A qualitative study of perceptions of first-year college students regarding technology

and college readiness

by

Trenton A. Grundmeyer

A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Major: Education

Program of Study Committee:

Scott McLeod, Major Professor
Jan Westerman-Beatty
Denise Schmidt
Joanne Marshall
Mike Book

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

2012

Copyright © Trenton A. Grundmeyer, 2012. All rights reserved.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………...……………vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………..…………viii

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

Introduction………………………………………………………………………..1
Statement of Problem..………………………………………………….................5
Purpose of the Study………………………………………………………………6
Research Questions……..…………………………………………………………6
Assumptions of the Study…………………………………………………………7
Summary…………………………………………………………………………..8

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction………………………………………………………………………..9
The Evolution of Computers………………………………………………………9
Technology Use in Education ……………………………………………………11
Technology Use in Higher Education ……………………………………………12
Technology Use in PreK-12 Education…………………………………….….....12
Factors That Influence Computer Use in Education……………………………..14
Costs……………………………………………………………………...14
Educators’ Attitudes……………………………………………………...15
Professional Development……………………………………………….16
Software Advancements…………………………………………………16
Benefits of Computer Use in Education…………………………………………18
Challenges for Computer Use in Education……………………………………...20
A National Focus on 1:1 Computing……..……………………………...22
Critics of 1:1 laptop initiatives………..……………………….………...25
1:1 Computing in Iowa……………….….………………………………29
Defining College Readiness……………………………………………………...30
A Synthesis of College Readiness Themes………………………………………37
Cognitive Strategies……………………………………………………...37
Self-Management………………………………………………………...37
Content Knowledge……………………………………………………...38
Knowledge about Postsecondary Education…………..…………………39
Self-Advocacy Skills…………………………………………………….39
The Current Reality of College Readiness……………………………………….40
Factors Around PreK-16 Technology Adoption………………………………....47
Summary…………………………………………………………………………51

CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY

Introduction………………………………………………………………………53
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Constructivist Paradigm………………………………………………………….53
Qualitative Research Approach………………………………………………….54
Research Design………………………………………………………………….54
Participants……………………………………………………………….54
Role of the Researcher…………………………………………………...56
Data Collection Methods………………………………………………...57
Interviews………………………………………………………...58
Field Notes……………………………………………………….60
Data Analysis…………………………………………………………….60
Establishing Trustworthiness…………………………………………………….61
Limitations and Delimitations……………………………………………………62
Summary…………………………………………………………………………63

CHAPTER 4. RESULTS

Introduction………………………………………………………………………64
Demographics of Participants……………………………………………………64
Pilot Study………………………………………………………………………..66
Revisions to Interview Protocol………………………………………………….66
Research Questions………………………………………………………………67
Research Results…………………………………………………………………68
Themes 1: Online Classes………………....……………………………..69
Theme 2: Academic Skills ………………………………………………71
Networking and collaborating with others……………………….71
Identifying online resources……………………………………...74
Keyboarding skills……………………………………………….76
Note-taking skills………………………………………………...78
Presentation skills………………………………………………..79
Organization……………………………………………………..80
Critical thinking………………………………………………….84
Getting more help………………………………………………..85
Responsibility……………………………………………………87
Theme 3: Implementation Dip……………………………..………….....88
Distraction from the laptop……….……………………………...90
Access………………………………………………………..95
Software……………………………………………………...97
Content areas…………………………………………………98
Goals of the initiative………………………………………..100
Evaluating the initiative……………………………..……...103
Theme 4: Technology for Instruction…...……………………………...104
High school teachers’ use of technology……………………….104
Professors’ use of technology…………………………………..108
Professors’ awareness of technological resources……………...112
Additional Findings………..………………..………………………………….114
Defining college readiness……………..………..……………………...116
No regrets regarding their 1:1 experience…………………………..117
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Summary…………………………………………………………………..……118

CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND IMPLICAITONS

Introduction……………………………………………………………………..120
Discussion of Results……………………………….…………………………..120
Cognitive Strategies…………………………………………………….120
Self-Management……………………………………………………….122
Content Knowledge…………………………………………………….124
Knowledge about Postsecondary Education…………..………………..126
Self-Advocacy Skills…………………………………………………...128
Implications for Stakeholder Groups…………………………………………...129
Implications for students………………………………………………..130
Implications for parents………………………………………………...131
Implications for teachers………………………………………………..133
Implications for school leaders…………………………………………136
Implications for professors…………………………………………..…139
Implications for policymakers………………………………………….140
Recommendations for Existing 1:1 Programs…………………………………141
Use laptops to promote social etiquette………………………………...141
Listen to students……………………………………………………….142
Adoption of a 1:1 initiative should be thoughtful and well-planned..….143
Maintain the condition of laptops………………………………………143
Future Research………………………………………………………………...144
Summary……………………………………………………………………..…147

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………149

APPENDIXES

A. INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION

TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS……………………………………………….160

B. DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS…………………………………………….162

C. HUMAN SUBJECTS REVIEW FORM…………………………………….163

D. ADMINISTRATOR INVITATION LETTER……………………………...164

E. INFORMED CONSENT FORM……………………………………..……..165

F. INTERVIEW PROTOCOL………………………………………………….166

G. PARTICIPANT LIST……………………………………………………….172
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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Potential Effects of a High School 1:1 Experience on College Readiness...........5

Figure 2. Computer Prices Over Time…………….……………......................................15

Figure 3. Percent of ACT-tested High School Graduates Meeting College Readiness

Benchmarks by Subject, 2008.…………………...............................................................41

Figure 4. Education Pays…..……………...……………………......................................45

Figure 5. Composition of Workforce by Education Degree …………………………….46

Figure 6. Gartner’s 2008 Hype Cycle……………………..……………………………..48

Figure 7. Trough of Disillusionment……………...……………......................................49

Figure 8. Mental Model of 1:1 Laptop Experience on College Readiness…..…………115

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ABSTRACT

College ready students have the skills and knowledge to be successful in college

without remedial classwork. High schools strive to graduate students who meet this

standard. However, recent college readiness indicators routinely contend that high

schools are not meeting college readiness standards. Some high schools have adopted a

1:1 laptop initiative in an effort to promote college readiness.

Early computers were seldom used in education because of their impracticality.

Since the cost, size, and functionality of computers and evolved in the last 50 years,

computers have found a place in education along with mainstream adoption. Laptops are

now used by teachers and students alike to conduct research, network with others,

communicate, and demonstrate learning.

The study, based in the constructivist paradigm, used a phenomenological strategy

to explain first-year college students’ perceptions of the effects of a 1:1 laptop experience

on their readiness for college and the uses of technology for instructional purposes by

high school teachers and college professors. The study employed participants who had

experienced a 1:1 laptop initiative while in high school for two or more years. Participant

experiences and feedback were analyzed to answer the posed research questions

presented in the study.

Methodology utilized in the study included interviews with fifteen participants

from two different countries and five different high schools. Field notes were also

collected during each interview. Data collected from each interview and the researcher’s

field notes were compared to identify themes. The themes synthesized from the research

results helped to answer the studies research questions.

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This study found first-year college students believed they were more college

ready after experiencing a 1:1 laptop initiative in high school. The use of the school

issued laptop computer for taking online classes was reported as a major benefit toward

improved college readiness. The participants in this study also believed that their high

school teachers implemented technology more routinely and effectively than their current

college professors. Participants reported their high school teachers worked hard to

integrate laptops into classroom lessons. Furthermore, they reported that professor’s use

of technology was inconsistent and often lacked integration in the classroom even though

students were expected to utilize technology outside the classroom.

There are implications in the research findings for students, parents, teachers,

school leaders, professors, and policymakers. The implications identified for each

stakeholder group promote a more effective and productive 1:1 laptop adoption. The

implications in this study for the various stakeholder groups could result in a more

effective and smooth 1:1 laptop adoption and consequently enhanced college readiness

skills for high school graduates.

Recommendations based on the findings of this study include utilizing the laptop

computer to teach social etiquette and for schools to adopt a 1:1 laptop initiative as a

thoughtful and well-planned initiative. These recommendations would maximize the 1:1

laptop initiative potential on college readiness. Schools need more information as they

adopt 1:1 laptop initiatives to ensure the program effectively promotes college readiness

for students. Furthermore, high school teachers and college professors alike need the

skills and training to maximize technology integration.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am a life-long learner that strives to learn what I can to be the best person and

leader I can be. I wanted to get my doctorate degree for various reasons. One reason I

wanted the degree is to prove that a person with average intelligence can get the degree

through hard work, perseverance, and the help of others. I also wanted to get the degree

to continuing learning. I wanted to learn about the process of writing a dissertation as

well as my dissertation topic. I also wanted to earn my doctorate because I believe it will

open doors in my professional life. My goal is to someday be a college president who

will be able to reflect on this process and share my passion to be a life-long learner with

others. Lastly, I vowed I would not attend a high school reunion until I had Dr. in front of

my name. I’m looking forward to attending my fifteen-year high school class reunion and

glad I didn’t have to wait to attend the 20-year!

I am not a procrastinator at all in my life. However, the time consuming process

of writing a dissertation was one that wore on my approach to get things done. Staying

motivated to write and following APA formatting was a chore throughout the writing and

revision process. I have many people to thank. First of all, I want to thank my wife. I

must thank her for her patience and understanding throughout the process of both taking

classes and writing the dissertation. My wife is my biggest critic but also my biggest fan.

I thank her for her brutally honest feedback even though there are times I do not enjoy

hearing it. I love her and thank her for allowing me to follow my dreams, goals, and

passions. I am excited about the opportunities, responsibilities, and privileges that the

hard work and dedication to our professional lives will provide my wife and I the rest of

our lives. Though my daughters are young, I also appreciate their understanding in
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“letting daddy do his paperwork!” I’m glad dad’s paperwork is completed so I’m able to

find a better balance between my personal and professional life and enjoy watching my

girls grow up.

I want to thank my major professor and committee members for all of their time

and attention to my dissertation. I appreciate their feedback and efforts in making me a

better researcher and learning throughout this process. A special thank you to Dr. Scott

McLeod, my major professor, for the dedication to my work. Your modeling and passion

for change in education is contagious. You should be credited with much of the change

efforts for education in Iowa toward 21st Century learning environments.

Lastly, I want to thank two important friends that helped pull me through the

rough days to actually complete this dissertation. Without my good friend Tony

Aylsworth I would have thrown in the towel a long time ago, but he always kept our

focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. Friend David De Jong has provided support

and motivation along the way that was needed. I thank you guys for your support and

hope that I can support you on your dissertation completion as well.

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CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

Educators, along with parents and businesses, are searching for effective ways to

increase students’ college readiness and 21st century skills and retain college students

through graduation. Schools today are given the task of not only educating students with

the three Rs of Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic but also are expected to help students

develop strong backgrounds in science, technology, global studies, and a diversity of so-

called 21st century skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, agility, initiative, oral

and written communication skills, ability to analyze information, and imagination

(Wagner, 2008). Attention has turned to the use of technology to help achieve these

goals. Despite current budget challenges, 65 percent of school districts plan to increase

technology investments in the classroom over the next two years (CDW Government,

2011).

Many high school graduates seem to be underprepared for the rigors of college.

The percentage of high school graduates meeting the college readiness benchmarks set by

the American College Testing Service is dismal. In 2010, only 66% met the benchmark

for English; 52% met the reading benchmark; 43% met the mathematics benchmark, and

29% met the science benchmark (ACT, 2010). The lack of college readiness seems to

lead to remedial course demands for students in college. The National Center for

Education reported that more than one-third of college students require remedial

coursework, and the majority of students who begin in remedial courses never complete

their college degrees (Gerald & Hussar, 2010). Further, fewer than half of the students in

high education institutions receive a certificate, associate, or bachelor’s degree in six

years (Gerald & Hussar, 2010).

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As college graduation rates drop, the number of occupations requiring

postsecondary education has increased from 28% in 1973 to 59% in 2008 (Gerald &

Hussar, 2010). The number of occupations requiring postsecondary education is projected

to increase to 63% within the next decade (Ramey, 2010). To meet these job market

demands, the nation will need an additional 22 million workers with postsecondary

degrees; yet projections indicate the nation will fall short of this goal by 3 million degrees

(Carnevale, Smith, & Strohl, 2011). Technology infused into the process of PreK-12

education could improve college readiness and better prepare a future workforce, thus

overturning current, dire predictions.

In the early years, the primary users of computers were businesses (Hermes,

2009). Computers didn’t make their first appearance in schools until the 1950s. Early use

of computers in education was primarily found in mathematics, science, and engineering

as a mathematical problem-solving tool (Schifter, 2008). During the 1970s, the personal

computer revolution began and computers became more affordable. The computer was

then no longer a luxury but became a necessity for many schools and universities

(Schifter, 2008).

Over time, computer use expanded to all content areas in education. Evidence of

this can be found in CDW-Government’s recent 21st Century Classroom Report (2011).

The percentage of Information Technology (IT) professionals who rate their district’s

technology as cutting edge or current grew from 41% in 2010 to 64% in 2011 (CDW

Government, 2011). Although 94% of students say that technology skills will improve

their educational and career opportunities, just 39% of students say their high school is

meeting their technology expectation (CDW Government, 2011). Seventy-five percent of

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high school teachers report regular use of technology, but only 45% of high school

teachers report that their classroom technology meets their expectations (CDW

Government, 2011).

There is no doubt that the tools and expectations for technology have increased

and are continuing to shape PreK-12 public school education. In his best selling book,

The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman (2005) described the advances of technology and

proclaimed, “There is no turning back” (p. 273).

There also has been rapid growth and change in higher education delivery because

of technology. In the United States, survey data indicate an increasing number of

postsecondary leaders saying that offering online courses is critical to their institution’s

long-term strategy. These same leaders believe that the learning outcomes for online

education are now equal to or superior to those for face-to face instruction (Allen,

Seaman, & Garret, 2007).

Recently, Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, released the 2010 National

Education Technology Plan with praise for the potential of technology and a call to arms:

“As research gives us new insights into how today’s students learn, and technology

enables us to respond as never before, [educators] can help lead the way in providing a

model for 21st century learning” (Duncan, 2010).

Innovative educators are beginning to embrace 1:1 computing initiatives (i.e.,

every individual has a computer, typically a laptop) as a catalyst for improving current

statistics on college readiness, retention, and graduation rates. A synthesis of the research

on 1:1 computing initiatives indicates that individual initiatives generally focus on one of

four goals: (a) improving academic achievement with the use of technology, (b)
 4

increasing equity of access to digital resources and reducing the digital divide, (c)

increasing economic competitiveness by preparing students more effectively for today’s

technology-saturated workplaces, and (d) seeking to effect a transformation in the quality

of instruction by making it more student-centered or differentiated, problem- or project-

based, and demanding of higher-order thinking skills (Apple Computer, Inc., 2005, p. 3).

Although college readiness may be implied in the goals above, it is not explicitly

stated as a goal of recent research studies on 1:1 computing initiatives. Given the

increasing prevalence of 1:1 laptop programs and the need to discover ways to increase

students’ college readiness, one might expect to find research studies that focus on the

relationship of the two factors. However, a review of the literature did not uncover direct

research studies on the impact of 1:1 computing initiatives on the college readiness of

first-year college students.

Figure 1 below illustrates how having and using a laptop computer while in high

school might promote college readiness. The researcher developed this mental model as a

framework for thinking about how 1:1 laptop initiatives might facilitate students’ college

readiness.

Listed inside the arrow are specific computer-related tasks that students exposed

to a 1:1 laptop initiative would be more likely to perform on a routine basis during high

school. The mental model of the researcher presumed that it is less likely that students

who are not exposed to a laptop initiative would perform these tasks. The researcher

presumed that inside the star are traits possessed by students who are more ready for

college. The researcher believed that first-year college students who had years of

experience with a 1:1 laptop initiative while in high school are more likely to possess
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these traits than first-year college students who did not have a 1:1 laptop experience

while in high school. For example, a student who is routinely asked to create computer-

generated presentations during high school (because of having access to a laptop

computer) should be more efficient when developing presentations in college.

As part of this study, the researcher asked first-year college students who had a

1:1 laptop experience in high school about the perceived impact of their laptop

experiences on their readiness for college. The participants also were asked to compare

their responses to the traits depicted in Figure 1 to determine if there was a relationship

between 1:1 laptop initiatives and college readiness themes as hypothesized by the

researcher.

Figure 1. Potential Effects of a High School 1:1 Experience on College Readiness

Statement of Problem

Public schools are spending increasing amounts of money on technology

initiatives despite shrinking funding and little evidence that such approaches increase

students’ readiness for college or work. Although there is a growing body of research that
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address the impacts of 1:1 laptop initiatives on students while they are in high school, few

studies examine whether these initiatives support college readiness. In addition, few

studies have compared the instructional uses of technology by high school teachers and

college professors.

Purpose of the Study

The primary purpose of this qualitative study was to understand first-year college

students’ perceptions of their high school 1:1 laptop experience as it related to their

perceived readiness for college. A second purpose was to understand first-year college

students’ perceptions of the uses of technology for instructional purposes by high school

teachers and college professors. Specifically, the study examined the perceptions of first-

year college students who had experienced 1:1 laptop initiatives for a minimum of two

years in high school. Study results may shed light on these topics and provide budgetary

guidance to schools regarding the best use of their limited resources.

Research Questions

Three research questions guided this study:

1. What are first-year college students’ perceptions of the relationship between their

high school 1:1 laptop experiences and their readiness for college?

2. What are first-year college students’ perceptions of the uses of technology for

instructional purposes by high school teachers?

3. What are first-year college students’ perceptions of the uses of technology for

instructional purposes by college professors?

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Assumptions of the Study

This study made multiple assumptions about the 1:1 laptop experiences of high

school students. Although every high school provides a unique 1:1 laptop experience, this

study assumed that all students with a 1:1 laptop experience had opportunities to utilize

similar technology-based resources and develop skills that meet the goals set by the

International Society of Technology in Education Standards (2011; see Appendix A).

While this study assumed that students who used a laptop while in high school

possess more technology skills and are more adept at utilizing online resources, it did not

actually assess this. This study also did not take into account whether the skills were

taught by high school teachers or learned outside of high school classes. For purposes of

this study, how students learned their technology skills was of little interest because the

goal of the study was to assess the college readiness of students exposed to a 1:1 laptop

initiative for multiple years in high school, not to evaluate or compare the various 1:1

initiatives to which students were exposed.

This study asked participants about their perceptions of the use of technology by

their professors and by high school teachers. The study assumed that, in responding to

this question, participants would make comparisons of the instructional use of technology

by their past high school teachers and current college professors. This may not be a fair

comparison since participants only experienced how their professors used technology for

instructional purposes for less than a full academic year. Participants in the study were

first-year college students who were interviewed for this study in January and February

2012. With more experiences in various college classes with different professors, their
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perception of technology use by professors might change, and new understandings might

be created.

Summary

Educators are continuously searching for ways to increase high school graduates’

college readiness. Increasing attention is being given to 1:1 computer initiatives as a

vehicle for improving college readiness and improving teaching and learning.

In this chapter a rationale for conducting this research study was presented. The

evolution of computers in PreK-16 education was introduced and a graphic representation

of the researcher’s mental model was presented. Three research questions that guided this

study were listed. Assumptions of the study also were presented. In Chapter 2, relevant

literature is reviewed. Chapter 3 includes a detailed discussion of the research design and

methodology utilized to carry out the study. Chapter 4 discusses the research results from

the study. Chapter 5 outlines a discussion, presents recommendations for future research,

and describes implications for various stakeholder groups.

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CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter begins with an overview of some literature pertaining to the

evolution and future of computers, technology use in education, 1:1 computing, Gartner’s

Hype Cycle, and challenges for computer use in education. The next section discusses

relevant literature related to college readiness. Finally, the chapter hones in on some

theoretical underpinnings of this study.

The Evolution of Computers

The first substantial computer ever created was a giant Electrical Numerical

Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC) machine invented by John W. Mauchly and J. Presper

Eckert at the University of Pennsylvania. Storage of this large machine required over 167

square meters or 1,800 square feet of floor space. (Wolfe, 2003)

In the 1950s, the invention of the transistor revolutionized the computer field by

replacing vacuum tubes previously used in computers, radios, and other electronics

(Wolfe, 2003). The mainframe computer came about after the development of the

transistor in the late 1950s.

In the 1960s large mainframe computers became much more common in large

industries as well as in the U.S. military and space programs (Wolfe, 2003). These

machines were difficult to use and were large, expensive, and prone to errors. Schools did

not even consider purchasing these types of computers because they were so expensive

and large to store.

Around the time of the Cold War, U.S. legislators began to realize the need for

technological advancement. This led to increased federal funding for American public

schools. In 1965, mainframes and minicomputers were placed in some schools but mostly
 10

for administrative purposes (Hermes, 2008). However, during the 1960s, school

vocational programs began teaching computer maintenance and soon computers were

used for computer-assisted instruction (CAI). With CAI, the computer instructed students

on basic skill development (Murdock, 2004).

In the 1970s, an explosion of personal computers began with Steve Jobs’ and

Steve Wozniak’s exhibition of the first Apple II at the First West Coast Computer Fair in

San Francisco. The Apple II computer had built-in BASIC programming language, color

graphics, and a 4100-character memory. Programs and data could be stored on a

commonplace audiocassette recorder. Before the end of the fair, Wozniak and Jobs had

secured 300 orders for the Apple II and from there Apple sales soared. (Wolfe, 2003)

In 1977, the TRS-80, a home computer manufactured by Tandy Radio Shack, was

introduced. This TRS-80 Model II was designed with a 64,000 character memory as well

as a disk drive for storing data. At this time, only Apple and TRS had machines with disk

drives. The arrival of the disk drive and its capacity to distribute software catapulted sales

of personal computers. (Wolfe, 2003)

IBM, which up to this time had been producing mainframes and minicomputers

for medium to large-sized businesses, decided to invade the PC market and begin

working on the Acorn, which would later be called the IBM PC. When it was introduced,

the PC came with a 16,000-character memory, keyboard from an IBM electric typewriter

and a connection for a tape cassette player. The PC was the first computer designed for

the home market. Most of the components, surprisingly, came from outside IBM because

building the PC with IBM parts would have made costs prohibitive for the home

computer market. (Wolfe, 2003)

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In 1984, Apple and IBM companies both launched new computer models. Apple

released the first generation Macintosh, which was the first computer equipped with a

graphical user interface (GUI) and a mouse (Wolfe, 2003). The GUI made the machine

much easier to use, which was appealing to home computer users. Sales of the Macintosh

soared, but IBM refused to be left behind and released the 286-AT which, with

applications like Lotus 1-2-3 and Microsoft Word, quickly became the favorite of

business and industry (Wolfe, 2003).

