of use.
* Teachers were more likely to place students in small groups in the dispersed model.
* In the mixed model, teachers became more collegial and used technological resources and materials more often when they engaged in planning.
* When student use of laptop computers was integrated into teacher instructional behaviors, teacher practice was affected. Teachers were more likely to employ a constructivist approaches in the classroom.
* The full access and mixed models of use were more likely to advance constructivist instructional practice in the classroom than either the class set or dispersed models of use. Teachers working in the full access and mixed models, for example, perceived themselves as learning along with students more often. Moreover, they utilized pedagogy conducive to a constructivist approach in the classroom such as cooperative learning more frequently than teachers in the class set or dispersed models of use.
* In both the full access and mixed models, students and teachers were more collegial and collaborative than teachers working in the class set and dispersed models of use.
* The full access and mixed models of use are more likely to promote constructivist evaluation of instruction than either the class set or dispersed models of use. Constructivist assessment tasks such as students conferencing with their peers about their work, explaining their thinking in writing or in discussion, or presenting as part of a group were practiced more frequently by teachers in the full access and mixed models of use. Likewise, these same teachers were more likely to elicit student ideas and opinions or keep student items in a portfolio with greater frequency than teachers in the class set or dispersed models of use. Thus, the greater impact of the full access and mixed models of use illustrates the relationship between models of student laptop computer use and teacher instructional behaviors with regard to evaluation of instruction.
* Planning was more demanding of teachers in the mixed model of use than in either the full access, class set, or dispersed models. Teachers in the mixed model of use spent more time planning and planned more frequently. However, the increased demands of planning created by the mixed model of use, may also be responsible for the greater degree of teacher collegiality and use of technological resources evident in this model of use. Not only did the mixed model of use produce a greater impact on teacher instructional behaviors with regard to planning than the full 100 access, class set, and dispersed models of use, but it also illustrated the relationship between models of student laptop computer use and teacher instructional behaviors with regard to planning.
Source Article: http://www.iittl.unt.edu/iittl/dissertations/ashmore.pdf
