1. Technology: Blessing or Curse?
Dr. Danny Baer
Academic Dean
Southeastern Free Will Baptist College

2. Why Technology? Competition/Expectations To Engage Students
To Prepare Students for a Technical World
To Aid in Learning

3. Governor McCrory Delivers 2013 State of State Address
February 18, 2013
three key focus points:
our economy,
our education,
the efficiency of our services.

4. McCrory On Education
“We must be here not only to represent the next generation, but also the hardworking men and women, who everyday have to get up in the morning and take responsibility for their families…”
“The hardworking teacher who cannot get funds for needed technology to help students learn.”

5. McCrory On Education
“Education is no longer about spending money on bricks and mortar. The power to improve education and deliver real results is at our fingertips.”
“Right now, you watch any four-year-old child learning, they’re learning on technology, and they’re learning quicker than any of us in this room ever learned.”

6. McCrory on Funding
“To increase our children’s access to technology, I’m advocating that we ensure that the education lottery money actually be used for education”

7. McCrory on Funding
“We … will reallocate a portion of money away from the bloated and frankly annoying advertising and the large administration cost of the Lottery Commission, “
“And we will use that money to directly help our students with technology.”

8. McCrory on Funding
“I also think we need to work together to give schools more flexibility to spend lottery funds on digital and virtual learning,”
“which school districts, according to our laws, are not allowed to do right now.”

9. McCrory on Funding
“There’s a pot of money right now that can only be used on certain things.”
“Why not let all of our hundred districts use that money on technology and virtual learning?”
“This is the future.”
“Why don’t we be ahead of the curve as opposed to being behind the curve?”
“This begins right now.”

11. One-to-One Early 80’s – 125:1 Last few years – 4:1
Initiatives across the country – 1:1

12. From McCrory’s Speech
“In our Morrisville city schools, the superintendent recently issued laptops for students in grades 4-12.”
“Three years ago, the graduation rate was below 80%.”
“In the last three years, the rate shot up to 90%.”

13. “No Child Left Untableted”
New York Times: September 12, 2013
Guilford County, North Carolina
Every student in 18 of 24 middle schools received tablets
15,450
paid for in part by a $30 million grant from the federal Department of Education’s Race to the Top program

14. You Use! I Use! We Use! Questioning the Orthodoxy of One-to-One Computing in Primary Schools
Journal of Research on Technology in Education,
1:2 computing is an appropriate means of achieving such aims in primary school.
achieve a balance between productivity, student engagement, social activity, and individualized learning.

15. Comparison of 1:1 and 1:m CSCL Environment for Collaborative Concept Mapping
Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, Apr 2012.
While 1:1 groups had demonstrated more consistency in group participation, improved communication and interaction,
The 1:m groups had instead generated superior artifacts as all the notes were well discussed among the group members. The findings suggest that a higher quality of collaborative processes does not necessarily lead to improved student artifacts.

16. Educational Outcomes and Research from 1:1 Computing Settings
Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment, Jan 2010.
 Participation in the 1:1 programs was associated with
increased student and teacher technology use,
increased student engagement and interest level,
and modest increases in student achievement.

17. The End of Techno-Critique: The Naked Truth about 1:1 Laptop Initiatives and Educational Change
Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment, Jan 2010.
Larry Cuban admonishes 1:1 advocates for making “outlandish claims” about “improved learning, better teaching, and students getting higher salaried jobs” resulting from students and teachers having laptop computers.
He charges 1:1 computing advocates with hyping the expectations of technology by confusing the medium (computers) and the message (effect).

18. Cuban’s criticism is twofold
The End of Techno-Critique: The Naked Truth about 1:1 Laptop Initiatives and Educational Change
Cuban’s criticism is twofold
Evidence compiled over the last decade, shows a diminutive effect of 1:1 computing on teaching, learning, and student achievement across schools, districts, and states the advocates’ views too often ignore
Cuban’s belief that achievement gains are more likely to emerge from innovative teaching, including individualized and problem-based instruction
The article advocates the for 1:1 initiatives to be effective, a complete overhaul of the educational paradigm is required.

19. One to One Computing: A Summary of the Quantitative Results from the Berkshire Wireless Learning Initiative
Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment, Jan 2010
Examines the educational impacts of the Berkshire Wireless Learning Initiative (BWLI), that provided 1:1 technology access to all students and teachers across five public and private middle schools in western Massachusetts.
Findings
Teachers use technology more often
Students use technology more often

25. Results & Lessons Learned from 1:1 Laptop Initiatives: A Collective Review
TechTrends: Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning, Nov 2009
Few modern educational initiatives have been as widespread and costly as the integration of laptop initiatives into education.
Simply providing each student with a laptop will not elicit gains or improvements in learning.
Schools must realize that successful 1:1 initiatives go beyond the technology itself; they must also address and include professional development, training, and support.
For teachers and students

26. An Examination of One-to-One Computing in the Middle School: Does Increased Access Bring about Increased Student Engagement?
Journal of Educational Computing Research, 2010
Increased access to laptop computers does not always equate to increased student engagement.

27. Why Technology? Competition/Expectations To Engage Students
We cannot compete with the funding of the public school system
To Engage Students
Students like technology
It is not apparent if this is effective in the long run

28. Why Technology? To Prepare Students for a Technical World
We live in a technology laden world.
We must use technology
To Aid in Learning
Use technology as a tool, just as you would use any tool.
Integrate technology with your curriculum and educational objectives.
Do not use it as a gimmick or a toy.