The evolution of the computer over the last 50 years has been rapid and life

changing (Schifter, 2008). During that time, continuous advancement of computer

hardware and software has resulted in ubiquitous use of computers that are smaller, less

expensive, and easier to use than ever before (Schifter, 2008). Today there is an almost

seamless integration between Mac and PC computers, smart phones, and networks that

allow them to function in multiple, interconnected ways.

Computer users also have changed dramatically over the years. Whereas in the

early days mainly computer geniuses (e.g., Seymour Cray, Bill Gates, Bill Joy, Steve

Jobs, and Steve Wozniak) used computers, today people from all lifestyles use them

(Hermes, 2009).

Technology Use in Education

Despite the widespread use of computers, for a long time businesses were the

primary users of computers (Hermes, 2009). Over time, computer use spread to higher

education, PreK-education, and the homes of all types of people.

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Technology Use in Higher Education

Beginning in the 1950s, higher education began using computers. Various

research articles and historical documents suggest initial uses for computers in higher

education primarily were for functional purposes such as payroll, accounting, and

electronic storage of student records. Colleges and universities across the United States

slowly started adopting computers as the price of machines decreased. It wasn’t until

1967 that many colleges started teaching computer programing (Murdock, 2004).

University professors sometimes have been slower to adopt computers in their

educational practice, often seeing them as more of a distraction than learning tool.

However, since the birth of the Internet in 1995, computers have been seen as a valuable

research tool in higher education. Many colleges across the country now provide students

with computers. The demands from students have increased as the availability of

computers has expanded in higher education.

Libraries at higher education institutions also have changed. Libraries used to be

places where one could find books on the shelves. Today, most college libraries provide

students with computers, books, magazines, online databases, research journals, and

search engines to enable students to conduct efficient and meaningful research.

Technology Use in PreK-12 Education

Since the late 1970s, there has been a rapid growth in the use of computers

throughout PreK-12 education (Hermes, 2009). When computers were first introduced

into schools, they were used largely for secretarial tasks and administrative purposes

(Schifter, 2008). During this time, computers increased administrative efficiency in many

areas including processing and printing student schedules, monitoring library usage,
 13

storing student and faculty records, taking inventory, and doing accounting tasks. Schools

were able to produce and maintain financial accounts and student reports. Computers

helped improve organizational accuracy and efficiency. Computers enabled teachers to

calculate student grades, which saved teacher’s time and energy from previous methods

of scoring, and grading. In addition, teachers could create and store individualized

student records with details about students’ needs, academic progress, and social

development.

In the 1980s, educators began using computers for instructional purposes,

including preparing lesson plans, work sheets, tests, and reports. Thus, computers

enhanced teachers’ productivity, accuracy, and ability to analyze data in order to improve

teaching and learning in the classroom (Murdock, 2004).

In time, educators expanded their use of computers and are now utilizing them for

a variety of purposes. Many educators utilize computers on a daily basis to blog, engage

in online learning networks, Skype with other classes, use online textbooks, and utilize

Web 2.0 tools. The use of computers in education has dramatically increased and is only

limited by time for training and hardware that varies among schools.

Research and survey data indicates that computer usage in PK-16 schools has

grown significantly. The percentage of American schools with at least one computer rose

from 18% in 1981 to 95% in 1987 (Hermes, 2009). In 1983, 40% of elementary schools

and 75% of secondary schools used computers for instruction (Murdock, 2004). By 1985,

one million schools had computers (Murdock, 2004). In 1995, there were 5.8 million

computers in U.S. schools (Schifter, 2008). In 2003, all (100%) of American schools had

access to the Internet (Schifter, 2008). Today, almost every teacher in the nation has a
 14

computer in his or her classroom (Hermes, 2009). Curriculum content ensures students

have computer experience in many subjects and in many formats, ranging from games

that teach multiplication tables to Internet-based research projects (Murdock, 2004).

Factors That Influence Computer Use in Education

Factors that influence the increased use of computers include costs, professional

development, educators’ attitudes, and software advancements, among other factors

unique to education.

Costs

Technology has become more affordable and accessible in education since the

1960s. Figure 2 shows that the cost of computers has decreased while the availability of

the machines have increased. Due to the drop in computer prices over the last decade,

schools have been able to afford to increase computer hardware in schools. Computers

have become necessary investments. The ongoing challenge for schools is to keep

computer software up-to-date. Many schools also have a computer rotation cycle that

allows computers to be updated or replaced so that they continue to be efficient and

dependable for teachers and students.

 15

Figure 2. Computer Prices Over Time

Figure 2. Adapted from Avalon PC Price History (2007).

Educators’ Attitudes

Many educators believe that computers and other technologies are distracting toys

rather than useful teaching tools. The attitudes of educators have been a limiting factor in

the rate and speed of computer adoption in schools. This includes not only classroom

teachers attitudes but also those of school administrators, who often focus more on the

potential risks than benefits.

Teachers usually prefer to be comfortable with the tools and instructional

approaches that they use. The quickly changing world of technology makes it difficult for

faculty and higher education institutions to be “the experts” (Educause, 2011). A

collaborative approach to learning about mobile technologies might be an approach that

could benefit both teachers and students. Nonetheless, one of the key factors that put
 16

schools behind businesses in adopting technology is the attitude and understanding of

teachers regarding how new innovations can be educationally integrated.

Professional Development

Since the 1960s, computer usage in American schools has grown tremendously.

Yet, as recently as the 1980s, few teachers knew how or were willing to use computers

(Hermes, 2009). That situation began to change in 1983 when the National Commission

on Excellence in Education recommended computer science as a requirement for high

school graduation (Hermes, 2009). Computer labs in secondary schools were the primary

hosts to teach computer literacy. Most teachers did not know how to use computers, and

students didn’t use them outside the lab (Schifter, 2008).

With the introduction of the Apple II in 1977 came computer-based tutorials and

learning games. Software was developed that quizzed elementary students on facts or

required them to perform simple mathematic drills (Hermes, 2009). With this

advancement, increasing numbers of teachers became interested in using computers.

Thus, professional development on technology became more prevalent. Most teacher

preparation programs now require future teachers to take classes on computer literacy

and/or technology. Some schools now engage candidates in technology assessments

before interviewing potential teachers.

Software Advancements

During the 1980s, little educational software was available and few teachers had

access to computers or knowledge of how to operate them (Hermes, 2009). As computer

technology became more prominent in the business world, it was apparent that students

needed to become computer literate, which meant learning computing languages such as
 17

LOGO and BASIC (Hermes, 2009). Although LOGO programming language had been

developed for educational use in 1967 by Feurzeig and Papert, its use was not widespread

until the 1980s when Apple, Inc. developed Apple LOGO for its Apple II computer and

promoted the software to primary teachers by emphasizing LOGO’s usefulness in

teaching computer fundamentals to novice programmers.

In 1984, the Apple Works suite became available and featured word processing,

spreadsheet, database, and paint and drawing applications (Hermes, 2009). Students

could use this new software for a variety of subjects; e.g., typing essays, organizing data,

and/or illustrating their work (Murdock, 2004).

In the early 1990s, laserdiscs emerged and textbook companies often paired

textbook material with laserdiscs featuring video clips, images, or diagrams (Murdock,

2004). Secondary schools that offered typing classes mostly transitioned from typewriters

to computer keyboards at this time. Further, in 1995, schools started widely using the

Internet and, the following year, new graphics and multimedia tools were developed for

delivering information and instruction via the Internet (Schifter, 2008).

The integration of computers into schools has resulted in inevitable changes in

curriculum and instruction (Schifter, 2008). Today, computer software programs are

designed specifically for educational instruction. For example, instructional games,

tutorials, drills, and simulations are routinely used to assess student abilities and improve

academic achievement in today’s classrooms. Most educators would agree that these

advances, made possible by the computer, have created a more efficient and productive

school environment.
 18

Benefits of Computer Use in Education

Schools today are given the task of not only educating students with the three Rs

of Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic but also are expected to give students strong

backgrounds in science, technology, global studies, and a diversity of so-called “21st

century skills” such as critical thinking, collaboration, agility, initiative, oral and written

communication, analyzing information, and imagination (Wagner, 2008). Recognizing

that we now live in a digital rather than analog world, many schools are implementing

one-to-one computing initiatives to help accomplish these academic goals and many

others are considering making the transition (McLeod & Sauers, 2010). Schools use a

variety of tools, particularly effective instruction and technology, to engage students and

increase student achievement (Schifter, 2008).

Today’s school-aged children have grown up with technology. Students today

expect to have technology available. On average, 13- to 18-year-olds spend more than

six hours per day using digital media (Metiri Group, 2006). However, schools typically

have not capitalized on the tools and technologies that often engage students. Further,

although outside of school students instant message, download and listen to music,

compose and send emails, watch television, exchange text messages and digital images

via cell phone, browse the web, and play interactive games, such facility with technology

should not be mistaken for expertise or literacy with technology (Metiri Group, 2006).

Most students are in direct need of conventions that will enable them to use technologies

to prepare them for college and work (Metiri Group, 2006). In other words, most students

need access to and skill in using technologies to develop and utilize 21st century skills

such as critical thinking, creativity, social adeptness, and complex communication skills
 19

as well as proficiency in the areas of finances, technology, health, civic, and

employability skills (Iowa Department of Education, 2011).

Results of research studies indicate that teachers understand in general that

technology engages students and improves learning. For example, in a landmark study of

40,000 teachers conducted by Scholastic, Inc. and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

(Primary Sources, 2008), participants were asked two questions that are of importance to

the present study. First, when asked what engages students in learning, 57% agreed

strongly and 38% agreed somewhat that those digital resources such as classroom

technology, and web-based programs engage their students in learning. In comparison,

only 6% of participants agreed strongly and 40% agreed somewhat that traditional

textbooks engage their students in learning.

Responses to a second question indicated that 44% of participants agreed strongly

and 49% agreed somewhat that digital resources such as classroom technology and web-

based programs help their students’ academic achievement. In contrast, 12% of

participants agreed strongly and 57% agreed somewhat that traditional textbooks help

their students’ academic achievement.

Results of an earlier meta-analysis of technology studies indicated similar

findings regarding student engagement and academic achievement (Apple, Inc., 2002).

Those findings indicated that:

• Students, especially those with few advantages in life, learn basic skills –

reading, writing, and arithmetic – better and faster if they have a chance to

practice those skills using technology.

 20

• Technology engages students, and as a result, they spend more time on basic

learning tasks than students who use a more traditional learning approach do.

• Technology offers educators a way to individualize curriculum and customize

it to the needs of individual students so all children can achieve their potential.

• Students who have the opportunity to use technology to acquire and organize

information show a higher level of comprehension and a greater likelihood of

applying what they learn later in their lives.

• Students with access to a broader range of resources and technologies can

express their ideas more clearly and powerfully.

• Technology can decrease absenteeism, lower dropout rates, and motivate

more students to continue their education after high school.

• Students who regularly use technology take more pride in their work.

In spite of these findings, teachers do not often have the skills, time, or training

necessary to always employ technology effectively to engage students and improve

student learning.

Challenges for Computer Use in Education

Despite the advances of computer use in schools, problems persist. For example,

although access to computers has risen sharply, the amount of time that most students

spend on computers at school has not significantly changed and their primary access to

computers still is in computer labs or libraries (Schifter, 2008). Utilizing a computer is

still an episodic event for most students rather than a routine part of the school

experience. Second, because computer technology is an ever-advancing industry, it has

been difficult for schools to keep up with technology advancements (Schifter, 2008).
 21

Each time computing power or technology increases, public schools, given their limited

capacity and budgets, are left with outdated computer models and software (Schifter,

2008). Third, there are inequities across schools. Up-to-date computers are more likely to

be found in affluent, suburban schools while less affluent inner city or rural schools

usually have older models, despite the fact that the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001

requires all students to be computer literate by the eighth grade (Schifter, 2008). Finally,

teachers do not have routine time to identify ever-changing digital resources so they often

resort to utilizing the same resources that they have used for years.

The life cycle of computer applications changes at a far more rapid rate than the

educational systems and beliefs of most schools. It also seems there may be a subtle

undercurrent that continues to flow through education that prohibits the advancement of

technology. For example, anyone with a camcorder, camera phone, and/or DVR knows

that one can record and play back nearly every aspect of life, including weddings,

anniversaries, family reunions, TV shows, and sports events. One exception is the

educational experience. Although recording, reviewing, and critiquing the classroom

experience could be instructive for improving teaching and learning, this use of

technology rarely happens and the educational experience remains a one-time event for

many students. There are various reasons that schools are slower to adopt digital

technologies.

Money is a particularly important issue. Administrators identify limited state

funding as an ongoing barrier to offering more online courses (Project Tomorrow, 2011).

Administrators acknowledge that, with recent budget constraints, paying teachers for

their time in creating online courses has been put on the back burner despite
 22

understanding the possible benefits. Another barrier to improved technology use in

education is the demands of teacher training. In a recent survey of students, faculty, and

information technology staff, 16% of IT professionals reported teachers’ lack of training

as the “biggest challenge of classroom technology” (21st Century Classroom Report,

2011).

A National Focus on One-to-One Computing

In his best-selling book, The World Is Flat, Friedman (2005, p. 273) proclaimed,

“There is no turning back…” a reminder that technology has irrevocably redefined our

world. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan also has underscored the prominent role

that technology plays in education today. During the release of the latest version of the

National Educational Technology Plan, Duncan stated, “As research gives us new

insights into how today’s students learn, and technology enables us to respond as never

before, [educators] can help lead the way in providing a model for 21st century learning”

(2008, p. 1). The national plan focused on development of 21st century learning

environments that improve learning, instruction, and assessment through technology.

Accepting Duncan’s challenge, innovative educators have embraced a bold new

catalyst to learning in the form of 1:1 computing. One-to-one computing initiatives that

provide laptop computers and Internet access to students for use at home and school are

expanding rapidly across the globe (Penuel, 2006). The “laptop for every student”

concept is changing how, when, and where students learn (Penuel, 2006). A 1:1 laptop

initiative can help facilitate the transition in schools from occasional, supplemental use of

computers for instruction to more frequent, integral use of technology across a multitude

of settings (Apple, 2005). Anytime access to a computer and the Internet make it possible
 23

for students to access a wider array of resources to support their learning. These

initiatives also allow students to communicate with peers and their teachers and to

become efficient in their use of the technological tools of the 21st century workplace.

Being able to take computers home further expands students’ access and facilitates

students keeping their work organized (Apple, 2005).

A synthesis of the research on 1:1 computing initiatives indicated that individual

initiatives generally focus on one of four goals: (a) improving academic achievement

with the use of technology, (b) increasing equity of access to digital resources and

reducing the digital divide, (c) increasing the economic competitiveness of the region by

preparing its students more effectively for today’s technology-saturated workplaces, and

(d) seeking to effect a transformation in the quality of instruction by making it more

student-centered or differentiated, problem- or project-based, and demanding of higher-

order thinking skills (Apple Computer, Inc., 2005, p. 3).

The potential of 1:1 learning can be maximized in schools where the technology

tools are deployed in classrooms characterized by academic rigor, real-world experiences,

and high-quality teaching that incorporates research on how people best learn (Metiri

Group, 2006). Laptop initiatives can enable educators to model and teach the 21st century

skills that students will need to know for success in the real world such as collaboration,

creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking.

The state of Maine currently is the most high profile state to implement a

statewide laptop initiative because the initiative was rolled out by the Maine Department

of Education. However, state-level initiatives (past and present) also have been adopted

in Florida (Leveraging Laptops), Michigan (Freedom to Learn), North Carolina (1:1

 24

Learning Technology Initiative), Pennsylvania (Classrooms of the Future), Texas (Texas

Immersion Pilot), Virginia (Teaching and Learning Initiative), South Dakota, Michigan,

and Minnesota with assistance from state and local funding sources and grants. Because

some of the past initiatives were dependent on state and local funding or grants, the

longevity of the statewide initiatives seemed to thrive only when the funding sources

were able to supply local districts with funding. Many of the past laptop initiatives

dissolved because of the loss of funding, whether or not they were prematurely gauged to

have a positive impact on student learning.

In 2002, Maine provided laptop computers with integrated wireless access and

technical assistance to all seventh- and eighth-grade students and teachers (Silvernail &

Lane, 2004). In addition, the state provided professional development for teachers and

carefully documented teacher and student use of computers. The initial evaluation report

employed teacher, student, administrator, and parent surveys to document laptop use.

Teachers reported that they used their laptops to develop instructional materials, conduct

research related to instruction, and communicate with colleagues (Silvernail & Lane,

2004). Students used their laptops to find information, organize information, and take

class notes (Silvernail & Lane, 2004).

Research results from Maine’s 1:1 laptop initiative continue to inform other states

and their leaders about the benefits and challenges of the initiative. Years of data from

Maine’s 1:1 laptop initiative enable the state to monitor the overall effectiveness of

laptops on student learning. For example, Maine teachers quickly perceived that students

were more engaged in their learning and produced better quality work with the laptop as

a new instructional tool (Silvernail & Lane, 2004). Students confirmed this observation;
 25

9th-grade students who no longer had their laptops reported that they were less

productive and that the quality of their work had declined (Silvernail & Lane, 2004).

Special education teachers reported that the laptop program particularly benefited their

students’ writing, organization, motivation, and self-esteem (Harris & Smith, 2004).

However, a few special education students were distracted by the increased stimuli

(Harris & Smith, 2004).

Critics of 1:1 Computing

Research studies conducted across the U.S. have focused on the impacts of 1:1

laptop computing. Results indicate strengths and weaknesses of laptop initiatives. Several

studies indicated positive outcomes for both teachers and students. For example, results

of one study indicated that use of 1:1 laptop programs increased student and teacher

technology use, increased student engagement and interest levels, and increased student

achievement (Bebell & O’Dwyer, 2008). Results of another study suggested that, despite

implementation differences, there was evidence that the types of educational access and

opportunities afforded by 1:1 computing led to measurable changes in teacher practices,

student achievement, student engagement, and students’ research skills (Bebell & Kay,

2008). In another study that examined the effects of a 1:1 laptop initiative on student

achievement, the authors concluded:

Using hierarchical linear modeling, we found that teacher-level implementation

components (Immersion Support, Classroom Immersion) were inconsistent and

mostly not statistically significant predictors of student achievement, whereas

students’ use of laptops outside of school for homework and learning games was
 26

the strongest implementation predictor of achievement. (Shapley, Sheehan,

Maloney, Caranikas-Walker, 2008, p. 4)

Yet another study examined the effects of 1:1 laptop-computing initiatives on

advantaged and disadvantaged students. The Metiri Group (2008), a consulting firm

specializing in education technology, 21st century learning, and the evaluation of PreK-

12 learning, reviewed the impacts of 1:1 computing initiatives and discovered that over

half of the initiatives had been implemented in districts serving significant numbers of

disadvantaged students. This finding is particularly noteworthy in light of a mounting

body of evidence that 1:1 learning not only advances the technology skills of individual

students but also, and perhaps more importantly, improves their capacity as technology

users (Metiri Group, 2008).

While the digital divide is narrowing in respect to access to technology, it still

exists. Some recent data from the United States Census Bureau indicates that 68.7% of

American households have Internet access. This is in comparison to only 50.1% in 2000

and only 18% of American households in 1997 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009). Other

studies have indicated that, even where there is a computer in the home, less-advantaged

families are likely to be more intimidated by the technology and are less likely to use it as

a powerful source for information (Fox, 2005). In addition, these homes are less likely to

have a variety of software on their computers and are less likely to have access to cutting-

edge technologies such as video editing, sound production, and videoconferencing (Fox,

2005). One-to-one laptop initiatives can help level the technology playing field for

disadvantaged students.
 27

There also are many critics that object to the costs of 1:1 laptop initiatives. The

use of computers across different content areas and classrooms always will be variable.

When computer use is sporadic, it calls into question the buy-in of teachers and the effect

they have on a viable curriculum. When computers receive limited use or inconsistent

deployment across classes, it makes little sense to expect any kind of return on the

investment in technology, especially in relation to student achievement (Weston & Bain,

2009).

Another concern about 1:1 laptop initiatives is that they often simply replace what

is already in place rather than change the way that instruction takes place altogether.

Critics mention computers replacing books, paper, and filing systems rather than being

utilized to transform how teachers teach and students learn. In other fields, the experience

has been different:

Technology has had a stunning, paradigm-shifting influence on core

activities. An eye surgeon uses a laser to correct vision in minutes;

structural engineer uses computer-assisted-design software to simulate

the stresses on a bridge; and a sales manager uses contact relationship

management software to predict future inventory needs. In each of

these examples, technology profoundly changed the way individual

professionals perform the core. (Westen & Bain, 2009)

Westen & Bain (2009) also raised concerns about the lack of teacher collaboration

regarding effective uses of technology in the classroom. Participation with new

technologies by professionals in other fields happens because the new technologies were

adopted at scale. In other words, the use of technology that improves performance scales
 28

up to become the professional standard of practice of most, if not all, professionals.

Ignoring or avoiding technological innovations, in some circumstances, is construed as

negligence (Westen and Bain, 2009). This is not the case in education.

