Despite problems, laptops boost student test scores
The past several years have seen laptop prices plunge to commodity levels at the same time that the explosion in WiFi access has made getting them on the 'Net much easier. That's prompted an explosion of one-to-one student:laptop programs, implemented by everything from individual schools to entire states. Hard data on the effectiveness of these programs, however, has been hard to come by. The most recent issue ofThe Journal of Technology, Learning and Assessmentis devoted to looking at these programs, and it includes some hard data suggesting that they just might help students handle standardized tests.
There are six papers, all dedicated to looking at different attempts at 1:1 laptop programs at different levels of primary education in the US. A few of those are focused on self-reported surveys of how teachers and students view the programs, however; there are only two that focus on hard numbers obtained via statewide standardized tests.