2001-2002 Liverpool Central School District Evaluation Report, Year 2, High School Laptop Computer Program
Date: 2001-2002
Author: Kenneth R. Stevenson
Keywords: high school, achievement, attendance, behaviour
Summary:
During school year 2001-2002 the Liverpool Central School District continued its high school Laptop Project. As was the case the previous year, students in the tenth grade at the high school could elect to participate in the program through the lease/purchase of a laptop computer. Those students who were now eleventh graders in 2001/2002 could elect to continue in their second year of the program. Further, eleventh graders who had not participated the first year could enroll as first time participants. The students' laptop computers were intended to provide a new and exciting tool for learning and teaching.
The end-of-the-year 2001/2002 assessment instruments were designed to determine student, parent, and teacher perceptions of the following: a) how students used computers, b) what impact the Laptop Program had on academic achievement, c) the impact the Laptop Program had on the human dimensions of the classroom including student attendance and behavior, d) concerns about using a computer, e) what purpose computers best served in a classroom, and f) how responses varied from year to year, grade to grade, and group to group.
Key Findings:
* The type of experience a laptop student had in Year 2 was more dependent upon the individual teachers the child was assigned than the subject taken, or even the grade level of that child. It appeared that the more experience and enthusiasm the teacher had for the Program, the better the experience was for the student.
* It became obvious in Year 2 that even one year of teacher experience with laptop technology makes a significant difference in how smoothly the Program operates, how positively parents and students view the Program, and how many "concerns" are expressed. The more actual classroom experience a teacher has with the laptops, the more likely that teacher will not only use the laptops regularly, but instill in students and their parents a belief in the efficacy of the Program.
* Students, teachers, and parents in the Laptop Program in Year 2 often responded negatively to the durability of the laptops. Since computers will continue to break down and malfunction for the foreseeable future, and since it is very important for students to have their laptops in class every day and every period possible, it is imperative that the district maintain its technology support component.
* While the evaluator is reluctant to suggest that a definite and positive causal relationship exists between laptop use and student outcome measures, the initial analysis indicates that there is a difference in performance between those who do and do not have laptops. The initial findings are significant enough that the evaluator does strongly believe that review of outcome data needs to continue to be an important part of assessing the Laptop Program over time.
* The growing negative responses of eleventh grade student participants and their parents in year 2, along with weak support of the Program among teachers completing their first year of the project, is worrisome. If this negativity continues to grow beyond these three groups, the Program will have great difficulty succeeding. On the other hand, teachers who now had gained two years of experience with laptops in classrooms were generally very positive about the Program, as were the Year 2 tenth grade student participants.
* Despite the "growing pains" of implementing such a large and complex initiative, the Laptop Program in this District has certainly shown that under the right circumstances, laptops can be a wonderful and exciting tool for teaching and learning.
* The District needs to make a concerted effort to keep parents and the community informed throughout each school year about how, where, and when laptops are being used in instruction.
Source Article: http://www.liverpool.k12.ny.us/Laptops/LaptopEvalFinalYr2.pdf