Other scholars (e.g., Weston & Bain, 2008) go beyond criticisms of 1:1 laptop

initiatives and offer suggestions for reframing the conversation of using technology to

improve education all together:

Why single out laptop computers and 1:1 initiatives from other attempts

to improve education? May it be that this special treatment has more to

do with change, innovation, and reform than with laptop computers and

1:1 initiatives? By missing the forest, techno-critics have diverted

attention from the real problem of improving the totality of education for

all students. However, for techno-critics a 1:1 laptop computer initiative

is such a visible, expensive and labor intensive effort that it stands out in

a forest of reforms. Therefore, when a 1:1 initiative fails to deliver the

much-hyped results, it is much simpler to start sawing on a tree than it is

to cut down the forest and start replanting. Then, like so many problems

in changing venerable institutions, it is often easier simply to protect the

status quo and blame the innovation or the innovator. (p. 9)

Maintaining the status quo in education may no longer be an option with both

federal and state initiatives to improve schooling. Many schools in Iowa and across the

country are investing in 1:1 laptop initiatives as a catalyst to improve education.

 29

One-to-One Computing in Iowa

During the 2008-09 school year, 6 Iowa schools engaged in a 1:1 laptop initiative.

During the 2009-10 school year, that number increased to 14 schools. During the 2010-11

school year, 44 schools engaged in a 1:1 laptop initiative. During the 2011-12 school

year, 90 to 100 Iowa schools adopted a 1:1 laptop initiative. Apple Computer, Inc. (2012)

estimates that perhaps as many as another 80 Iowa schools will have a laptop initiative

during the 2012-13 school year. This would mean that over 25% of all Iowa schools

would have some type of 1:1 initiative implemented. It is believed that Iowa currently is

the second state in the U.S. (behind Maine) when it comes to the number of 1:1 laptop

initiatives in PreK-12 schools (N. Sauers, personal communication, August 18, 2011).

With the lower cost of computers and increased demands for personalized learning, other

schools are likely to follow suit in the upcoming school years.

More and more high schools are finding ways to fund l:1 laptop initiatives. Many

Iowa school districts finance laptop initiatives through the Physical Plant and Equipment

Levy (PPEL). Other Iowa districts use Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) monies or general

fund dollars to support their initiatives. Almost 85% of the Iowa schools have placed

Apple computers into the hands of students (Sauers, 2011). Ninety percent of laptop

initiatives in Iowa have been implemented with high school students.

The mental model described in Chapter 1 outlined skills and attributes that

students may gain by being exposed to a 1:1 laptop initiative while in high school. A

main goal of 1:1 laptop initiatives tends to be promoting “college readiness.” If this is the

case, we must be able to define what being college ready means for students.
 30

Defining College Readiness

Obtaining a college education is generally accepted as both a goal and value among

students today. By eighth grade, over 80% of students indicate that they will earn at least

a college degree and nearly half also expect to earn a graduate or professional degree

(Csikszentmihalyi & Schneider, 2000; Noeth & Wimberly, 2002; Schneider &

Stevenson, 1999; U.S. Department of Education, 2002). Students indicate that they want

to attend college and pursue careers in professional fields such as business, computer

science, teaching, and medicine (Hrabowski, Maton, & Greif, 1998; U.S. Department of

Education, 2003a; Venezia, Kirst, & Antonio, 2003). The desire to attend college is

enhanced for many students as they progress through high school and learn about more

college and career options. These educational and career expectations are consistent

across race, social class, gender, and student achievement level (Freeman, 1999; Kao &

Tienda, 1998; MacLeod, 1995; Tracey & Robbins, 2004). Despite high expectations to

attend college, the reality is that many students simply aren’t prepared to be successful

after their high school graduation.

The term college readiness is difficult to define. It is possible to compile very

lengthy and detailed lists of the content knowledge that students must know and the key

cognitive strategies that they must possess to be college-ready. In fact, a variety of such

compilations have been produced over the past decade (Achieve, The Education Trust, &

Thomas B Fordham Foundation, 2004; Conley, 2003, 2003a, 2004). Many colleges,

educational researchers, and educational foundations in both public and private education

have attempted to develop definitions of the concept. The next several paragraphs
 31

provide different definitions of college readiness. Later in this section, common themes

of college readiness are exposed and clarified.

To start, the Advanced Placement Index (API) stated that students are college

ready when they have the knowledge, skills, and behaviors to complete a college course

of study successfully, without remediation (Conley, 2008). The API further defined

college readiness through multiple measures that include:

(a) Academic knowledge and skills evidenced by successful completion of a

rigorous high school core curriculum (i.e., four years of mathematics,

including algebra II; four years of English/language arts; three or more

years of science; and three or more years of social sciences/history).

(b) Success in college-prep and college-level courses taken in high school that

require in-depth subject-area knowledge, higher-order thinking skills, and

strong study and research skills; e.g., as evidenced by achievement of a

grade of three or higher on at least one Advanced Placement (AP)

examination.

(c) Advanced academic skills, such as reasoning, problem solving, analysis,

and writing abilities; e.g., as demonstrated by successful performance on

the SAT (a score of 1020 in critical reading and mathematical reasoning

corresponds to a 90% probability of a Freshman GPA of C or higher and a

50% probability of a B or higher).

(d) College planning skills, as demonstrated by an understanding of college

and career options and the college admissions and financing process.

In a paper prepared for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Conley (2007)
 32

provided the following operational definition of college readiness: “the level of

preparation a student needs in order to enroll and succeed – without remediation – in a

credit-bearing general education course at a postsecondary institution that offers a

baccalaureate degree or transfer to a baccalaureate program” (p. 5). Further, the term

succeed was defined as “completing entry-level courses at a level of understanding and

proficiency that makes it possible for the student to consider taking the next course in the

sequence or the next level of course in the subject area” (Conley, 2007, p. 5). This same

report further identified the skills and tasks college ready students would be able to do:

1. Consistent intellectual growth and development over four years of high school

resulting from the study of increasingly challenging, engaging, coherent

academic content

2. Deep understanding of and facility applying key foundational ideas and

concepts from the core academic subjects

3. A strong grounding in the knowledge base that underlies the key concepts of the

core academic disciplines as evidenced by the ability to use the knowledge to

solve novel problems within a subject area, and to demonstrate an

understanding of how experts in the subject area think

4. Facility with a range of key intellectual and cognitive skills and capabilities that

can be broadly generalized as the ability to think

5. Reading and writing skills and strategies sufficient to process the full range of

textual materials commonly encountered in entry-level college courses, and to

respond successfully to the written assignments commonly required in such

courses
 33

6. Mastery of key concepts and ways of thinking found in one or more scientific

disciplines sufficient to succeed in at least one introductory-level college course

that could conceivably lead toward a major that requires additional scientific

knowledge and expertise

7. Comfort with a range of numeric concepts and principles sufficient to take at

least one introductory level college course that could conceivably lead toward a

major that requires additional proficiency in mathematics

8. Ability to accept critical feedback including critiques of written work submitted

or an argument presented in class

9. Ability to assess objectively one’s level of competence in a subject and to

devise plans to complete course requirements in a timely fashion and with a

high degree of quality

10. Ability to study independently and with a study group on a complex assignment

requiring extensive out-of-class preparation that extends over a reasonably long

period of time

11. Ability to interact successfully with a wide range of faculty, staff, and students,

including among them many who come from different backgrounds and hold

points of view different from the student’s

12. Understanding of the values and norms of colleges, and within them,

disciplinary subjects as the organizing structures for intellectual communities

that pursue common understandings and fundamental explanations of natural

phenomena and key aspects of the human condition

These conceptions of college readiness are calibrated against what recent research
 34

findings have come to define as best practices entry-level courses as opposed to the

stereotypical freshman course (Conley, Aspengren, Gallagher, & Nies, 2006a, 2006b;

Conley, Aspengren, Stout, & Veach, 2006c). The college-ready student envisioned by

this definition is able to understand what is expected in a college course, cope with the

content knowledge that is presented, and take away from the course the key intellectual

lessons and dispositions that the course was designed to convey and develop (Conley,

2009). In addition, the student is prepared to get the most out of the college experience by

understanding the culture and structure of postsecondary education and the ways of

knowing and intellectual norms of this academic and social environment (Conley, 2009).

To summarize, this definition of college readiness calls for a student to have a necessary

mindset and disposition to succeed in college.

Conley (2008) described four dimensions of college readiness: cognitive

strategies, content knowledge, self-management skills, and knowledge about

postsecondary education. The first dimension, cognitive strategies, was defined as the

ability to think analytically and logically, compare and contrast different philosophies,

and exercise accuracy as students apply their methods to develop products. The second

dimension, content knowledge, meant that students have a set of big ideas, key concepts,

and organized principals for each subject area. Specifically, the author (Conley, 2008)

identified sources that identify the knowledge and skills that college-ready students need:

Several independently conducted research and development efforts help us

identify the key knowledge and skills students should master to take full

advantage of college. Standards for Success (Conley, 2003) systematically polled

university faculty members and analyzed their course documents to determine

 35

what these teachers expected of students in entry-level courses. The American

Diploma Project (2004) consulted representatives of the business community and

postsecondary faculty to define standards in math and English. More recently,

both ACT (2008) and the College Board (2006) have released college readiness

standards in English and math. Finally, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating

Board (2008), under mandate of state law, developed one of the first and most

comprehensive sets of state-level college readiness standards. (p. 1-2)

Conley’s (2008) third dimension of college readiness was self-management skills.

These skills allow students to plan ahead, prioritize tasks, keep track of large amounts of

information, and organize themselves to meet deadlines. In addition, students also must

be able to know when and where to seek help and support when they need it.

Finally, college ready students should possess some key knowledge about

postsecondary education (Conley, 2008). For example, students must be able to match

personal interests with a college major, understand basic financial aid concepts, register

for classes, and understand how the culture of college is different from that of high school

(Conley, 2008).

The college readiness gap reflects the disparity between the skills and knowledge

that students gain in high school and the skills and knowledge that colleges and

universities expect (The National Center for Public Policy in Higher Education, p. 3.).

Causes of the college readiness gap include seat time that does not guarantee skills and

learning, assessments that do not accurately assess college readiness, teachers not being

held accountable for high standards, and colleges not being held accountable for degree

completion (Conley, 2008).

 36

In a study by Byrd & MacDonald (20005), first generation college students

reported their perceptions of college readiness. In addition to recognized academic skills,

participants in this study indicated that (a) skills in time-management, (b) the ability to

apply oneself and focus on a goal, and (c) skills for advocating for oneself as a learner

were essential for college readiness. Each area was further examined related to college

readiness. Participants expounded on necessary academic skills needed for college, which

included reading, writing, math, technology, communication, and study skills.

The next identified area of readiness was that of time management skills.

Participants discussed the importance of time management for college readiness.

Participants expressed the importance of having a goal and applying oneself for college

readiness. Self-advocacy also was noted. Participants shared advice or stories about being

able to speak up for one's needs and to seek help when necessary. These skills surfaced in

the study to be essential for first generation college student’s success in college.

For the purpose of this study, the definition of college readiness meant that a

student possessed the skills and knowledge to be successful with college level

coursework without remediation. Using any definition of college readiness, the bottom

line is that many students are not effectively prepared to meet college academic demands.

Furthermore, a synthesis of research leads to general themes that emerge around the

definition of college readiness. The five themes include cognitive strategies, self-

management, content knowledge, knowledge about postsecondary education, and self-

advocacy skills.
 37

A Synthesis of College Readiness Themes

The next section further defines the five themes around college readiness that

have been identified by the researcher.

Cognitive Strategies

Conley (2008) defined cognitive strategies necessary for college readiness as the

abilities to think analytically and logically compare and contrast different philosophies,

and exercise accuracy as students apply their methods to develop products. College ready

students possess the skills and behaviors necessary to understand what is expected of

them and understand how they best learn. Students must understand how they best learn

and how they must study to be successful with college level curriculum. The college-

ready student envisioned by this definition is able to understand what is expected in a

college course, cope with the content knowledge that is presented, and take away from

the course the key intellectual lessons and dispositions the course was designed to convey

and develop (Conley, 2009).

Students who possess effective cognitive strategies are able to think critically,

conduct thorough research, take away key concepts, and effectively compare and contrast

ideas. Students tend to be more successful in college if they have a clear understanding of

the study skills and habits they benefit from that will make them successful in the

postsecondary setting.

Self-Management

Self-management means that a student is not only able to live on her own but also

manage her time. Various college readiness research studies indicate that self-

management includes both a behavior and mindset necessary for college success.
 38

Specifically students must be able to plan ahead, prioritize tasks, keep track of large

amounts of information, and meet deadlines (Conley, 2008). Successful college students

are able to apply themselves to learning and living on their own. They tend to also be able

to focus on their goals to get the most out of their college classes and experiences.

Content Knowledge

The lack of integration of key learning skills within the college-prep curriculum is

primarily responsible for the lack of progress in improving college readiness, even among

students who have completed the prescribed and recommended courses (The National

Center for Public Policy in Higher Education., 2010). Currently, research supports the

lack of college readiness in specific content areas. Approximately 28% of all graduates

met none of ACT’s college readiness benchmarks, while 47% met between one and three

benchmarks. Only 24 percent of all 2010 ACT-tested high school graduates met all four

college readiness benchmarks, meaning that less than one in four were academically

ready for college coursework in all four subject areas (ACT, 2010).

Students who are college ready have an effective base of fundamental knowledge

necessary to be successful with a college curriculum without the need of remedial classes.

The Advanced Placement Institute noted that college ready students have solid content

knowledge in core areas of reading, writing, math, and technology. The Advanced

Placement Index (API) stated that students are college ready when they have the

knowledge, skills, and behaviors to complete a college course of study successfully,

without remediation (Conley, 2008). Students who experience college preparatory

curriculum in high school seem to perform better with college-level coursework.

 39

Content knowledge means that students have a set of big ideas, key concepts, and

organized principals for each subject area (Conley, 2008). Specific skills such as the

ability to think critically, understand key concepts, and understand the big idea are

necessary for college success (Conley, 2008). Some states have gone so far as to demand

college readiness standardized assessments that students must pass before graduating or

being admitted into a postsecondary institution.

Knowledge about Postsecondary Education

College ready students tend to know more about the college setting, culture, and

operations than students who are not ready for the postsecondary setting. The element of

knowing about postsecondary education starts while students are in high school. Students

need to understand what they must do as well as what the system requires or expects of

them. They must, first and foremost, understand that college admission is a reasonable

and realistic goal that can be attained through planning and diligent attention to necessary

tasks (Conley, 2007). Elements of this knowledge include planning on living on their

own, understanding the financial aid process, and the ability to match their own personal

interests with a college major (Conley, 2008).

College ready students understand the difference in culture from the high school

to college setting. One example would be a student understanding that seat time is no

guarantee or factor in a college grade whereas seat time and participation would

sometimes be factored into a high school course grade.

Self-Advocacy Skills

Students who are college ready possess the behaviors and skills necessary to

advocate for their personal and academic needs in the postsecondary setting. This would
 40

include when and where to look for personal or academic help. This varies from

institution to institution and is sometimes a challenge for first-year college students to

navigate. College ready students are able to speak up and advocate so that they are able to

get the help they need to be successful. Students also must be able to know when and

where to seek help and support when they need it to be truly college ready (Conley,

2008). This is especially important for first-generation college students who do not have

the experiences or liberties of seeking advice from a sibling or relative.

The Current Reality of College Readiness

To be successful after high school, today's graduates must be prepared for the

ever-increasing demands of not only college but also the workplace. However, research

results indicate that more than one third of students require remedial coursework in

college and less than half of students at higher education institutions receive a certificate,

associate, or bachelor's degree in six years (National Center for Education Statistics,

2008). As noted earlier and below in Figure 4, results from the ACT indicate that only

24% of all 2008 graduates met all four subject-area ACT college readiness benchmarks

(ACT, 2008).
 41

Figure 3. Percent of ACT-tested High School Graduates Meeting College Readiness

Benchmarks by Subject, 2008.

Figure 4. Adapted from The ACT Condition of College and Career Readiness

Report, 2008.

Between 2006 and 2008, the average ACT Reading score for high school

graduates who had completed or had planned to complete a core curriculum remained

about the same as the average reading score on the 2008 ACT test but was higher than the

average score of graduates who had not completed or had not planned to complete a core

curriculum (ACT, 2008).

ACT data are supported by results of other studies that also question the college

readiness of many of today’s high school graduates. For example, recent high school

graduation rates indicate that the public school system is not only losing 30% of all its

students before graduation, it is also losing disproportionately more black and Hispanic
 42

students than white and Asian students (Greene, 2003). In addition, statistics on college

readiness rates indicate that only 32% of all students - i.e., fewer than half of those who

graduate and about one-third of all students who enter high school - leave high school

with the minimum qualifications necessary to apply to college (Greene, 2003). Again,

black and Hispanic graduates are disproportionately unready for college as compared to

their white and Asian peers (Greene, 2003).

Lack of academic readiness for college also results in significant costs for

taxpayers. Lack of college readiness is a major cause of low graduation rates, as

illustrated by the fact that the majority of students who begin in remedial courses never

complete their college degrees (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2011). While one-third

of students fail to graduate from high school, there also are many who do graduate and

begin college only to discover that they are underprepared for postsecondary work

(Alliance for Excellent Education, 2011). Roughly one out of every three students

entering postsecondary education will have to take at least one remedial course (Alliance

for Excellent Education, 2011), which dramatically increases the odds that a student will

not complete postsecondary education. Studies on the effects of remediation on

postsecondary outcomes indicate that remediation is a poor substitute for a high-quality

high school education (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2011). Compared to peers who

are not in need of remediation, students who must take remedial courses are about half as

likely to graduate (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2011). Even when students have

similar skill levels, the more remedial courses they have to take, the less likely they are to

graduate. Further, remedial courses represent a cost that taxpayers must pay twice, first

for students to learn material in high school and then again for students to learn or relearn
 43

that material at the postsecondary level. The price tag is not small. It is estimated that,

nationally, the cost of remediation in public institutions for students enrolled in the 2007-

08 school year alone was $3.6 billion (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2011. p. 1).

The costs of remediation would be difficult enough for state and local governments

to bear but, as states face huge budget shortfalls and tough economic decisions,

maintaining this level of spending will prove even more challenging. Even after the

infusion of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, states still

have had to account for budget shortfalls approaching an estimated $100 billion in 2011

and more than $130 billion in 2012 (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2011). This

projection has led U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and others to suggest that

reducing the need for remedial education is one significant area where states can see

savings in the coming years.

College dropout rates, caused in part by lack of college readiness, also impact

businesses. A full 43% of students who begin postsecondary studies fail to earn a degree

after six years; one major reason is that students receive inadequate preparation while in

high school (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2011). Many jobs now demand that

workers have some postsecondary training (Moss & Tilly, 2001; Wilson, 1996). The

American Testing Program (2008) predicts that by the year 2018, 80% of jobs will

require some postsecondary degree. These changes in the U.S. economy, growing

competition across the global market, and increasing demand for a skilled labor force

have made postsecondary training essential for those people who strive for a good-paying

job to support their families.

Another significant economic impact of college dropout rates is the earnings gap
 44

between college and high school graduates. In 1980, college graduates earned 19% more

than those with a high school diploma did but, by 1999, college graduates earned 58%

more than high school graduates (U.S. Department of Education, 2003). There is no

doubt that more education results in higher earnings. Thus, for young people entering the

job market of the 21st century, high school graduation is no longer the finish line but the

starting line.

While the national unemployment rate includes individuals of all education levels,

those with lower levels of education typically are affected the most (Alliance for

Excellent Education, 2011). High school graduates without any kind of postsecondary

credential and high school dropouts have unemployment rates that are nearly two and

three times higher than college graduates.

The impact of education level on earnings is illustrated in Figure 5. The 2009

figures visually demonstrate the value of education whether one considers the lower

unemployment rate for people with more education or higher wages for those with higher

degrees. On average, the difference for people with a Master’s degree verses a Bachelor’s

degree in average weekly income is $232 per week (Carnevale, Smith, & Strohl, 2008).

Moreover, only 3.9% of people with a master’s degree are unemployed (Carnevale,

Smith, & Strohl, 2008). The value of education is evident whether you consider

unemployment rates or average earnings. The value of higher education will continue to

be more meaningful as the economy struggles, technology improves, and jobs are lost to

workers in other countries.

 45

Figure 4. Education Pays

Figure 5. Adapted from A. Carnevale, N. Smith, & J. Strohl. (2008).

Projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that occupations that require

long-term on-the-job training will see the slowest growth (Ramey, 2008). This is part of a

decades-long trend for which the end is uncertain. Between 1973 and 2007, the share of

jobs in the U.S. economy that required postsecondary education increased from 28% to

59% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). According to an analysis by the Georgetown

Center on Education and the Workforce (2008), this percentage will increase over the

next decade to 62% (see Figure 6). To meet these job market demands, the nation will

need an additional 22 million workers with postsecondary degrees. However, the United

States is expected to fall short by three million postsecondary degrees (Symonds,

Schwartz & Ferguson, 2011). Given these projections, it is essential to improve

postsecondary completion rates in order to fulfill future economic demands.

The shifting composition of the American work force by educational level is shown

in Figure 5.
 46

Figure 5. Composition of Workforce by Education Degree

Figure 5. Adapted from A. Carnevale, N. Smith, and J. Strohl. (2008).

The college readiness gap is costly to students, families, institutions, businesses,

and taxpayers. Furthermore, the readiness gap is a tremendous obstacle to increasing the

nation's college attainment levels. It is apparent that more needs to be done to prepare

students for college. Technology initiatives such as 1:1 computing have been effective in

various studies that related to student engagement in high school classrooms.

Furthermore, research supports increased student achievement via the use of computers,

in mathematics and writing in particular. Yet no study has been uncovered that examined

the effects of 1:1 laptop computing on college readiness. The purpose of this study was to

try to connect student participation in high school 1:1 laptop programs with the concept

of college readiness.
 47

Factors Around PreK-16 Technology Adoption

How an organization considers and adopts technology may very well predict its

future. Many schools have adopted a 1:1 laptop model as a means to transform their

institution while other schools are waiting to make any type of move. What causes some

schools to make technology decisions faster than others during tough budgetary times

may simply depend on the fortitude of their leaders. Paying attention to past innovations

and considering current situations may help school leaders make the best technology

decisions for students.

Another key factor to change adaptation is that people (including education

leaders) tend to get fatigued by the overwhelming number of new technologies. In PreK-

12 and higher education, there are normally more than a handful of revolving new

technologies that could be adapted on an annual basis. The confusion has reached a point

where a specific predictive cycle has been created to define and help make decisions

about which technologies are viable for adaptation. Figure 8 presents the Gartner Group’s

Hype Cycle that illustrates the phases that technology goes through in all levels of

education, PreK-16 (Gartner, 2008).

The Gartner Group is a technology research and advisory firm who develops the

Hype Cycle on an annual basis. Since 1995, Gartner has used hype cycles to characterize

the over-enthusiasm or "hype" and subsequent disappointment that typically happen with

the introduction of new technologies (Gartner, 2008).

 48

Figure 6. Hype Cycle for Education, 2008

Figure 6. Adapted from Gartner, Inc. (2008).

The Hype Cycle is a graphic representation of the maturity, adoption, and social

applications of specific technology (Gartner, 2008). According to Gartner, hype cycles

aim to separate the hype from the reality and enable organizations to decide whether a

particular technology is ready for adoption (Gartner, 2008). For educators, the cycle can

offer potential benefits to teaching and learning and can provide education leaders with a

snapshot of what innovations are on the horizon.

The 2008 Hype Cycle provides a calculated insight of potential innovations for

education leaders (Gartner, 2008). Back in 2008, innovations such as blogs, cloud e-mail,

ePortfolios, social media, open-source e-learning, and web and application hosting were

all less than two years away from mainstream adoption (Gartner, 2008). Other

innovations were further away from widespread adoption but were noted in the “trough
 49

of disillusionment.” These potential innovations included wikis, mass notification

software, micro-blogging, and e-textbooks.

The graph in Figure 7 illustrates how the adoption of an innovation normally

happens as conveyed visually through the hype cycle. A technology trigger often sparks

the interest of people. This is often done through marketing and advertising of a new

product. Because of the high expectations, people or organizations often have the “peak

of inflated expectations” results for a short period followed by a short period of

disappointment known as the “trough of disillusionment.” The next stages in the cycle

occur because of product upgrades and/or changes to marketing, as well as realignment of

consumer expectations.

Figure 7: Adopted from Gartner Research's Hype Cycle diagram (December, 2007).
 50

The scope of the 2008 Hype Cycle was broad and included both PreK-12 and

higher education. This was done strategically to see an increase in the crossover of

technologies, services, and methodologies between elementary, secondary and higher

education. In fact, vendors of services such as e-learning and ERP solutions that often

originated in higher education have adapted and expanded their offerings into PreK-12

education (Gartner, 2008).

Education leaders are facing a multitude of new options for delivering established

services while being challenged by completely new technology-based demands from the

end users. Their core end users are the students that the leaders serve. Students tend to be

leading change in many ways through the adoption of social networking, mobile devices,

and user-generated media for educational purposes. However, many educators are finally

catching up and are increasingly using these technologies in teaching and learning.

The change among teachers and professors is marked by a decreased dependence

on institutionally-delivered technology and services and an increased use of

consumerized user-centric technology (Gartner, 2008). This shift of power from the

institution to the individual is similar to what has occurred in the media industry, where

expensive production tools and highly-controlled distribution channels have been

challenged by a ubiquity of inexpensive personal production tools and channels able to

generate a high volume of accessible, user-generated content (Gartner, 2009). The end

user of many technologies is now a producer of media, as evident in ordinary people

sending video to the local news station or others posting their talents to a web site like

YouTube to get recognized by a talent agent.

 51

Gartner’s Hype Cycle may hold the key to understanding how technology could

help transform the climate of PK-16 education and improve college readiness. Many

educators truly understand the potential that laptop computers have on teaching and

learning. Interestingly, the Hype Cycle predicts that e-Textbooks are two to five years

away from mainstream adoption. Most educators in schools that have adopted the 1:1

initiative would never consider going back to a setting without a laptop for every child.

With laptop computers in the hands of students and (potentially) paperless textbooks the

skills and experiences that students will have graduating from many high schools today

are much different than those of students a generation ago.

Summary

The evolution of computers in our world has produced environments in which

students’ lives are currently filled with technology. The technologies that students have

grown accustomed to give them unprecedented access to information and resources.

Students are now able to create multimedia content and share it with the world when they

choose. Students routinely participate in online social networks where people from all

over the world share ideas, collaborate, and learn new things. Outside of school, students

are free to use technology to pursue their passions in their own way and at their own

pace.

Computers may be the greatest innovation of our time. Education, both K-12 and

postsecondary, is behind the curve in effectively leveraging digital technologies to

promote learning and to prepare students for college or the real. Education as a whole has

not yet understood how the innovation of the computer has transformed society nor has

education responded effectively in using the computer to promote learning. However,

 52

some education leaders have promoted learning by adopting 1:1 laptop initiatives for

their schools and the benefits are beginning to be very evident for both teachers and

students.

Technology provides access to more learning resources than are available in

classrooms. Technology also provides connections for students to a wider set of

educators outside the classroom walls, including parents, experts, and community

mentors. On-demand learning is now within reach, supporting learning that is life-long

and life-wide (Bransford et al., 2006). The education system consequently has the

challenge of leveraging current technology to engage students in relevant, personal,

meaningful learning opportunities. In contrast to traditional classroom instruction, this

will require educators to make teaching and learning student-centered. Educators should

empower students by being flexible and allowing students to take control of their own

learning. When instruction is personal and of particular interest to students, it becomes

more relevant and promotes higher levels of motivation and learning.

It is evident by the data presented in this study and other relevant statistics that

college readiness is a problem across the country. Too many students are not prepared for

the levels of rigor colleges expect. The demands for a highly educated future workforce

will be great. If education does not figure out a way to effectively and efficiently educate

students, the fear is that jobs will be eaten up by other countries that have a workforce

ready and willing to work for less.

The next chapter delves into the methods of gathering feedback from participants

in an effort to answer the research questions posed in this study.

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CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY

This study, which was based in the constructivist paradigm, used a

phenomenological strategy to explain first-year college students’ perceptions of the

effects of a 1:1 laptop experience on their readiness for college and the uses of

technology for instructional purposes by high school teachers and college professors.

This chapter describes the research paradigm, approach, and design that were used to

achieve the purposes of the study.

Constructivist Paradigm

This study employed a constructivist paradigm to investigate and understand the

meaning of first-year college student’s 1:1 laptop experiences. Constructivist researchers

focus on understanding and reconstructing the meanings that people (including the

researcher) hold about the phenomenon being studied (Guba & Lincoln, 1994).

Constructivists create knowledge through interaction between the researcher and

participants (Guba & Lincoln, 1994), using dialogue and reasoning as the primary

methods of investigation. Finally, constructivist researchers return frequently to the

sources of data, asking what they meant to the participant and trying to integrate those

with their meaning to the researcher (Rudestam & Newton, 1992). Thus, for this study,

in-depth interviews were conducted with fifteen first-year college students. Data were

continually scrutinized in an attempt to understand and construct meaning of participants’

perceptions of their 1:1 laptop experience. The approach and methods employed in this

study were guided by three research questions:

1. What are first-year college students’ perceptions of the relationship between their

high school 1:1 laptop experiences and their readiness for college?
 54

2. What are first-year college students’ perceptions of the uses of technology for

instructional purposes by high school teachers?

3. What are first-year college students’ perceptions of the uses of technology for

instructional purposes by college professors?

Qualitative Research Approach

A qualitative research approach for this study was chosen because qualitative

methods are especially useful in discovering the meaning that people give to events that

they experience (Merriam, 1998). Specifically, the phenomenological method was used

to understand how participants make meaning of the phenomenon being studied; i.e., the

impacts of a 1:1 laptop initiative on their college readiness. Phenomenology is effective

in studying a small number of subjects – in this case, 15 participants – to identify the core

of their experiences with the phenomenon (Creswell, 2003) and to produce patterns and

identify relationships of meaning that build new knowledge (Moustakes, 1994).

The qualitative research methods used for this study are described further below

and included purposive sampling, open-ended interviewing, and systematic and

concurrent data collection and data analysis procedures. Specifically, the grounded theory

or constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) was used to analyze the data

and discover the meaning of college freshmen’s 1:1 laptop experiences. A review board

approved the purpose and procedures for this study (Appendix C).

Research Design

Procedures for selecting study participants and collecting and analyzing data are

described in this section.

 55

Participants

First-year college students who had a minimum of two years experience with a

1:1 laptop initiative in high school and who had completed a minimum of one semester of

college were selected for participants in this study since they would be “knowledgeable

informants” (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, p. 234). Because the goal of the study was to

uncover student perceptions of a 1:1 initiative after their first-year of college, it was

important that participants had completed at least a semester of college. The experiences

that participants had during this first year of college gave them a basis from which to

compare their college readiness to other first-year college students who were not exposed

to a 1:1 laptop initiative in high school.

The researcher’s major professor, Dr. Scott McLeod, Associate Professor of

Educational Administration at Iowa State University, was enlisted to help with sample

selection. He utilized his popular blog (Dangerously Irrelevant), the Twitter

microblogging service, and other information channels to inform high school

administrators across the United States who oversee 1:1 laptop initiatives about the

research study and to request their help in identifying participants for the study. To

increase the sample size, the researcher also sent a School Administrator Invitation

(Appendix D) to principals in 36 high schools across the United States to invite them to

supply names of past graduates who might be willing to serve as participants in the study.

These high school administrators were contacted directly by the researcher because the

high school they served had a 1:1 laptop initiative in place for two or more years.

Administrators who were willing to help were given details about the purpose of the

study and the needs of the researcher; for example, a list of graduates, the name of the
 56

college that each graduate was attending, and student contact information. The high

school administrators routinely relied on school counselors to help identify graduates

who met the student selection criteria of the study.

Once potential participants had been identified, an e-mail was sent to them with

the Informed Consent Form (Appendix E) that included a description of the research

study, research procedures, risks and benefits of participation in the study, participant

rights, and protection of confidentiality. Students who signed the consent form became

participants in the study and received details about the interview process and procedures

along with a copy of the Interview Protocol (Appendix F). Recruitment and interviews of

participants concluded when data saturation occurred and the information received from

the interviewees began to be redundant (Merriam, 1998). At this point a total of 15

participants attending 13 different college campuses across the United States and

Thailand had been interviewed.

Role of the Researcher

In qualitative research, the researcher is the primary research instrument. What the

researcher brings to the investigation from his/her own background and identity should be

treated as his or her bias (Maxwell, 2005). Since qualitative research is interpretative

research, researcher biases, beliefs, and assumptions can intrude into the analysis of data

(Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Social researchers should attempt to neutralize or bracket their

biases through full disclosure (Altheide & Johnson, 1994; Locke, Spirduso, & Silverman,

1987).

The researcher of the present study acknowledged that his personal and work

background could influence his interpretation of data. The researcher’s 1:1 laptop
 57

experience during his college years resulted in his belief that the experience (a) increased

his self-confidence, (b) increased and his efficiency in completing assignments, and (c)

gave him an advantage in the working world.

The researcher also acknowledged that his position as a high school principal that

moved his school (consisting of 400 students and 24 teachers) to a 1:1 laptop initiative

could bias his interpretation of research results. The researcher also played the role of

mentor to another principal who led a smaller school to adopt a 1:1 initiative. In addition,

the researcher is currently working hard to help yet another high school implement a 1:1

laptop computer initiative.

To minimize any personal bias on the results of this study, member checks were

utilized during and after interviews to increase the credibility, validity, and transferability

of the study results (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). During each interview, the researcher also

restated and summarized information, questioning participants on the accuracy of the

information. After the taped interviews had been transcribed, the researcher asked each

participant to review the content of his or her transcript for accuracy. In addition, the

researcher consulted resources and faculty advisors throughout the evolution of this

study. Direction from the faculty advisor helped the researcher to focus on relevant

details that participants offered, which led the researcher to develop themes from the

data. Lastly, the researcher included ample and relevant quotes from participants to

substantiate the findings of the study (Maxwell, 2005).

Data Collection Methods

While data collection and data analysis activities were intricately woven together

throughout this phase of the study, for the sake of clarity they will be described
 58

separately. The primary sources of data for this study were telephone interviews and field

notes.

Interviews

For this study, qualitative interviews were the primary method of data collection for

three reasons. Qualitative interviewing is appropriately used when “studying people’s

understanding of the meaning in their lived world” (Kvale, 1996, p. 105). In fact,

interviewing is the best technique to use “to find out those things we cannot directly

observe…feelings, thoughts, and intentions” (Merriam, 1998, p. 72). Qualitative

interviews result in thick descriptions of the subject being studied (Rubin & Rubin,

1995). Interviews also allow for triangulation of information obtained from other sources

(Lincoln & Guba, 1985).

For this study, all but one of the interviews were conducted by telephone; the

remaining interview was conducted over Skype for convenience of the participant. The

telephone and Skype served as efficient ways to conduct the interviews, making it

possible for students with busy schedules to participate in the study. Further, phone

interviews and Skype were the only practical ways for the researcher to connect with

participants from across the country and world.

As a first step in the interview process, participants were reminded of the purpose

of the study, research procedures, expected benefits, their right to withdraw from the

study at any time, and protection of confidentiality. In an effort to develop a good rapport

with respondents and to demonstrate familiarity with the topic (Creswell, 1994), the

researcher identified himself as a doctoral student at Iowa State University and also as a

high school principal from Iowa.

 59

With participant approval, the interviews were audio-recorded to ensure a complete

transcript (Merriam, 1998; Rubin & Rubin, 1995). Typed notes were taken during all

interviews, enabling the researcher to track key points to return to later in the interview

and for use during data analysis.

A semi-structured interview approach was used to carry on conversations that

would elicit rich data that could be used in qualitative analysis (Lofland, 1971). Semi-

structured interviews give participants more room to answer in terms of what is important

to them (Miles & Huberman, 1994; Strauss & Corbin, 1998) and to control the

introduction and flow of topics (Mishler, 1986). Although the interviews were semi-

structured in the early stages, they became more structured in the later stages of

triangulation and member checking (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).

Participants were given the interview protocol (Appendix F) approximately a

week before their scheduled interview so that they would have time to think about and

prepare their responses to the initial questions. The interviews began with, “Please

describe your experiences with having a laptop computer while in high school.” The

question was framed in this manner to provide participants with the flexibility and

freedom to explore the phenomenon in depth (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Mostly open-

ended questions were used throughout the remainder of the interview to encourage

participants to talk freely and respond openly to queries (Bogdan & Biklen, 1982; Kvale,

1996). Probing questions were used, when necessary, to encourage participants to

elaborate on or clarify a response (Rubin & Rubin, 1995) or explore root experiences

(Seidman, 1991). Furthermore, participants were frequently asked “why” after

responding to interview questions. Asking participants “why” was the researcher’s

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attempt to provide ample think time so that the participant could fully think about and

elaborate on their experiences.

In order to improve the credibility of study findings, participants’ experiences

were explored in depth during interviews that lasted approximately 45 minutes. The

audio recordings were carefully transcribed verbatim in a Microsoft Word document by a

hired transcriptionist because accurate transcripts “are necessary for valid analysis and

interpretation of interview data” (Mishler, 1986, p. 50).

Field notes

Field notes served as a supporting data source for this study. Field notes were

typed during each interview and later analyzed and compared to the interview

transcriptions (Maxwell, 2005). Field notes were formatted using suggestions by Bogdan

and Biklen (1982). On the first page of each set of notes, the researcher recorded the date

and time and a working title that indicated the content of the notes. Topics addressed in

the field notes included particular events that participants recalled, the researcher’s

speculations about emerging themes, points of clarification, and any connections that the

researcher detected between or among participants’ perceptions (Bogdan & Biklin, 1982).

Other topics included in the field notes included observations about the participant’s

attitude and direct quotes that caught the attention of the researcher. The researcher

immediately highlighted quotes from participants in red that caught his attention so that

they could be easily found during data analysis.

Data Analysis

Analysis occurred in three phases. First, interview transcripts were reviewed

several times, searching for “recurring regularities” (Merriam, 1998, p. 180). The
 61

researcher highlighted quotes and phrases from the interviews that were significant to the

study. Using the constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), the researcher

went back and forth among transcripts until categories emerged that were consistent, yet

distinct (Marshall & Rossman, 1989). The researcher named these categories, coded the

transcripts, and placed sections in labeled folders representing each categories (Bogdan &

Biklin, 1982; Merriam, 1998). Second, the researcher brought together the coded

interviews and field notes and looked for relationships within and across the data sources.

A table was developed to compare various coded interviews. As tentative categories

emerged, the researcher tested them against the data (Merriam, 1998). The researcher

also tested interview data against the mental model presented in Chapter 1. Finally, the

researcher integrated and refined the categories until themes solidified (Strauss & Corbin,

1998).

Establishing Trustworthiness

Reliability is an area for which qualitative research is sometimes criticized. In

general terms, reliability refers to the extent in which research findings can be replicated.

Denscombe (2002) emphasized that in social research two main questions need to be

addressed when determining reliability: (a) Are the data valid?, and (b) Are the methods

reliable?

To increase the trustworthiness of the study’s findings, the researcher employed

strategies suggested by Lincoln and Guba (1985). The researcher decreased threats to

credibility (quantitative researchers would use the term internal validity) by triangulating

data. To increase dependability (called reliability in quantitative research), the researcher

provided an audit trail by describing in detail how data was collected, how categories
 62

were derived, and how decisions were made throughout the inquiry (Merriam, 1998). The

researcher used good rich, thick description (Merriam, 1998), thus enabling other

researchers to make decisions about transferability (known as external validity or

generalizability in quantitative research). To increase conformability (known as

objectivity in quantitative studies), the researcher attempted to control for bias by

constantly comparing data, searching the literature for examples of the phenomenon,

obtaining multiple viewpoints (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), searching for negative instances

of the phenomenon, and checking and rechecking data (Marshall & Rossman, 1989).

Triangulation of data is of critical importance to the trustworthiness of qualitative

studies. As the study unfolded and particular pieces of information became known, steps

were taken to validate each information item against at least one other source (e.g., a

second interview) and/or a second method (e.g., an observation in addition to an

interview) (Denzin, 1989; Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Using a second source or a second

method can produce more accurate, comprehensive, and objective findings (Silverman,

2006). For this study, interviews and field notes were compared to ensure

trustworthiness.

Limitations and Delimitations

Three limitations of this study related to the sample. First, the number of

participants in the study (15) was small. A larger pool of participants may have produced

different or additional themes. Second, data for this study were collected from first-

semester college students with two or more years of exposure to a 1:1 laptop initiative

while in high school. The results of the study only apply to the population investigated

and should not be transferred to other students. Third, the study focused exclusively on
 63

first-year college students whose high school laptop experiences occurred in 2 states and

2 countries (United States of American & Thailand). Results may be transferred to these

states and countries only.

Another limitation is that no validated commercial instrument was available for

obtaining participants’ perceptions of their laptop experiences; therefore, the researcher

developed one. As noted in Chapter 4, the instrument used for this study was not pilot-

tested. Results of the study are limited by how participants interpreted interview

questions.

This research study also yielded two delimitations that describe how the study

was narrowed in scope (Creswell, 2003). The primary delimitations of this study include:

(a) the sample consisted of fifteen first-year college students who volunteered to

participate in the study; and (b) qualitative data collection techniques included structured,

telephone interviews, and field notes.

Summary

This chapter described the methods and procedures used to investigate the

perceived level of college readiness of first-year college students who had experienced a

1:1 laptop initiative in high school and the perceived use of technology for instructional

purposes by the students’ high school teachers and college professors. The study was

based in the constructivist paradigm and used qualitative research methodologies. Data

sources included in-depth interviews and field notes. The constant comparison method

was used to analyze data. The chapter concluded with a discussion of the procedures used

to enhance the trustworthiness of the findings. Chapter 4 presents the research findings

for the study.

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CHAPTER 4. RESULTS

The primary purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions of first-year

college students regarding college readiness after a 1:1 laptop experience while in high

school. The other purpose of the study was to identify the perceptions of first-year

college students regarding their high school teachers’ and college professors’ use of

technology for instruction.

Participants’ experiences and feedback added insight to the research questions

posed in this study. By listening to and analyzing the experiences of these students,

valuable information was obtained about 1:1 laptop initiatives and college readiness as

well as students’ perceptions of how their teachers, both in high school and in college,

used technology for learning and teaching purposes. In this chapter, the three research

questions are addressed with supporting evidence, including both quotations and

feedback from the participants.

Demographics of Participants

The results of this qualitative study are based on interviews of fifteen college

students from two different states and two different countries. All students voluntarily

participated in the study. Principals of 1:1 high schools were initially solicited through

various social networking outlets. Those principals then contacted some of their alumni,

who then subsequently agreed to be part of the study.

The fifteen participants in this study were enrolled in thirteen different

postsecondary institutions around the United States and in one university in Thailand.

Participants in this study attended five different high schools. Each participant

experienced a 1:1 laptop initiative in high school for two or more years. Of the fifteen
 65

total participants, six experienced a 1:1 laptop initiative for all four years in high school,

three participants had three years of 1:1 experience in high school, and the other six

participants experienced a laptop initiative for two years while in high school. Many of

the participants were part of a 1:1 laptop rollout in which they were the first class in their

high school to experience the initiative.

The size of high school attended varied by participant. Four interviewees attended

a high school in the Midwestern United States of only 434 students. This was the smallest

high school in the study. The largest high school that any participant attended was one in

the Eastern United States that had 750 students. One participant was a graduate from the

Institute for Science and Technology in Thailand and was the only international

participant in the study.

Participants interviewed for this study attended a variety of postsecondary

institutions. Three participants were enrolled in a two-year community college institution;

the other twelve participants were students in four-year universities. The college majors

of participants also varied. Five students were education majors, while two were studying

engineering. The other majors identified by participants in this study included business,

exercise science, religious studies, radiology, accounting, fitness management, marketing,

graphics, and economics. More information about the fifteen interviewees is included in

Appendix G.

Each participant was interviewed over the telephone. The telephone was an

effective and necessary way to communicate with participants because of their location in

multiple states and countries. Phone interviews also allowed for convenient transcription

of recorded interviews. Recording and transcription of interviews was done through the
 66

NoNotes.com transcription service. Interviews were transcribed within a couple of days

of occurrence, after which participants were able to review, change, and/or verify their

comments. The interview with the international participant was conducted with the Skype

videoconferencing service after multiple attempts to talk by phone failed. This interview

could not be recorded. Because it could not be recorded, the researcher took thorough

field notes but was not able to transcribe the Skype interview verbatim. Interview times

varied and were scheduled at times conducive for both participants and the researcher.

The researcher also took field notes during each interview. All interviews were conducted

during the months of January and February 2012.

Pilot Study

Yin (2009) recommended the use of pilot studies as a way “to develop relevant

lines of questions” prior to conducting the actual study and to assist with the process of

refining data collection plans and procedures (p. 92). In this research study, the intent was

to locate a first-year college student who had experienced a 1:1 initiative while in high

school to pilot the interview questions. However, because participants were more difficult

to find than the researcher originally thought, a pilot study was not conducted prior to the

actual research interviews. It was known that some interview questions might be

modified during the actual interviews. This flexibility supported the semi-structured,

qualitative interview methods that had been selected for data collection.

Revisions of Interview Protocol

The initial interview protocol (Appendix F) had a lengthy introduction about the

purpose of the study, who would have access to the participant’s responses, the

participant’s risks and rights, and when the interview data would be discarded. The intent
 67

was that the researcher would read each participant the introduction verbatim as part of

the interview. The researcher orally improvised this introduction many times when

talking with participants in order to get the initial interview protocol started in a timely

and comfortable manner. All fifteen participants received the initial interview protocol

ahead of time, so the researcher felt comfortable hitting the major points outlined in the

introduction and asking each participant, “Do you have any questions before we begin?”

Most interview questions were asked exactly as they were written. However, the

researcher often followed up the semi-structured questions with open-ended questions

such as, “Why?” and “Can you tell me more?” This was the researcher’s way to get at

deeper meaning and richer understanding of the participant’s experiences. In the middle

of the first interview, the researcher decided to add a question to the initial interview

protocol. The question added was, “As a parent in the future, with the choice to send your

child to a traditional school or 1:1 laptop school, which would you prefer? Why?”

This question was added to get further feedback from participants about the overall value,

or lack of value, that they believed they gained because of their 1:1 laptop experiences

while in high school. All fifteen participants were asked this question near the end of the

interview.

Research Questions

Three primary research questions guided this study:

1. What are first-year college students’ perceptions of the relationship between

their high school 1:1 laptop experiences and their readiness for college?

2. What are first-year college students’ perceptions of the uses of technology for

instructional purposes by their high school teachers?

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3. What are first-year college students’ perceptions of the uses of technology for

instructional purposes by their college professors?

Research Results

Four distinct themes emerged from the research data. The major themes identified

from the results of this study included:

1. Students’ 1:1 laptop-facilitated experiences with online classes improved

college readiness.

2. Academic skills necessary to be a successful student were gained from 1:1

laptop experiences.

3. Students who were part of 1:1 initiative rollouts experienced an initial

implementation dip.

4. High school teachers who were part of a 1:1 program better use technology

for instruction than college professors.

Themes 1 and 2 answered the first research question; What are first-year college

students’ perceptions of the relationship between their high school 1:1 laptop

experiences and their readiness for college? Themes 3 and 4 addressed the second

research question; What are first-year college students’ perceptions of the uses of

technology for instructional purposes by their high school teachers? Theme 4 also

addressed the third research question; What are first-year college students’ perceptions of

the uses of technology for instructional purposes by their college professors? Each theme

is discussed in further detail below.

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Theme 1: Online Classes

Thirteen out of the fifteen participants actually took online classes while in high

school. Participant 11 noted that, “Teachers’ high expectations and taking online classes

helped me most for college.” Participant 15, who is currently studying to be an engineer,

reported, “I actually took four or five online classes. I came in to college with my first

semester already completed.” Participant 3 graduated from high school having already

acquired 32 college credits. She earned all of these credits by taking online classes during

her junior and senior years in high school, utilizing her laptop computer. The student

reported using her laptop during study halls in school and at home, sometimes completing

multiple online classes each semester. Participant 3 reported, “There is no way I would

have been able to get the college credits I did without having the laptop. It saved me from

taking quite a few college classes and having to pay for them in college.”

Participants credited their high school’s laptop initiative for their convenient

access to online courses while in high school. Having a laptop as a learning tool and

taking advantage of formal online courses were two major contributors to multiple

students’ perceived readiness for college. “I feel like I was more prepared than my peers

for college because of having a computer. The online classes I took in high school were

hard but good for me,” said Participant 8. Participant 5, a first-year student at a Midwest

two-year college stated:

I think (having a laptop) helped me a lot because I'm [also] now taking online

classes. I feel like I knew what to expect with college classes because I was able

to take college classes while in high school. I also feel good with my computer

and using it for college work.

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Participant 12, a student athlete studying at a four-year college, substantiated

other students’ claims by confirming the importance of online classes. He said, “I know

taking the online courses in high school through DMACC (Des Moines Area Community

College) really helped me a lot. I mean that really prepared me more for college.”

In Chapter 2, five themes were identified regarding college readiness. One of the

themes identified was students’ knowledge about postsecondary education. Being able to

take online college classes while in high school was perceived to promote college

readiness by the majority (13 out of 15) of the participants interviewed. Students credited

having the laptop to use for their online classes as a major contributor to their initial

success as a college-level student. “My freshman year would be different if I didn’t have

a laptop in high school. It would take more time to find and use online resources in

comparison to books. I think trying to figure out how to use new technology would also

be more difficult if I hadn’t had the laptop experience,” said Participant 8.

Participants 2 and 13, the two that did not take an online class while in high

school, discussed the reasons why they did not do so. One said, “I had access to online

classes but chose not to take any because I heard they were difficult.” The other student

mentioned that the online classes offered by their high school did not appeal to them

because she “did not want to be on the computer any more than she had to.” The field

notes indicated that these two participants held more critical attitudes about the 1:1 laptop

initiative they experienced in high school compared to most of the other interviewees.

With the laptop computer, students were able to routinely and efficiently take

advantage of time in and outside of school to take online classes. Having a laptop

computer and engaging in online coursework were reported as effective contributors to

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college readiness. Participants’ ability to engage in rigorous coursework via their laptop

helped prepare them for the rigors of college.

Theme 2: Academic Skills

In addition to mentioning access to and benefits from formal online courses,

interviewees also discussed in various ways relationships between their high school

laptop access and the development of academic skills. The theme of academic skills is

described below in nine parts: a) networking and collaborating with others, b) identifying

online resources, c) keyboarding skills, d) note-taking skills, e) presentation skills, f)

organization, g) critical thinking, h) getting more help, and i) responsibility.

Networking and collaborating with others

Participants were asked during their interviews if they were able to collaborate

with others that they otherwise would not have been able to because they had a laptop

computer in high school. Field notes taken during each interview recorded that

participants tended to pause before answering this question. The delay in responses to this

question seemed to be more about the wording of the question than the responses from

the participants. The researcher often provided wait time for the participants to think

about this question and sometimes rephrased the question to delve into their experiences

in collaborating with others. During one of the interviews, Participant 14 reported, “I

almost feel more prepared (for college) than an adult because I feel I could get

internships because of the connections I’ve gained because of the technology and social

networking in high school.” This participant also mentioned that he thought he could post

a question or request and have multiple people in his online ‘network’ respond to them.
 72

Participant 14 went on to say, “I feel this has given me an advantage over some adults

that may have had more years to gain experiences I have not yet had.”

Another student, Participant 15, shared a story about taking online classes and

figuring out that he wanted to be a software engineer rather than computer programmer

because of what the online class exposed him to. This participant took an online graphics

class in high school. He reported that many of the assignments and tasks the instructor

asked him to do turned him off from computer programming and excited him about

developing and working with software. This is now his college major.

Students do not just socialize or network with their close friends on social

networking sites. Being able to get answers to questions and network with others outside

their peer network was also a benefit for many students who had a laptop computer with

Internet access. Participant 12 said, “I was able to talk with business people, authors, and

legislators in high school [that] I never dreamed I would work with.” Other students

shared stories about a librarian at their high school who taught a class called Personal

Learning Networking. This teacher taught students to reach out using technology to

network with professionals around the world to seek their advice and expertise. The

participants from this high school (Participants 7, 8, 9, 11, and 12) seemed to vividly

reflect on this class in particular and the impact of this teacher on how they learned to use

social networking to his or her advantage. Participant 9 noted, “We had a class with our

librarian that was very helpful. It was basically kind of a social connecting course, and

taught us about different websites and how to connect with different people. We also

learned about different websites that would help us study, or find good research and
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things like that in that class. It helped a lot I think, so yeah, I would say I am definitely

more familiar with online tools because of this class.”

Multiple graduates from another Midwest high school (Participants 3, 4, 5, and 6)

also spoke of a popular Spanish class. In this class, students networked with and

collaborated with other students in 1:1 schools and states. Participant 3 provided details,

saying:

We definitely had a lot of classes [that used] collaboration projects. Our Spanish

course we had, actually had multiple projects with another 1:1 school and we

collaborated with partners to create projects. And with another (project), we

actually talked to kids in Philadelphia and Minnesota and collaborated on projects

doing research. These would have been almost impossible without a 1:1

[program].

Students also mentioned connecting with other students that they knew or

competed against using social networking. Participant 12 hit on this idea by saying:

Yeah, like I know it goes back to social media, but once you play sports and we

play against kids, well then we would sometimes go on Facebook and add them,

and you would talk and what not to talk about games, and talk about future

opponents. So it opens up knowing people and talking to them you wouldn’t have

if you had to meet them.

Social media and networking seemed to give some students a voice they felt they

would not otherwise have had. Participant 14 reported, “I mean me, personally, I was

really quiet before, and I think the ability to talk with people more online makes me
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easier to start opening up like emotionally going through high school, and so I think it's, I

don’t know that that made me more outgoing.”

Every participant talked about using social networking for both school and

personal use. Many participants talked about emailing teachers back and forth about

schoolwork. However, the email students used was not normally school-supported.

Rather, students tended to use free email sources like Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail. “Our

school tried to implement using email, but it never seemed to work. So, it never really

helped me. But everyone does use Facebook and being able to talk with friends and

asking them school questions helped more than email did,” said Participant 15. Other

participants made brief mention of email but did not speak to whether the email server

they utilized in high school was school-supported or not.

Overall, first-year college students reflected positively on their experiences when

it came to social networking and collaborating with others. A quote from Participant 12

seemed to summarize the general perceptions of others about networking and

collaborating with others: “I think social networking is a good thing. I think you can use

Twitter and Facebook in effective ways; especially Twitter is really good for education. I

know a lot of times when I had questions I just tweeted them out and I would have

followers get back to me with an answer. I think that’s an effective way to use social

networking…or at least it was for me.”

Identifying online resources

All 15 of the first-year college students interviewed in this study reported that

they were able to identify better online resources in college now because of their high

school laptop experience. Participant 1 directly stated, “I am better able to identify online
 75

resources because I had the laptop and instruction with the Internet in high school.” Many

students actually mentioned that online sites they used in high school were sites they

continued to use in college. The most popular web sites cited by students were Khan

Academy (www.khanacademy.org) and YouTube (www.youtube.com).

Multiple participants reported that high school teachers intentionally made them

more aware of online resources simply because they had access to the Internet.

Participant 1 responded about her awareness of online resources by saying, “I do, yeah,

because using the laptops a lot helped us to find different ways of information or different

routes to do research. Having that background knowledge is definitely helpful for

presentations and reports in college.” When asked about being able to identify online

resources, Participant 3 said:

I think one of the things that some of my teachers tried really hard to do is teach

about primary source documents. We were supposed to have a textbook for

papers that was more of a secondary source or we had to go online and find

primary source documents. So, we actually practiced this and worked with

teachers to make sure that our online resources were good enough to be used in

our paper. I think my high school teachers did a good job with this because I use

what I learned in college on papers now.

Participant 12 talked about being able to conduct efficient and effective online searches

for resources, saying, “I know how to effectively use the Internet and Google before I got

to college. I don’t have to spend so much time searching for resources.” With computers

available to college students, being able to identify the best online resources is a skill.

Students can conduct online searches that yield lots of results but identifying the best
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resources for the topic they are investigating is important for quality research at the

college level.

Keyboarding skills

After completing the fifteen interviews, it was noted that all of the participants

reported better keyboarding skills because of their use of a laptop in high school.

Students used the terms “keyboarding” and “typing” interchangeably during the

interviews. When students reported better keyboarding skills, it was assumed that they

meant they were now able to type faster and/or more accurately because of their 1:1

experience. Three participants specifically indicated that they currently take their laptop

computer with them to college classes. In class, they use their laptop to type notes.

Participant 2 said, “I am pretty sure I can type faster than I can write. I couldn’t live

without my laptop in college. I take it everywhere with me and live by it.” Participant 15

reflected on his keyboarding skills by talking about keyboarding being one of the major

advantages of a 1:1 initiative. He said, “I'd say I have better computer knowledge and

typing ability, but I'm not still not very fast. Once you have a laptop to use like everyday

you get used to it by typing with it more and writing papers, and editing sites for your

papers. Like sites on MLA format and stuff like that that helps too.” Participant 9 spoke

about the benefits of keyboarding, saying:

I would say I have always been pretty good (typing). I mean using it (laptop)

everyday made typing second nature. A lot of people (classmates) become really

fast. I mean people that I knew who couldn’t type well are now definitely are at

the same level as everybody else is.

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Other students also reported major improvements to their keyboarding skills

because of having a laptop. Participant 12 talked about how his improved keyboarding

helped prepare him for college saying, “I guess my keyboarding skills improved a lot. I

think it really kind of helped when I do research papers up in college. Participant 2 also

said:

Well, I know that my typing skills are really good. I think we would have still

used computers almost everyday at school even without the laptops, but I don’t

know since we had them (laptops). It helps (better keyboarding skills) in college

because you don’t want to be picking at a keyboard if you have a 40-page paper to

write.

In summary, Participant 7 responded to the interview question about whether or

not having a laptop in high school improved his keyboarding skills by saying,

“Definitely. I mean writing papers and just being on the computer 24/7 in high school

helps typing. Typing really just becomes second nature.”

Note-taking skills

Many of the first-year college student participants felt that being able to

efficiently and accurately take notes in college classes was an important skill that they

developed while in high school. “My note taking probably would have been on paper

still, and it would take me longer I think without a laptop. I would not be as organized

with my notes either because on the computer you can just push save, and that’s all on

your computer whereas if you have a notebook you need to flip through all of the pages

to find notes.” said Participant 1. Other students also reported improvements to their

note-taking skills because of the use of their laptop. For instance, Participant 14 said:
 78

I took notes on it (laptop) a lot for the classes and I think it helped a lot. I think a

lot of my note taking is more effective during classes. It lets you study for test and

exams, and I don’t know but a lot of my research papers are just a lot better

because I have all the information to study for papers and exams and so forth.

Participant 9 stated:

They (professors) don’t really require you go to class. So, if I actually go I can

take notes on my laptop, which is much easier for me. Then, I have a lot of

thoughts I can add to my notes and use my schedule and stuff during my class to

mark down due dates for assignments. It is so much easier to keep track of

everything you have to do.

Participant 7 said:

During discussions in class, you just have to take notes; you just got to do it. They

don’t really tell you what to do. They don’t tell you what's going to be on the test,

you just have to know, and that is definitely a challenge. I had to study like every

night my first semester. Even with the Word document I had no idea you could

take notes all different ways, you can set up notes in a ton of different ways which

I had no idea. And now I love it, I use it (laptop) everyday at school.

Three of the participants reported specifically that they take their laptop with them

to their college classes and use it for note-taking. Participant 9 began doing this after

initially not doing so: “Probably like halfway through the semester when I figured it out, I

started using it (laptop) all the time. I now bought my own Mac (similar to the laptop I

had in high school) and take to college classes everyday to take notes.“
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Presentation skills

Fourteen out of fifteen participants responded that they felt they could now create

better presentations because of their exposure to a laptop computer in high school. After

analyzing field notes, the researcher identified feedback from students from the same

particular high school related to creating presentations. The graduates from this high

school all identified having to create frequent presentations to share with their classmates.

Participant 6 said, “It seemed like we did a presentation every week in one high school

class or another.” Participant 8, a classmate, said, “I remember learning how to create

different videos in high school. We had to present videos quite often.”

Participants identified various presentation software tools that they used,

including PowerPoint presentations, VoiceThread, and online videos. Participant 8, who

was attending a four-year institution, credited the multiple presentations he was asked to

do in high school for his efficiency in college at creating presentations. He said, “I would

say (creating presentations is) a major skill you need for college classes. Last semester I

had a PowerPoint for a writing class that had to be like 10 minutes long. Since I had done

many presentations in high school it made everything easier because I already knew how

to put a PowerPoint together.”

Organization

During one interview, Participant 14 reflected on his high school experience and

talked about how unorganized he used to be. He reported that he frequently did not turn

in assignments and projects on time because he couldn’t “keep things straight.” This

young person also admitted he was not a fan of having a laptop computer when it was

first given to him, saying, “I hated the laptop initiative at first because I was a paper
 80

person. After the first quarter I really started to use the laptop and appreciating what it

could do for me.” The participant credited having a laptop in high school for improving

his organization and time management skills, which has helped him to be successful in

his first-year of college so far.

Other students also substantiated the claim that laptops can promote better

organization. For example, Participant 12 reported:

I used to carry a whole bunch of notebooks and papers that would be all over the

place. That could be kind of cluttered going through the halls and stuff like that. I

think that with the computer I kind of had everything right there. It’s basically a

big electronic folder. You can save all your work and all your notes and everything

right there, all your homework and stuff was online, which really helped a lot for

organization I guess.

Participant 9 said:

(The computer) taught me organization in a way. I used some of the tools I had on

my laptop a lot like the calendar and to do lists. I learned to count on my

computer to even tell me what events I had and all that stuff. So (the laptop)

helped me get organized when I had tests and stuff.

Participant 8 believed that organization depends more on the individual person

than the technology. He said:

I would say it just depends on the student. Some kids can be prepared and

organized without stuff, and some people need technology and all that stuff to

stay on track with their phone or computer. But the way that technology is going

everyone will probably use technology more than other ways to stay organized.
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College-ready students possess the skills and behaviors necessary to understand

what is expected of them and understand how they best learn. The first-year college

students interviewed in this study perceived that they had gained some of these skills. “I

feel (the laptop) has got me ready for college more than my classmates,” Participant 15

reported. He went on to say, “I feel (that having a laptop in high school) was a major

advantage. I can find better resources because I have experience with the computer. I am

also good at bookmarking good online sites and being able to keep them organized in

folders.” Participant 12 further talked about how the laptop helped him be more

organized and aware of what he published, saying:

It made me more conscious of what I am spelling incorrectly, or what I’m saying

or wanted to be said. (The laptop) helped me think about the fact that other people

are going to read this. I actually got a lot of attention from someone like you (the

researcher) or other teachers from their schools and (the 1:1 initiative) ended up

leading to people following me on Twitter, and so it did matter what I said. You

know I didn’t want to say something that was inappropriate or that looked stupid

or uneducated. It just helped me mature and grow as a person, I think, to have the

computers in high school.

Participant 7 concurred, stating:

I just think (the laptop) helped my organizational skills tremendously and gave me

some confidence. I didn’t really have much of a problem in high school talking

out but I know a lot of my friends who were quiet or shy. They were like the kids

who sat back in the class. I think it really kind of gives them an opportunity to

speak and then to get more confidence in himself and have their opinions heard.
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Another student mentioned getting so used to his computer that he actually wanted the

same model for college. Participant 6 said:

I would just feel more comfortable doing everything we did on the computers in

high school. We had Mac computers, and once I graduated that was the only thing

I wanted to buy was a Mac computer because I wanted to continue to use it and

was comfortable with it.

The student went on to say that he used the money he received for his high school

graduation to purchase the same Mac laptop computer for college. The participant

reported currently taking his laptop to classes for notes and continued to be comfortable

with the tools and resources he had grown accustomed to after years of use.

Besides organizational skills, participants also reported benefits to their self-

management skills, efficiency using computers, and overall confidence using computers.

Fourteen of the fifteen participants reported that having a laptop in high school enhanced

their self-management skills. All of the participants reported that they felt more efficient

using a computer overall because of their laptop experiences in high school. Every

participant also reported being more confident using computers because of the experience

and skills they learned by having a laptop during their high school years. “I thought it

was a great experience. Not a lot of high school kids can say that they had Mac laptops

for everyone and that they could take it home with them. At first people thought the

computer was a toy but we found out it was more than that,” said Participant 2.

Participant 12 echoed that statement:

Typing a paper in high school we used to have to go to the computer lab and the

teachers would have designated time for you to do a paper whereas when we had
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our laptop you could do it (papers) at home, you could do it in class, you could do

it in study hall, you could do it in free time at some class, or you could do it on the

way to a game or something. So, it helped a lot.

Not all of the first-year college students in this study agreed that their laptop in

high school helped their self-management skills in college. For instance, Participant 14

said, “I wouldn’t think so. I think that I would perform the same way either way because

I would try just the same if I had a laptop or not. I'm not going to put more effort toward

something because I had a laptop or not. So, I don’t think having the laptop in high

school was related to my quality of work.”

Participants’ responses illustrated that most of them felt that they believed they

did gain specific academic skills necessary to be successful students in higher education.

The skills that students gained from their 1:1 experiences in high school promoted their

readiness for college.

Critical thinking

Twelve of the fifteen participants believed that having a laptop in high school

helped them to think more critically. Specifically, students noted that instruction from

high school teachers in how to evaluate online information and websites was a direct skill

that had helped them in college. Participant 6 said, “The laptop helped to stimulate

critical thinking because you got different point of views in using online resources to

conduct research.” High school teachers often challenged students to compare resources

and make cases for why a publisher is credible. Multiple participants talked about high

school teachers not allowing the online encyclopedia Wikipedia to be used as a reference.
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Participant 6 reflected on two very different experiences with teachers in high school and

the use of the Wikipedia website:

I know of this one instance when a friend or mine used Wikipedia to copy and

paste the whole website to put it on a paper. He got like an A on the paper and in

the class. The teacher was an old time teacher who should have already retired.

He never used the computers for anything so he never had the knowledge of how

to really break that stuff down (plagiarism). But our Spanish teacher was very

strict on stuff like that. She would always try to watch us when we were trying to

type papers for Spanish because a lot of the times students would go to a free

translation website rather than getting into their book and trying to do it

themselves.

Participants 9 and 2 gave specific examples of teachers using class time to have

student’s research and report back about various topics they were able to research online.

Participant 9 mentioned a high school history lesson that she recalled in which a teacher

had students use different online sites for research and reporting. The teacher used the

lesson to demonstrate differences in historical perspectives as reported on the sites.

Participant 2 experienced and reported a similar high school lesson. Her teacher

facilitated a lesson in which students were asked to find three different reputable online

resources about diseases in science. The teacher used a compare-and-contrast activity to

instruct students how to evaluate the validity of materials they find online. Multiple

students reported that because they had a laptop in high school, they were “more aware”

of the online resources they used. However, Participant 12 did say, “I wish we learned

how to do searches for more credible resources and learned how to produce more formal
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writing in high school to be better prepared for college. We could have easily done this

on the laptops.”

First year college students appreciated the experiences and skills they seemed to

gain from taking online classes during high school. Many participants continue to take

online classes and feel they are better able to evaluate online resources because of their

1:1 experiences.

Getting more help

Participants often reported that, in general, they felt that they were able to get

more academic help in high school if they needed it because they had a laptop and

Internet access. Thirteen out of the fifteen respondents noted this in their interviews. The

biggest factor in getting academic help was the ability to email their teachers and get

prompt responses on homework assignments and projects. Participant 7 noted:

I would say instead of having to go to your teacher you could just email them and

get help that way. I mean there were even a couple of times when they (teachers)

would be gone but you could Skype them or email them to continue the class

work even if they weren’t there.

Students shared multiple stories about emailing teachers and having an answer to

their question within minutes. Participant 11 said:

I mean you know I had teachers in high school that you could count on to email

you back in the same night. I remember an assignment I was having trouble with

once and my teacher emailing me back and forth until 11:00 at night to help me

get the assignment done.

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Participant 12 also reported the ability to get answers back from teachers quickly

through email, saying:

Even late at night or on weekends teachers would get back to me. My high school

teachers were amazing. I remember studying for a math test and not being able to

figure out an equation. Within a couple of minutes of emailing my math teacher I

had an answer and kept studying. I think I passed that test.

Just because students have a school-issued laptop does not mean they have

Internet access at their homes. However, all of the participants interviewed for this study

did have Internet access at their homes. Participants generally believed that they were

also often able to find different online resources because they had Internet access and

their laptop. One student (Participant 9) talked about using her laptop at home to find

online resources if she needed academic help saying:

Well, there would be certain things like if I would be at home researching for a

research project I was limited to the books I had with me or at home. I would go

to the Internet. The Internet really helps with research and you can find almost

anything on the web.

Getting more help is important for students who run into challenges and questions

while learning new information. Participants in this study noted the ability to get more

help when academic challenges arose. Most of the help students reported getting was

through online resources and the ability to efficiently correspond with their teachers

through email.
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Responsibility

Some participants gave credit to their laptop for promoting responsibility. “You

had to take care of your laptop. Some teachers let it slip. It’s really just being responsible;

doing your work, being on time to class, doing homework, and studying when you need

to. Once you do those things the rest will take care of itself and you'll be ready,” said

Participant 4, noting how responsibility is part of being ready for college. Participant 11

stated, “I actually felt like students had to step up and be more mature when we got the

laptops. I mean some students still just messed around but those of us who took high

school serious didn’t want to damage our computer and really used it for school a lot.”

Participants’ responses to the interview questions showed that the majority of

them believed that access to their laptops and online classes while in high school helped

them be more college ready. Most of them also noted that laptop access facilitated their

critical thinking and help-seeking behaviors and some even felt that having a laptop in

high school facilitated their growth in taking personal responsibility.

Theme 3: Implementation Dip

A third theme that emerged from study participants’ responses pertained to

implementation. Specifically, participants discussed various barriers and challenges

related to their high schools’ implementation of a 1:1 initiative. These have been

collected under the broader idea of an ‘implementation dip.’

Evidence of post-startup implementation dips was reported by a majority of

participants, who highlighted instances such as poor uses of the new laptops, teachers

who lacked initial confidence and training, students who did not take physical care of the

laptop, students who abused Internet web access, and overall confusion about policies
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and procedures. For example, Participant 4 said this about the start of his high school’s

1:1 laptop initiative:

The first two weeks I got my laptop I hated it. I hated how we did no projects on

paper anymore; everything was on your laptop. We took notes on our computer,

and I was a paper person, I did everything on paper. And then my Spanish teacher

actually taught us to use the podcast feature on our Macs, and we did

presentations that way, and we got to record ourselves and put pictures in, and I

really enjoyed that.

Participant 12 noted:

I think some of the disadvantages were just because of the first-years of using the

laptop. I think we did a lot of things using trial and error. I think some of the

courses were a little bit harder to integrate the computers into, so I feel like some

of the courses were a little astray sometimes. Besides that there were little, if any,

disadvantages to having the laptop in high school.

Participant 13 concurred, stating:

Well, I think that basically the first-year we started using laptops, we were all just

getting the hang of it, getting the hang of that computers and stuff, so I feel like

we used it for a lot more presentations and we kind of ease into it. So, it seemed to

take awhile before we started to use the computer for other things like PowerPoint

and other things like that.

Students reported that these implementation dips were noticeable and detrimental

to their academic success at times, and often persisted throughout a semester or even an

entire year. Since many of the participants experienced the initial rollout of laptop
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computers in their high schools, they were able to compare the first year of

implementation with later years. For instance, Participant 14 said, “It seemed like it took

a semester to get over the distraction of the laptop and have teachers fully use it in

different and better ways. It seems like the program was getting better and better over

time.” Similarly, Participant 7 stated, “The teachers didn’t seem to be as effective using

the laptops the first year. Once schools learn how to use the laptops effectively the laptop

is a very good tool.” Students reported that both students and teachers seemed to have

real challenges to address once the laptops were first rolled out. Participant 4 offered

some advice for educators about these initial implementation challenges:

I feel if a school is going to have a 1:1 initiative they should know how to use

them. If the teachers don’t know how to use them it is an issue. Schools need to

slowly move students toward using the laptop too so it is not as big of change for

them. This would help.

In addition to those already participants raised described, other issues related to

implementation. The remainder of this section is discussed in six parts, relating to the

subthemes of a) distractions, b) access, c) software, d) content areas, e) goals, and f)

evaluation.

Distractions from the laptop

A number of respondents noted that sometimes having a laptop while in high

school distracted students. Examples included students working on personal projects

during class time, social networking during classes, playing games during school, and

looking up inappropriate pictures or content during school. Students exposed to a 1:1

laptop initiative normally are able to take their laptops home with them at night. All of
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the students interviewed in this study were able to take their laptop home and used the

laptop for both personal and school purposes. Participant 1 said, “There were some

distractions with games and videos, but overall I used it for mostly school stuff.”

Participant 3 said, “People just wouldn't pay attention in class or were doing something

else. Participant 7 noted, “There were some distractions like games and stuff that

distracted me, but I always got my homework done.” Participant 2 said:

I think part of it (1:1 laptop initiative) made a lot of kids lazy. I mean just having

the laptop made people distracted, so yeah…they get their work done, but they

might not pay attention to the teacher because they would be on their laptop or

something else during class.

Participant 6 stated:

I definitely got distracted when I had my laptop. I was definitely on other

websites that I should not be on like Facebook and Twitter and emailing. And I

feel like if I didn’t have my laptop I couldn’t do that because our teachers know

when you have your phone out. I feel like I wouldn't be as distracted if I didn’t

have my laptop in front of me with Internet access. I would probably pay attention

more.

Participant 8 commented:

I do not personally believe it (laptop) did (cause distractions), but I do have

friends or know people that let their grades slipped because they couldn't focus or

played games or watch movies. I pretty much became addicted to playing games

on it, and kind of that great stuff, but other than that it didn’t affect me negatively

in any way.”
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Participant 11 echoed these statements by saying:

Definitely distractions went on. Like, you could always go on Facebook and

people would try to figure out the password for playing games. One of my own

issues was that I always wanted to play games instead of pay attention in class or

study halls. You could also chat with people that were in your class, or outside of

class, which was also a very big distraction for me.

Similarly, Participant 14 said:

I think about two kids every class would get disconnected with the class. It might

be the kids that already know and they are just bored. And I think some other kids

that just didn’t care.

Many of the study participants also mentioned the important role of the teacher.

For instance, Participant 5 said, “Teachers that actually cared what students were doing

on the laptops during class found a way to monitor students or asked students to keep

their laptop lids closed.” One comment from Participant 12 hinted at how teachers better

effectively integrated the laptops for students as they learned about technology tools and

resources:

Well, I think that basically the first-year we started using the laptops everyone

was just getting the hang of it. Teachers and students were just getting the hang of

the computers and how to use them. So, I feel we used them for notes and

presentations more than anything to ease into it. A lot of times we used them for

schoolwork, and then some of the teachers would start to use it for tests and other

things like that. For my personal I used to check my email and I guess I watch

movies. Almost all of my college classes utilize computers. For almost all of my
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classes I have to go online to find out grades and for assignments and discussions

that I post online.

Participant 12 went on to say:

But when I was in senior, they were getting the hang of it. My brother is a

sophomore and is doing a lot more online now. Some of my teachers I still talk to

tell me they are now collaborating with other schools. I know Twitter is a big deal

now too. It was a big deal when I was a senior so it just sounds like the program is

getting better and better.

Other respondents also were quick to talk about the benefits for students in

learning how to manage their laptop related to distractions. For example, Participant 3

said, “I feel like, I might have spent a lot more time with Facebook and stuff like games

that may be on my computer because I didn’t know, I wasn't ever exposed to that in the

high school, but I also feel like I spent a lot more time just trying to figure out my

computer.” Participant 5 also gave credit to the laptop initiative for helping him to be

more focused in college saying, “I think the advantages were that the laptop helped us get

started for college, and how we would be using them in college. I think the disadvantage

was there were websites and games that we used to play during class sometimes and that

was a distraction.” Many of these same participants also believed that being able to

“play” and utilize a laptop during high school for personal and social entertainment has

lead to a more productive first-year of college. For instance, Participant 10 said, “I feel

like many college students who get a laptop for the first-year also are distracted by

having a computer. I feel like since I had a laptop in high school I am able to better focus

and be more productive now.”

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Students also gave credit to their teachers and schools for minimizing distractions

as they learned about websites and technology integration strategies. Participant 6 was

one of these students, saying, “It’s not about the technology but about how the teachers

use the technology.” He went on to say:

One disadvantage was sometimes you get off track and maybe play games, but

later on our school adopted a firewall thing or something, and it blocked most of

those websites. So, they (laptops) became more just for learning and students

could not play games as much and mess around. You know like Facebook…they

blocked that. They had a system where they could monitor what students are

doing and could see the screen of the computer. They could stop it, and blink your

screen, and when teachers even have a free period or time on their own in their

classroom, they could look at student’s computers in other classrooms. So, if they

saw somebody on the game in say like a math class, and they knew they shouldn’t

be doing that; they (the teachers) could block them and tell the other teacher.

Yeah it helped a lot.

Participant 10 agreed:

A lot of people thought it (laptops) just for games and iChat, and it was a little bit

of a distraction. It took us like a semester to kind of get over that stage of thinking

that it was just a toy. I know my senior year people were a lot more mature about

it and we started using them (laptops) a lot more for different and better ways. I

think even from the teacher's perspective my teachers didn’t really know how to

use them at first to make it help us learn better.

Participant 11 also concurred:

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With the laptop there are so many things that can distract you. You learn it, and it

takes time to kind of be able to regulate yourself. It does take time to realize that

you are on like YouTube too much and then to be able to say okay close that. It

takes time to kind of realize that for yourself and be able to be like no, I need to

pay attention or get my work done. Starting earlier with the computer, as we've

been able to do, you kind of learn how to regulate yourself.

The participants clearly recalled experiences and situations in which the laptop or

online sites or games that the laptop offered distracted them, and/or their peers.

Participants were also quick to note how teachers and school leaders handled the

presented distractions. Some participants went on to offer ideas and suggestions to

teachers and school leaders about how to minimize the distractions that the laptops

presented.

Access

The one student in this study who did not believe she was more college ready

because of having a laptop in high school thought that she would have had a laptop at

home anyway. This student, Participant 5, elaborated on her thoughts by talking about the

positive aspects of having access to a computer such as being able to type faster,

complete schoolwork, and learn software applications. She stated that her home computer

had much of the same software that her school laptop had. She believed that, whether or

not she had a school-issued laptop, she would have had improved technology skills. The

participant did not discuss in detail how high school teachers’ instruction might have

been different if all students did not have access to a computer, but she did state that it

probably would have been different without a 1:1 initiative.

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Even though it’s 2012, it can’t be assumed that every student has access to both a

computer and the Internet. There is no doubt that the Internet access that students have is

diverse and unique to each student and school. Access to software, Internet connectivity,

instruction, and resources seem to be unique to every school and every 1:1 initiative.

Participants commented on varying levels of technology access. For instance, Participant

2 talked about using the laptop more in some classes than others, saying, “I used my

laptop all the time for English papers and presentations in classes but I never remember

using it for math. In college now I use it for a lot of the same stuff, like writing and

stuff.” Participant 7 noted that, “My high school laptop had software on it because I was

in a journalism class and need it for the newspaper and yearbook. I got to use that

program to create a video for the basketball program once. Some kids never got to use

that program but it was neat. I can’t remember the name of it.”

A couple of other participants discussed their access to online textbooks rather

than print textbooks for classes. Participant 14 said:

We used the laptop like a resource rather than basing all of our classes and stuff

on using them. I think the teachers tried to use them as a good resource because

you basically have the Internet and all that information basically at your

fingertips. I feel like we could get a lot more information and then get a lot more

done in our class periods than just having textbooks themselves.

Participant 12 appreciated the online textbook option he had but was cautious

about how effective it was for all students, saying:

It really, really depends on the person and how they use it. Some people yes, some

people no, some people get distracted. They are trying to study online because
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when you have all these study tools that you have you also have many

opportunities to be distracted, but for some people that not really helpful, and for

some people it's impossible. For like for me personally I get distracted very easily,

so I know that studying on the computer is not the best for everyone.

Participant 13 reflected on not having textbooks in high school. Her high school

discontinued the use of textbooks as a cost-saving measure once it adopted its 1:1 laptop

initiative. She said:

Probably, the communication with our teachers outside of class was the most

helpful. You could just email them (teachers), instead of going to their classroom

all the time. We just emailed them, and they hopefully messaged you right back,

and we were actually saving a lot of paper.

However, Participant 13 also felt as though not having a textbook to read from in

high school was a disadvantage when it came to college readiness, reporting:

I just feel that not having a textbook in high school didn't help me get ready for

college because in college now they expect you to read two chapters a night in

your book. In high school we didn’t have textbooks to read out of. And in

colleges if you don’t read your textbook, you don’t get the information that you

need.

The access that students had related to software, Internet connectivity, instruction,

and resources seemed to be unique to each school and 1:1 initiative. The experiences and

feedback from the participants in this study provide evidence of the diverse technology

access students that may experience both in high school and college.
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Software

Respondents reported using a variety of different software programs with their

laptops. Participants were asked to compare the software they used in high school to the

software they are asked to use in college. Participant 5 said, “We used Excel a lot in

college, and I never did in high school. No, I never used that in high school at all.”

Participant 7 found fewer differences, stating that, “We had pretty good software in high

school and I want to say we use basically the same kinds in college. I think we have

Windows 7 in college, and I think we had just the version before that at high school.”

Participant 14 agreed, noting, “All my life I’ve used (Microsoft Word) documents. I don’t

think there is a big difference between high school and college with software. I'm feel

pretty up-to-date with technology so I mean I could see where it could be a problem but it

wasn't for me.”

In contrast, Participant 9 articulated differences she had experienced with

software going from high school to a two-year community college:

The major difference I have is the email base where my high school was a Gmail

based email server and now I have Microsoft Outlook. I think it’s terrible. But the

basic programs like Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are all definitely the

same. One major difference though is that the college uses a blackboard system

where you have an online section of your course and where you go to get drop

boxes and readings for courses, have calendars, and class schedules. We used

Moodle in high school for classes and assignments. My chemistry teacher had us

use the system similar to how we use the college system, which helped a lot.
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Knowing how to use a system for courses in high school is definitely one of the

main benefits coming to college.

Software was a subtheme in the research findings under the Implementation Dip

theme. In this study, participants reported using both similar and differing software

applications from high school to college.

Content areas

Study participants were clear that some high school teachers took advantage of

students’ possession of laptops better than others. Participant 14 reported using his laptop

in high school math class only once in two years: “I think the only time I used my laptop

in a math class was to do a PowerPoint, and I’m not sure what the PowerPoint was even

about.” Other students mentioned that laptops were routinely used in classes such as

English, journalism, world languages, social studies, and science.

Multiple participants talked about particular teachers utilizing students’ laptops

more than others. The librarian at one school taught students various lessons about social

networking, social etiquette, and personal learning networks. This educator’s lessons left

a lasting impression on students. As Participant 11 said,

I would say definitely things like social etiquette and learning how to write a

professional email or deal with businessmen through email was helpful. I

remember learning things like privacy issues and contract stuff. Learning how to

write those formal emails is definitely one of the biggest things because I have to

write emails daily to professors and knowing how to phrase those emails is

basically extremely helpful.

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A Spanish teacher at another school often had her students use the Skype

videoconferencing service to communicate with students at another 1:1 laptop high

school. Some of the participants in this teacher’s class recalled the experience of learning

how to use Skype and collaborate with another student to learn a new language.

Participant 12 elaborated on what they learned in this class, saying,

It made me more conscious of am I spelling incorrectly, or am I saying this the

way I wanted it to be said, and it did help me think about that, and I was thinking

well, other people are going to read this, and I actually got a lot of attention from I

mean someone like you or like other teachers from their schools, and it ended up

being people followed me on Twitter, and it so it did matter what I said, and you

know I didn’t wanted to say something that was inappropriate or that looked

stupid or uneducated, so it just helped me mature and grow as a person I think to

have these computers.

Participants clearly recalled some teachers in content areas who utilized the laptop

more than other teachers in other content subject areas. The varying degree of technology

integration in different content areas was part of the supporting evidence of an

implementation dip students experienced with the 1:1 laptop initiative.

Goals of the initiative

One of the main reasons that students may have experienced implementation dips

as part of their high schools’ 1:1 initiatives was because the goals of those initiatives

often were not clear to students and/or teachers. Participants were asked to identify

during interviews why they believed their high school adopted a 1:1 laptop initiative. The

responses were both creative and diverse. As recorded in the researcher’s field notes, not
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a single respondent could address the reason that his or her high school adopted the

initiative with any certainty. Answers from participants to this question varied quite a bit.

For instance, Participant 2 stated,

I mean technology is becoming so prevalent and so is how you use it in the

workplace. Its just the cost was finally low enough, that they (school leaders)

were finally able to do it (adopt a 1:1 initiative in high school). I mean we still had

computer labs, but not everyone could always get into the labs when they wanted

to.

Similarly, Participant 7 said:

I think the goal was to get the students more aware of the new technologies that

are coming out and the features on the laptops. They (laptops) had their

advantages in teaching, and for the kids, but I really think it really helped us

moving to the next level for most of us.

Participant 6 stressed students’ technology fluency in his answer:

I think the reason that the high school decided to get all students laptops was to

try to make us more tech savvy. Everything uses a computer these days. Our

principal was supportive of technology and brought the laptops to the high school.

He thought it would really help us.

Participant 13 thought it had more to do with information access:

I think it was just getting information we needed really quick. If you didn't

understand something you could get it on the Internet, or if you had a paper to

type and you had your own computer you wouldn’t have to go to the computer

lab. Just stuff like that made things more accessible and what not.
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Participant 14 wasn’t sure:

I mean it wasn’t necessarily like an initiative. It was more of the school

philosophy given that my year was actually the first graduating class of the school

that had a 1:1. So, the whole purpose of it (laptop initiative) I guess was to make

sure the students had other resources that we got good at. Every resource was

available to us in order to do research and for other school stuff. I guess the

purpose was maybe to promote digital literacy.

Some students had no idea and/or answer regarding why their high school adopted

a 1:1 laptop initiative. Participant 9 believed that there were financial incentives at her

high school, saying, “I think we got a grant and that's how we got them. I don’t really

know.” Follow-up with this interviewee’s high school principal was done after she

mentioned that her high school received a grant because the researcher was interested in

what grant the school received. The current high school principal stated that no grant was

ever received and that the primary reasons for the laptop initiative were to reduce paper

costs, better engage students, and better prepare students for colleges and careers after

high school.

A couple of students believed that their high school adopted a 1:1 laptop initiative

simply to be one of the first high schools to do it in their local area. Participant 13 said:

I think because the world is now technology. It's like if you don’t have a cell

phone, if you don’t have a computer, then you’re just kind of out of the loop. And

I think that our school wanted to be one of the first to get it (1:1 laptop initiative)

going. There were always people coming in to our classroom and like watching
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us, and asking us questions after we had it. I just feel like our school wanted to be

the first to see if it would work.

Similarly, Participant 3, who attended a different high school, reported:

I think our school went to laptops to try to save money somehow but I also think

they wanted to be the first school around to give every single student a computer.

It was pretty cool because I didn’t know of any other students around who had

laptops in school. But, I guess I don’t really know exactly why my high school

got laptops the year we got them.

Based on the student’s feedback throughout the interviews, participants were not

clear on exactly why their high school adopted the 1:1 laptop initiative. Furthermore,

participants were not able to articulate any clear goals that their high school established

when adopting the initiative.

Evaluating the initiative

A contributing cause to whatever implementation dips were experienced may

have related to (non)evaluation of the 1:1 programs. Participants were asked if they knew

how the 1:1 laptop programs that they experienced in high school were evaluated for

effectiveness. The responses to this question were less confident and more diverse than

those given regarding why their high school adopted a 1:1 initiative. For instance,

Participant 12 elaborated on his thoughts about how he believed a 1:1 program was

evaluated by saying:

Our school has always had good standardized testing scores. I think the evaluation

of the initiative in the first two years was a drop in our standardized testing. The

first-year we had it (laptop initiative) especially was just trial and error and trying
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to get things right. The head of academics, or whatever she is, came into

classrooms, and I think a lot of time she would try to find out how effectively the

computers were being used. I mean I think they were still determining the way to

kind of evaluate us I guess.

Participant 4 simply said, “I think it was pretty effective. I'm not sure if we had an official

evaluation, but in my opinion it is really effective.” Participant 10 had no idea: “I don’t

know how the high school evaluated the 1:1 laptop initiative. Participant 14 didn’t either:

I can't say that I know. I really don’t know how they would gauge whether it's

worth it or not. I think it was personally, but there was no way to tell if we were

performing better or not because of the computers.

Distractions facilitated by laptop access, inequitable access, varied software, and

differential teacher usage all were barriers identified by respondents regarding effective

laptop initiative implementation. Additionally, unclear or poorly-communicated goals

and evaluation measures of the 1:1 initiatives that the students experienced were possible

reasons for the noticeable implementation dips. Despite these factors, students still

overwhelming reported being appreciative of and benefiting from their 1:1 laptop

experiences.

Theme 4: Technology for Instruction

In this final section, participants’ responses regarding instructors’ technology

integration awareness and integration are discussed. This section is broken into three

parts: a) high school teachers' use of technology, b) professors’ use of technology, and c)

professors’ awareness of technological resources.

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High school teachers’ use of technology

The overall perceptions of the first-year college students interviewed for this

study were very positive regarding their high school 1:1 experiences. Students often

credited their high school teachers for making their 1:1 laptop initiative a positive and

meaningful one. Some students actually mentioned that they were appreciative that they

had a high school experience that included usage of a personal laptop computer that they

could take home. Participant 11 was one of these students, saying, “I’m grateful that I

went to a high school that had the vision and financial ability to provide all the students

laptops. When I was in high school I didn’t realize how fortunate I was.” Fourteen out of

fifteen participants reported that they believed they were more college-ready because of

their experience in a 1:1 laptop initiative in high school.

General perceptions of high school teachers’ use of technology for instructional

purposes were often quite complimentary. Most participants believed that high school

teachers worked hard to identify effective ways to integrate technology into instruction,

even though many times teachers’ learning curves occurred over the course of a semester

or even years after initial implementation of a 1:1 initiative. Participant 14 described his

high school teachers as “fast learners with technology.” Participant 15 described his high

school teachers as “learning on the run.” In general - and as discussed further below -

participants believed that their high school teachers understood and utilized technology

more effectively than their current college professors. Participant 14’s statements were

indicative of this belief: “High school teachers seem to be better trained to use technology

than my current college professors who don’t ask students to use technology very often.”
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Participant 1 affirmed the common belief that high school teachers’ adoption of

certain practices facilitated college readiness:

In high school teachers often made us turn in assignments online. This is similar

to what my professors ask me to do now. I think having to do that in high school

was good because it made it easier in college. It (papers) has to be in a certain

format to be uploaded but it isn’t hard to do. Not all my high school teachers used

this system but it helped me now that I think back about it.

Participant 3 focused on the use of productivity software:

A lot of what we used the laptop for was typing assignments. I remember in my

senior year we didn’t hardly ever hand write an assignment anymore. We would

type and print almost everything. I mean that really speeds things up. Emailing

was a big thing too. Email was a constant use too, as well as doing PowerPoints. I

mean honestly we could create assignments, PowerPoints, movies, and stuff like

that on our laptops. We did these things pretty often.

So did Participant 5:

It just depends on the class I guess. My first-year we used them (laptops) just for

taking notes because they (teachers) didn't like us on them, as if we were going to

play games or anything like that, but my composition classes we used them all the

time to research and write papers.

Participant 12 was complimentary of how he learned to create online projects in high

school, saying:

We didn’t do many projects online. We did a video project it seemed like every

couple of months in my high school classes or at least in Spanish for sure. My

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creative writing class, we actually incorporated videos, and sort of as we didn’t

write as much we did a video podcast. In high school we did a lot more different

things. The first video project I had to do this year in college I'm just starting now

in my French class (second semester).

Multiple participants made mention of younger teachers utilizing technology more than

other teachers. Participant 12 said, “It seems like the younger teachers are the ones who

understand the technology better in high school and college.”

For instance Participant 6 talked about a younger Spanish teacher, saying:

She was very active in using the laptop. We would take quizzes, and there were

clickers that with you could like click A, B, C or D for the answer. It's supposed

to be more interactive learning and a little bit more fun, so it was nice she did that.

Participant 7 echoed this belief:

For school, I mainly used (the laptop) for just one class because there was a young

teacher and she was more into the technology. She was more willing to use it and

what not. I used my laptop for a lot of personal things and for schoolwork outside

of classes.

Participants interviewed were very willing to share ideas and thoughts about how

their school and teachers could have made their 1:1 laptop experience even better. Some

students also gave advice about how their high school 1:1 initiatives could have prepared

them better for college. Participant 13 said flatly, “(The teachers) need more education on

how to teach using technology.” The researcher’s field notes indicated that this student

felt that teachers were forced to utilize technology that they were not ready to integrate.
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Participant 14 also mentioned that sometimes it seemed that teachers were forced to use

technology:

We went from textbooks and books that mean a lot to just the computer. I think

that progressed every year. (The 1:1 laptop initiative) started off slow but every

year the teachers would learn new things that we could do with the computers. I

think teachers were like forced to use the computers. I mean a lot of things were

used, and some things we never got to but teachers seemed to feel like they had to

make us do some things just to do them.

Participant 2 talked about how his high school teachers utilized the laptop computers for

homework. She provided feedback as to how his high school teachers could have even

used the computers even more to make homework meaningful. She said:

My first semester you would read something out of the book and write a couple of

paragraphs for homework. With some assignments, the teacher would have a

couple of people post their work, so I guess that was a little bit of the theme that I

feel like I took away from high school classes. The high school teachers could use

different variations of assignments and projects more often that would have

helped me more for college. I mean with the laptops teachers can have students

post assignments more often, work with others online, submit homework to

teachers electronically, or even complete online presentations.

Participant 12 gave the following advice:

I just wish I wrote a little bit more in high school. Comparing how to learn how

to write and being able to find more credible information through database

searches is a big part of the writing process that I could have had more practice
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with. I wish we did more of that, that's cool though, but that's one thing I wish I

had more of in high school. I just wished we had done a little bit more writing and

maybe not so much of the casual writing. I wish we did that a little bit more, and

we could have done that on the laptop, and I feel like we just didn’t and we didn’t

use database searches as much as we should have.

The overall feedback and experiences participants shared about their high school

teachers’ use of technology for instruction was positive. Participants noted that their high

school teachers worked hard and quickly learned ways to utilize technology for

instructional purposes. Some participants recalled that some of their younger teachers

seemed to utilize the laptops more often for instructional purposes.

Professors’ use of technology

As seen below, most of the interviewees did not believe that their college

professors fully utilized technology for instruction or learning. Interestingly, at least one

participant noted that not every college student wants his or her college professors to

fully utilize technology. To illustrate this point, Participant 6 said:

Some college students like when teachers use technology and others don’t. When

I had one class where the teacher used YouTube videos there was a couple of kids

in there that always complained. They just wanted the teacher to sit there and talk,

you know an old fashioned based classroom. But a lot of us kind of liked the little

difference in seeing videos and being able to discuss the videos. One time some

students got up and walked out of the class because they were mad about it. So, I

think it just depends on how you feel about things.

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However, it was much more common for participants to make comments like

“some professors do not allow any technology in the classroom” (Participant 7) and

“there is a wide difference between professors in the use of technology” (Participant 15).

Participants that did report experiences with their professors’ utilization of technology

gave examples of academics using technology to deliver instruction via PowerPoint

presentation software, post assignments to a course management system, or posting

lectures for students to download and re-watch or listen to outside of class. Participants

12 and 15 reported taking their laptop computer to class daily to take notes but said that

this was not something that all professors allowed. Similarly, Participant 7 said, “About

half of my professors allow students to bring laptops to class and half of my professors

don’t.”

Other comments from students served as insights into first-year college students’

perceptions of their professors’ use of technology. For example, Participant 12 said:

I think professors like incorporating computers when they can. But I think in

college you read so much it would be hard to read everything we are supposed to

online. In one of my classes all of the text is online and I know students don’t like

that unless they can get out a Kindle or something. We like the hard copy still

where we can highlight.

Participant 10 noted that college students have more autonomy than perhaps students in a

high school 1:1 initiative do:

In college it’s more of your choice if you want to use a computer and how much

you wanted to involve it. In high school we definitely were forced to use it a lot
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more. In college it seems more of a choice like if you want to write all of your

assignments or if you want to get help from the librarian and stuff like that.

Participant 5 found professors’ use of technology to be fairly traditional:

Well, when I was coming (to college), I honestly had absolutely no idea how

professors would use technology. I had the first big assignment in which my

professors made me use technology during my first semester. We had to create a

video for class. I did videos in high school, which was really beneficial, but other

than writing papers and doing research I have no idea what college professors use

it for.

Participant 11 was complimentary of professors’ use of technology at her four-year

university, saying:

My teachers are very technological people. We have the blackboard system that

we use, and as our assignments get turned in, our grades are posted and

announcements are posted too. And we do take a lot of quizzes, like in class

quizzes on the Internet. A lot our teachers have PowerPoints up that we just take

notes from.

Participant 12 noted differences in technology awareness by his professors in different

content areas:

I feel like my high school teachers knew the technology better than my college

professors. There is problems when they (college professors) don’t, they are not

as efficient and just don’t know as much about things like Twitter. I'm in

communications classes mostly in college so they are pretty good about it (using

technology), but my business teachers are not as up-to-date with the new
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technology and all the different online sites available. My high school teachers

seemed to know more about how to teach children with technology and stuff like

that.

Participant 8 commented on the vast differences of how professors use technology for

instruction in comparison to his expectations for students to use technology outside of

class. He stated:

The professors don't really use the technology during class but outside of class as

when we are expected to use it. I have many classes where we can't even bring

our laptop in the class so it forces us to focus. But, they (professors) expect you to

be able to use it to reach the class website outside of class for sure.

The use of technology for instruction by college professors’ is unique from

professor to professor. Participants reported that some professors do not allow laptops in

their classes while others welcome them. Participants also reported, overall, that whether

or not they are allowed to bring a laptop to class, most professors expect students to use

computers outside of class to write papers, access course management systems, email

instructors, and research course topics.

Professors’ awareness of technological resources

Expectations for technology use by college professors were understandably high

for students who had experienced a high school 1:1 laptop initiative and teachers who

were trained and expected to integrate technology on a routine basis. However, students

did not believe that college professors were aware of many of the technological resources

available to them and their students. A professor who fully utilizes technology to deliver

instruction, post and submit assignments, share online resources with students, and/or
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allow students to create projects or presentations was never described by participants.

The overall feedback from students was that most professors might not even know what

resources are available for them to better deliver instruction or to allow students to create

products that conveyed their learning in different ways. Students’ examples of professors’

use of technology for instruction often centered on the use of PowerPoint and the posting

of lectures to online sites.

Participant 8 reported that not all professors are willing to allow students to use

technology, saying, “I have many classes where we can't even bring our laptop in the

class so it forces us to focus. But, they (professors) expect you to be able to use it to reach

the class website outside of class for sure.” Participant 12 said that he thought he “knew

more about technology than college professors would ever even want to know.” Because

this student had two years of experience with a laptop computer during high school, he

made the claim that he was “more technology experienced than any of his college

professors.” Participant 9 reported, “College professors are more picky about the

websites students use because they want students to distinguish between good and poor

professional articles.”

Participant 6 noted that professors’ knowledge varied by course:

I would say it depends on the class here. You have your more lecture-based

classes being social studies major and most of the professors don’t like to use any

media. But going to other classes this past semester I had a teacher who used a

YouTube clip everyday to show us multiple perspectives of a topic. And then

others, besides like my history classes, every teacher incorporates a PowerPoint

for learning.
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Participant 7 stated that differences in technology knowledge between students and

professors were generational:

I think most professors aren't as good with technology as all students are because

we are still used to it. This isn’t their fault because we kind of grow up with it so

we know how to use things fairly intuitively whereas a lot of professors are

slightly older, and they didn’t. They are getting used to use it (technology) so it's

like my professors don’t know all that is out there.

Participant 8 wished his professors used technology more:

Some issues are too complicated to send out an email with assignments. I think

some kids would probably prefer their professors use more technology. Yet some

classes use technology more than others. It seems a lot of college classes use

PowerPoints and the professor just tries to get through it before the class ends.

Participant 14 saw fewer differences between high school and college:

Let's say that (laptop use) was pretty similar for turning in assignments. They

(high school teachers) are pretty similar to what we experience in college. I mean

in college, they normally ask us to go to community websites, and when we do, I

would say they are pretty similar too the ones we would actually go to in high

school.

Although responses of participants varied somewhat, overall the group believed

that high school teachers who were part of a 1:1 program better used technology for

instruction than their current college professors.

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Additional Findings

In Chapter 1, the author of this dissertation shared his mental model of how he

believed that high school students were more college ready and what skills and traits

possibly made them more ready for college. After the study concluded, the researcher

reviewed and updated his mental model graphic (Figure 8). The following paragraphs

explain the model in relation to the findings of this research study.

In Figure 8, the laptop computer screen lists some of the specific activities and

experiences that participants reported engaging in on a routine basis during their high

school 1:1 laptop experiences. These academic activities included creating presentations,

taking online classes, keyboarding, social networking, identifying online resources,

getting academic help, using email, and understanding the college culture.

These skills and practices are filtered through college readiness themes. Those

five themes are listed inside the arrow in Figure 8. In Chapter 2, five themes were

identified around college readiness research. These themes included self-advocacy, self-

management, content knowledge, knowledge about postsecondary education, cognitive

strategies.

Based on the feedback and described experiences of participants in this study,

their exposure to 1:1 laptop programs in high school promoted these college readiness

areas. During each interview participants were asked, “Some claim that students who are

exposed to a 1:1 laptop initiative in high school are more college ready because they are

more organized, efficient, confident, connected, and can produce higher quality school

work. Do you agree or disagree? Why?” Participants overwhelming agreed with this

general idea, citing their confidence in being college ready because they had a laptop
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during their high school years of education. The star graphic represents the manifestation

of skills that college students report now possessing because of their 1:1 experiences. The

star highlights many of the significant comments and skills that were routinely mentioned

by participants. These comments included self-advocacy skills, being more aware of

online resources, producing high quality work, note-taking skills, being more socially

connected, social etiquette, possessing more confidence with a computer, being more

organized, ability to produce higher quality school work, self-management skills, better

understanding of the postsecondary school culture, content knowledge, cognitive skills,

and better keyboarding skills. The term “productive citizen” inside the head of the star is

listed as the desired state of college graduates who have the skills, training, and

experiences (high school and postsecondary) to be productive in the real world.

Defining college readiness. Participants in this study were asked to define what

college readiness meant to them. It was no surprise that each participant provided a

unique definition. Examples of definitions included “Being college ready means you have
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the basic knowledge and communications skills to learn in college” (Participant 4) to

“Being college ready means having the motivation and ability to learn” (Participant 8).

Another reported college readiness as “being prepared to be on your own for school and

focus to get things done without relying on others” (Participant 7). Participant 9

proclaimed that “being college ready means that a student is able to effectively study and

prepare for tests.” Participant 14’s definition of college readiness focused on learning:

“College ready…I think that means the basic knowledge and communication skills to

learn. I mean it’s not just what you know but it’s also how you learn.”

There also were some distinct similarities in responses to how the first-year

college students defined college readiness. The majority of college readiness definitions

had components of being prepared to handle college level work and a high-level ability to

learn. Participants’ definitions of college readiness almost all focused on academic

elements such as student motivation, focus, communication skills, or time management

skills rather than adaptation to the college lifestyle or living on one’s own.

No regrets regarding their 1:1 experience. Despite being subjected to some

trials and tribulations as part of their secondary-level 1:1 experience, not one first-year

college student interviewed in this study regretted having a laptop in high school. Rather,

some students actually said that they wished they had their high school computer back

because they were so comfortable with it. Although students were cautious regarding

some of the ways that having a laptop can distract students, all participants said that they

would prefer that their own children someday be in a 1:1 laptop high school rather than a

school without laptops. For instance, Participant 8 said:

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I would definitely send them to a 1:1. I think it’s taught me so much about

different ways of learning. I feel like I'm ahead of my other classmates and I will

be definitely more prepared when it comes to working in the workforce when I

graduate. I would definitely send them (future children) to a1:1 school if I had the

choice.

Similarly, Participant 12 reported:

I guess it just depends on the grade level. Really you have to learn the basics. In

the elementary I wouldn't want my child to have a laptop yet, but junior high

definitely because they need to start learning how to be responsible online and

how to learn in different ways. But learning is the key and I think every school

will be a 1:1 school in 10 years down the road.

Participant 15 concurred:

I feel that's what America is, a place where we use technology everyday all the

time. I feel that if my kids grow up with it then they are going to understand it

better. For elementary school I will send them to the non-laptop school because I

think being so young they need to not be looking on the screen all the time. The

middle school I will probably say the same. For high school I would probably

send them to one with laptops.

These students’ voices appear to support the decisions of leaders and

organizations to empower students by putting laptop computers into their hands and by

training teachers to fully utilize the capabilities that laptops facilitate. Only one

participant reported that she would send her child someday to a traditional school without

laptops. Participant 5 supported her decision by saying:

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I'm choosing traditional school because I don’t know the social aspect of it (the

laptop) really. I really think some of the things would be better written down like

accounting, math, and so on. I hated those online, and I think it's better on paper.

This research study provided insight into first-year college students’ perceptions

of their college readiness and their high school teachers’ and professors’ use of

technology. Many high school 1:1 laptop initiatives boast that they will promote college

readiness. Participants in this study seemed to agree with this belief.

Summary

This chapter presented the results from interviews of 15 current college students

who participated in a high school 1:1 laptop initiative for at least two years. Findings

were presented in four sections that corresponded with the primary themes that emerged

from the results. Categories within each theme helped to support and provide insight into

the themes.

First-year college students that were exposed to a 1:1 laptop initiative in high

school are the only people that can truly evaluate the impacts of a 1:1 initiative on their

own college readiness. Participants in this study clearly believed that the formal online

classes and other laptop-facilitated learning experiences that they had in high school

improved their readiness for postsecondary education. Feedback from participants also

supported the notion that their academic skills improved because of their laptop

experiences. These improved academic skills included the ability to network and

collaborate with others online, identify online resources, improve keyboarding skills,

obtain more effective note-taking skills, improve presentation skills, and become better

organized. The high school laptop initiatives described by participants, despite some
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variations in how well they were implemented, appear to have promoted and facilitated

respondents’ college readiness.

This chapter also presented findings that students who are part of a secondary-

level 1:1 initiative often experience an instructional implementation dip, particularly

during the initial rollout period. Challenges identified by participants included the

potential distractibility of laptops, inequitable access for students, different software

access, and varying use of laptops across courses, instructors, and content areas. Unclear

or poorly-communicated goals and evaluation measures were presented as possible

contributors to observed implementation dips.

Finally, participants in the study also addressed the use of technology by their

high school teachers and college professors when it came to instruction. Students

reported that even though high school teachers often had a learning curve themselves

when it came to utilizing technology and online resources, they generally tended to

develop and utilize effective technology strategies for instruction. Students also typically

reported that college professors’ use of technology and their awareness of resources was

underdeveloped compared to their high school instructors. Many professors did not use

technology at all to deliver instruction. Overall, participants believed that high school

teachers who were part of a 1:1 program better used technology for instruction than

current professors.

Chapter 5 presents a discussion of the results and gives recommendations for

future research. Implications for stakeholder groups, including students, parents, teachers,

and school leaders, also are presented. The chapter concludes with recommendations for

school 1:1 initiatives and the educators who implement them.

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CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS

Chapter 4 provided the results of this study. This chapter includes a discussion of

the results and implications for various stakeholder groups. The chapter concludes with

recommendations for future research in the areas of college readiness and 1:1 laptop

initiatives.

Discussion of Results

In Chapter 2 of this research study, five themes were presented around college

readiness. The next section of this chapter describes participants’ feedback related to each

of the college readiness themes delineated in Chapter 2. The college readiness themes

gleaned from the literature included cognitive strategies, self-management, content

knowledge, knowledge about postsecondary education, and self-advocacy skills.

Cognitive Strategies

Conley (2008) defined a college ready student as one who is able to understand

what is expected in a college course, cope with the content knowledge that is presented,

and take away from the course the key intellectual lessons and dispositions the course

was designed to convey and develop. Feedback from participants in this study showed

that they perceived that having a laptop computer while in high school helps students

develop the cognitive strategies necessary for college success.

Participants in the study recalled unique experiences while taking online classes,

specific lessons that promoted critical thinking, and developing skills to analyze online

resources - all skills that they specifically gained because of ubiquitous exposure to a

laptop computer. For example, Participant 8 talked about being prepared to handle

college-level content because of his experiences taking online classes in high school. He
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said, “I feel like I was more prepared than my peers for college because of having a

computer. The online classes I took in high school were hard but good for me.” Students

who take online classes must be self-motivated to understand how to use the online

platform that provides their course. Online students also must be motivated and possess

the self-discipline to seek online information and meet course deadlines. Additionally,

students who take online classes have to be willing to seek help and ask questions if they

struggle with a concept or topic. Respondents reported that having a laptop computer and

engaging in online coursework allows students to “understand what is expected in a

college course,” and “cope with the content knowledge that is presented,” just as Conley

(2008) envisioned in a college ready student.

Critical thinking and the ability to analyze online resources were other skills that

participants reported gaining due to 1:1 exposure. For instance, Participant 6 said, “The

laptop helped to stimulate critical thinking because you got different point of views in

using online resources to conduct research.” Because most online courses utilize other

online resources, students often have to seek out and evaluate websites for reliability and

validity. Having a laptop and convenient access to the Internet provided students with

exposure to ample resources that promoted student learning. The Advanced Placement

Index (Conley, 2008) defined college readiness through multiple standards. One standard

stated, “Success in college-prep and college-level courses taken in high school that

require in-depth subject-area knowledge, higher-order thinking skills, and strong study

and research skills.” The online courses that students reported taking while in high school

seemed to have the components enunciated in the Advanced Placement Index and
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appeared to demand those academic skills from students. As a result, study participants

felt better prepared for college coursework.

Fourteen of the fifteen participants had favorable responses to being able to find

online resources, gain academic skills, and think critically because of their 1:1 laptop

experiences during high school. As described in Chapter 4, participants’ experiences and

feedback supported the notion that they gained cognitive strategies because of their 1:1

laptop experiences in high school.

Self-Management

As stated in Chapter 2 of this study, schools today are given the task of not only

educating students with the three Rs of Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic but also are

expected to give students strong backgrounds in science, technology, global studies, and

a diversity of so-called “21st century skills” such as critical thinking, collaboration,

agility, initiative, oral and written communication, analyzing information, and

imagination (Wagner, 2008). Most of the participants in this study specifically mentioned

that regular usage of a laptop promoted organization, responsibility, and time

management skills. For example, Participant 8 stated, “Without having a laptop in high

school I would be taking hand notes in college and not be as organized.” Some

participants even talked about specific widgets they kept on their computer or file system

that helped them to stay organized and to turn assignments in on time. Participant 15 said,

“I used the sticky notes app on my computer to remind me of assignments and

homework.”

Being able to take computers home further expanded students’ access and ability

to keep their work organized (Apple, Inc., 2005). Participants supported this claim by
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discussing improved organizational skills because of 1:1 laptop experiences both at

school and home. These students generally talked about developing systems on their

computer to organize folders, utilize computer tools, and not having to shuffle papers as

ways that laptop usage improved their organization skills. Participant 4 talked about

going from being a “paper person” to paperless, saying:

I was really a paper person. After I had my laptop for a while I realized all the

features it had that I could utilize to keep me more organized. Eventually, I used

widgets as my calendar, sticky notes to stay organized, and folders to collect and

organize documents for school.

Multiple participants brought up the idea that they were more responsible because

of their 1:1 experiences. Participant 12 directly stated, “I believe we had to become more

responsible when we got the laptops.” He went on to talk further during the interview

about the exact day on which he received his new laptop computer. He reported that at

the high school’s rollout night, his parents listened to various sessions on taking care of

the computer. He remembered the advice and tips that the presenters offered to students.

Furthermore, he recalled his high school principal checking students’ lockers during the

first couple of weeks of the school year to make sure they were locked between periods.

He said, “My old principal would take our laptops out of our lockers and keep them in the

office until we came and got them if he found our lockers unlocked. I think he was trying

to make us more responsible.” The idea that a laptop promotes learning time and

responsibility is supported by an earlier meta-analysis of technology studies (Apple, Inc.,

2005), which noted, “Technology engages students, and as a result, they spend more time
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on basic learning tasks than students who use a more traditional learning approach.” The

laptop is a tool that seems to promote academic responsibility.

Research studies on college readiness indicate that self-management includes both

a behavior and mindset necessary for college success (Conley, 2008). Specifically,

students must be able to plan ahead, prioritize tasks, keep track of large amounts of

information, and meet deadlines (Conley, 2008). Participants in this study reported usage

of their laptops in high school in ways that promoted their self-management skills,

including being more organized, more responsible, and more engaged with learning tasks.

Content Knowledge

During her interview, Participant 13 said, “I did not feel ready to handle college

content because I didn’t have a textbook to read from in high school. In college you are

expected to read.” She was the only participant that did not feel prepared to handle

college level content. Most of the participants credited the laptop that they frequently

used in high school for their readiness to hand the rigors of college academics.

According to Wolfe (2003), the original Lotus 1-2-3 and Microsoft Word

software applications were initially most popular in business and industry. These

software applications eventually underwent mainstream adoption by schools. Today,

spreadsheet and word processing tools (and others) are regularly used by educators and

students. Not only do students need to be prepared to handle college ready content, they

also must be ready to handle college ready software applications. Early versions of

productivity software have evolved significantly and new tools appear on the horizon on

a regular basis. Students who experience a 1:1 initiative have the opportunity to use and
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experiment with software applications that help them with learning tasks. Students in this

study generally felt very capable of handling college level content and software.

The Advanced Placement Index (API) stated that students are college ready when

they have the knowledge, skills, and behaviors to complete a college course of study

successfully, without remediation (Conley, 2008). The findings of this study support the

idea that students who experience a college preparatory curriculum in high school seem

to perform better with college level coursework. Fourteen of fifteen students interviewed

took at least one online class in high school. Besides taking online classes, participants

reported the ability to create presentations and network with others as benefits of having a

laptop while in high school. For instance, Participant 12 noted:

My freshman year probably would have been different if I hadn’t had a laptop in

high school because I would have struggled learning software and creating

presentations. Because I had a laptop in high school and had to do a lot of

presentations, I can create one pretty quick and make it good.

The college ready student is able to understand what is expected in a college

course, cope with the content knowledge that is presented, and take away from the course

the key intellectual lessons and dispositions the course was designed to convey and

develop (Conley, 2009). While only 24% of all 2010 high school seniors met all four

ACT college readiness benchmarks (English, reading, math, science), the feedback from

participants in this study indicate that they believed they were more ready to handle

college level content than the average high school graduate.

Knowledge about Postsecondary Education

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College ready students should possess some key knowledge about postsecondary

education (Conley, 2008). For example, students must be able to match personal interests

with a college major, understand basic financial aid concepts, register for classes, and

understand how the culture of college is different from that of high school (Conley,

2008). Ten out of fifteen participants responded favorably that the laptop initiative they

experienced in high school promoted their knowledge about college cultures. In short,

these students believed that they had a better idea of what to expect in college because of

their high school laptop usage.

The element of knowing about postsecondary education starts while a student is in

high school. College ready students tend to understand the difference in culture between a

high school and college setting. Most schoolteachers talk to upperclassman about the

differences between high school and college but do not go into detail about the

differences. Furthermore, there are no statewide expectations or standards that high

schools intentionally teach students about the difference between high school and college.

Students who have older friends or an older sibling have an advantage in understanding

the college culture. Students who lack these fortunate circumstances are left to figure out

some of the true differences between high school and college by visiting the college

campus, talking to others, and collecting information about colleges online.

Most of the study participants reported being able to find college scholarships,

complete financial aid documentation, correspond with college admissions counselors,

and learn more about college course offerings because they had access to a laptop and the

Internet in high school. Individual students developed much of this understanding on

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their own time and through their own ambitions. For instance, Participant 6 talked about

social networking with college peers to get an idea of what to expect in college:

Once we got our laptops everybody got Facebook, and everybody became more

social in and outside of school. I have never been a very open person, so it kind of

opens you up more. Just doing things like that and talking to different people

made me more outgoing I think. I was able to connect with some college students

from my high school that went to the college I was planning on going to. I talked

to them a lot about college.

Students that used their laptops to help understand the financial aspects of college

reported using the computer to find and complete scholarships, fill out the Federal

Application For Student Aid (FASFA) form online, and research costs of tuition and

books for colleges in which they were interested. Six of the interviewees specifically

stated that the laptop they had in high school helped them understand the financial

aspects of college. “It made it much easier to apply for things like that where I could

work on them during my study all of the school that there were I can research

scholarships during open periods,” said Participant 4. Participant 14 also talked about

how a laptop in high school was of benefit to understanding the college culture, saying:

The colleges that I thought I was going to go to had helpful websites. They

(college websites) helped the class schedules and me to understand the classes

that you need to take. There is so much information about all of the different

colleges right online instead of getting a pamphlet or going to college visits. You

can just find that all the information online.

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The Advanced Placement Index stated that students are college ready when they

have the knowledge, skills, and behaviors to complete a college course of study

successfully, without remediation. The definition further described college readiness as

expecting high school graduates to have an understanding of college and career options

and college admissions and financing processes (Conley, 2008). Because of their

anytime, anywhere access to a laptop and the Internet, participants in this study reported

increased knowledge about postsecondary operations and cultures.

Self-Advocacy Skills

Students who are college ready possess the behavior and skills necessary to

advocate for their personal and academic needs in the postsecondary setting (Conley,

2008). This idea includes looking for personal and/or academic help. Fourteen of fifteen

participants reported favorable impressions related to self-advocacy because they had a

laptop while in high school. Most of the academic help that students sought came through

online resources and websites as well as being able to communicate electronically with

teachers more efficiently and routinely. Besides these benefits, participant 6 talked about

students using social media to network with others and get help, saying:

A lot of people feel good when they put stuff (feelings) out so it must help them

get things out I guess. I know a lot of people who like to express themselves more

and put their feelings online. But for me I'm just more of a quiet reserved person

so I don’t feel the need to do that. I used the computer for the Internet more than

anything. Having access to the Internet when I needed help was the most

beneficial for me.

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Participants reported utilizing web sites to help in various content areas.

Specifically, the Khan Academy web site was mentioned by multiple students.

Participant 14 said, “I used the Khan Academy web site frequently in high school if I

didn’t understand something or needed to see it presented again.” He also mentioned still

utilizing the web site today in college to help understand college-level concepts and

topics. Participants also mentioned other web sites that they grew accustomed to turning

to in the face of challenging content. However, the biggest advantage that students

routinely described was having a laptop and Internet access at their fingertips to

correspond with teachers on a frequent and convenient basis. Participant 7 reported:

I would say instead of having to go to your teacher you could just email them and

get help that way. I mean there were even a couple of times when they (teachers)

would be gone but you could Skype them or email them to continue the class

work even if they weren’t there.

The responses of participants in this research study supported the notion that

laptop usage in high school can aid in the development of students’ self-advocacy skills

due to their increased access to teachers and online resources.

Implications for Stakeholder Groups

The results of this study have implications for students, parents, teachers, school

leaders, professors, and policymakers. Various school organizations have spent large

portions of their budgets on laptops for every student. Other schools are considering the

investment. This study, along with other research on 1:1 laptop initiatives, supports the

idea that providing every student with a laptop can promote college readiness. The
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feedback and experiences from participants in the study also provide meaningful

implications for various stakeholder groups.

Implications for students. This study investigated college freshmen’s

perceptions of how usage of a laptop in high school specifically promoted their college

readiness. Their meaningful feedback should give current high school students (and

parents) confidence to push their schoolteachers and leaders to leverage resources to

empower students with laptop computers and other Internet-capable devices. Students

may be able to promote their own readiness for college by bringing a personal laptop

from home to high school if their school is not providing a full-fledged 1:1 laptop

initiative. Many high schools have implemented policies to allow for students to bring

their own devices, including laptops. These practices are commonly known as BYOD

(Bring Your Own Device).

Prior to bringing their own computer, some students may have to negotiate with

their teachers and/or school leaders to allow for them to bring a laptop to school. This

may mean talking to a teacher or administrator about when and why the student wants to

bring his own laptop. A student should plan out how and whom he will approach to

ensure that the response he gets about bringing his own device to class is favorable and

positive. A student may have to start with a single class before approaching other

teachers to also bring his laptop into their classroom(s). Student also should consider

taking an online class and utilizing their laptop computer at school to take the course.

This could model and promote productive online learning.

Students also can promote the use of technology by being productive and

responsible technology users. Students who are productive and responsible users of their
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laptops are easy and visible models for teachers and school leaders. Many educators have

the fear that students only want to use technology to play games and surf the Internet.

Some educators perceive laptops as distractions in the classroom. When students can

demonstrate that they are productive and responsible with their laptops during class time,

it may give many teachers the confidence to try new things and eventually allow more

students to bring laptops to class.

Students also should advocate for the use of technology to provide a voice for

their peers. One student interviewed actually said, “I was really quiet before. I believe

being able to talk to people online made me more outgoing.” Other students in the study

talked about developing technology etiquette skills because of direct instruction they

received from a high school teacher. Technology tools like laptops may provide

unintended benefits such as developing students’ personality traits and learning online

etiquette. These benefits and others may be good reasons for students to continue to

advocate using laptops and other technologies in school.

Implications for parents. Parents can promote college readiness for their own

children by advocating with schoolteachers and/or administrators to allow for laptops to

be used at school. Parents often purchase video games and other technologies for their

children that would not be as productive as purchasing a laptop computer. On average,

13- to 18-year-olds spend more than six hours per day using digital media (Metiri Group,

2006). If they are financially capable, parents could first consider purchasing their child a

laptop to use for both personal and school use. This may allow for more productive

technology use than simply playing games, social networking, and/or watching TV or

movies.
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Parents should support their son’s or daughter’s use of technology by promoting

the use of technology to complete homework, use online resources, and collaborate with

others online. Since most parents are trusted role models for their children, parents should

also consider modeling appropriate and effective use of technology for both personal and

professional applications. This means that parents demonstrate how they use online

resources and social networking with their child. This means that parents monitor the

time that they use technology; for example, perhaps they put the computer away when

they have a meal with their family. This also means that parents model how to treat costly

technology; this could mean making sure their laptop is charged, put in a case, or

transported in a responsible and safe way. The positive effect that parents can have on

productive and responsible laptop use is very important to the development of students as

they grow up, attend high school, and potentially attend college.

Parents also play a major role in helping school staff leverage technology by

ensuring their child uses technology in appropriate and productive ways. This includes

monitoring their child’s use of email, social networking, and online search engines. One

barrier often reported by teachers is the fear of students using the laptop for inappropriate

reasons. There is no filter that is good enough to block websites that some students may

want to explore. Parents and educators must work together to monitor students’ Internet

usage. In doing so, both parents and educators have the peace of mind of knowing that

students are using technology for appropriate and productive reasons.

Elected parents serve as school board members in many communities. Parents, as

school board members, have the power to promote 1:1 laptop initiatives to “level the

playing field” for all students in their district. Participants in this study reported that they
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believed they were more ready for college because of their high school laptop usage.

Other students may benefit similarly if they also were able to learn and utilize a laptop

during their high school career.

There is no doubt that parents play an important role in the development and

education of their children. Purchasing laptops, advocating for laptop use at school, and

modeling appropriate and productive use of technology are all ways that parents can

promote effective technology use for their children. Also, parents who are school board

members can consider “leveling the playing field” and promoting college readiness for all

students by leveraging district resources to start and maintain a 1:1 laptop initiative.

Implications for teachers. Educators started to use computers for instructional

purposes as early as the 1980s. The evolution of the computer over the last 50 years has

been rapid and life changing (Schifter, 2008). Technologies have been more life changing

for some teachers and content areas than others. The use of the computer by teachers

continues to evolve and there are numerous implications from this study for classroom

educators.

When computers were first introduced into schools, they were used largely for

secretarial tasks and administrative purposes (Schifter, 2008). As computers and Internet

access have evolved, so has the use of computers for instruction. Computers can enhance

teachers’ productivity, accuracy, and ability to analyze data and thus improve teaching

and learning in the classroom (Murdock, 2004).

One major implication relates to the idea of student distraction, a concept that was

articulated by almost every first-year college student in the study. Many participants
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reported that there was an increased risk of students being distracted because of access to

a laptop and the Internet. For example, Participant 15 said:

The biggest issue with having a laptop was that students were often distracted

with websites, games, and social media. Students would often get off track that

seemed to affect their grades. The school responded with trying to block

distracting websites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Participants reported that blocking websites that seemed to be distracting students

sometimes helped and other times was only a temporary solution that resulted in other

distractions. Educators need to consider the ramifications of blocking or allowing gaming

sites and social networking sites. Many of the websites that educators consider blocking

also have tremendous learning potential in the classroom.

The ‘implementation dip’ that participants in this study reported is a direct result

of increased access to technology without concurrent increases in time, training, and

experience that teachers need to integrate the new technology in a seamless manner. The

quickly changing world of technology makes it difficult for faculty and higher education

institutions to be “the experts” (Educause, 2011). This is not the fault of anyone in

particular and is exacerbated by tight budgets, limited time for training, and outside

pressures on educators to improve schools and learning outcomes, all of which facilitate

hurried technology adoption. Perhaps an implication for teachers and school leaders

regarding implementation dips is to bring students and teachers along more slowly so that

a 1:1 laptop initiative is able to be more productive from the beginning. Participant 4

said:
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The first two weeks I got my laptop I hated it. I hated how we did no projects on

paper anymore; everything was on your laptop. We took notes on our computer,

and I was a paper person, I did everything on paper. And then my Spanish teacher

actually taught us to use the podcast feature on our Macs, and we did

presentations that way, and we got to record ourselves and put pictures in, and I

really enjoyed that.

To manage the implementation dips that various participants described, schools

have to create plans to bring both students and teachers along. This would include

providing training to students and teachers prior to just the day of the laptop rollout. This

may also include providing teachers the same laptops that students eventually get prior to

the rollout. This would allow teachers to become more comfortable, more confident, and

identify online resources through use of the laptop. Finally, a productive team of students

who can assist in technology troubleshooting often can be beneficial for 1:1 initiatives’

success. Training a team of students before providing every student with a laptop would

allow peers to help each other (and assist teachers) when technology issues arise.

Participants brought up a few other concerns during the interviews. Participant 2

believed that her eyesight got worse because they “stared at a computer screen for hours

each day.” She now needs glasses, which she believes was caused by the laptop computer

in high school. Another student reported that his handwriting got worse because he typed

more often than writing longhand. These factors may be considerations for some when

adopting a 1:1 initiative and deciding how often students are asked to use their computer.
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Since most schools put newly-leased or -purchased laptops on a 3- or 4-year

rotation, ongoing service and upkeep for the laptops is also important. Participant 13

reported:

Many students were frustrated with repairs during the third year with the laptops.

It sucked when a computer was slow and they couldn’t be fixed or repaired. Tech

staff often seemed to be more concerned with new features than repairing old

machines for students.

There are multiple implications for teachers based on the feedback and

experiences of the participants in this study. Specifically, teachers should intentionally

evaluate the use of online websites (including social networking sites) that may be

distracting for students. Teachers also should consider the amount of time they expect

students to sit in front of a computer screen. Last, teachers should work with technology

department personnel to ensure that students have laptops in good working condition so

that the laptop can be a reliable tool for learning. After all, “There is no turning back…”

(Friedman, 2005, p. 273) when talking about the adoption of technology for schools.

Implications for school leaders. Participants in this study believed that their high

schools’ 1:1 laptop initiatives were worth the investment. The results of this study can be

used as encouragement for current school leaders to begin or continue efforts to give

every high school student a laptop computer. The students in this study believed that it is

only a matter of time before every high school has a 1:1 laptop initiative. One student put

a timeline on this idea, saying, “I would assume in 10 years almost every school would

have laptops for students.” In Chapter 2, Gartner’s hype cycle was presented. The hype

cycle is a graphic representation of the maturity, adoption, and social applications of

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specific technology (Gartner, 2008). The hype cycle provides a frame for thinking about

mainstream adoption of laptops in education and other technology. The cycle is designed

to enable organizations to decide whether particular technologies are ready for adoption

(Gartner, 2008). School leaders should pay attention and consider that laptops are on the

cycle toward mainstream adoption, with concurrent implications for their schools.

To meet upcoming job market demands, the nation will need an additional 22

million workers with postsecondary degrees. However, the United States is expected to

fall short by three million postsecondary degrees (Symonds, Schwartz & Ferguson,

2011). The results of this study indicate that boosting college readiness may be one of the

primary benefits of a 1:1 laptop initiative.

School leaders have a number of factors to consider regarding 1:1 laptop program

implementation, including but not limited to purchasing an Apple or a PC computer,

training teachers to effectively leverage technology, securing ongoing funding to support

1:1 programming, and expanding the wireless infrastructure of their buildings. Many of

the first-year college students interviewed had purchased their own laptop computers for

use in college. Sometimes they even purchased the exact same models they had used in

high school. One student said, “I have not met a student in college yet that does not have

a computer.” However, multiple students mentioned that whether they had an Apple or

PC computer was irrelevant. Students tended to feel confident and comfortable using

either. One student even said, “A computer is a computer.” School leaders shouldn’t be

overly concerned about deciding whether to purchase Apple or PC computers for a 1:1

initiative. Cost, training for teachers, and availability should be part of this decision, but

when it comes to college readiness, what is important is simply whether they have a
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laptop computer in their hands to utilize on an everyday basis, regardless of whether it is

an Apple or PC device.

Participant 10 highlighted other issues that school leaders need to consider,

saying, “Financing seems to be a huge issue for schools so that they are able to have up-

to-date technology. The school has slow bandwidth, thus slow Internet access speed,

which inhibits students from using the technology.” Proper planning should account for

the bandwidth issues that this student mentioned. Internet access and speed are critical

aspects of effective laptop implementation.

Critics of 1:1 laptop initiatives say, “When computers receive limited use or

inconsistent deployment across classes, it makes little sense to expect any kind of return

on the investment in technology, especially in relation to student achievement” (Weston

& Bain, 2009). Participants in this study had their 1:1 experiences in five different high

schools. Each of these students had both meaningful and distracting experiences with

having a laptop. However, regardless of the varying degree of implementation and

uniqueness of their school laptop programs, all participants reported that they felt more

college ready because of their 1:1 experience. Furthermore, nearly all of them (13 out of

15) reinforced the benefits of having a laptop in high school by stating that they would

someday send their own child to a 1:1 high school if they had the choice. School leaders

cannot expect a 1:1 laptop initiative to be perfect. Responses from participants indicated

that leaders do not have to wait to implement a 1:1 initiative until they have full staff

support or until all of the details of the program are worked out. Instead, regardless of a

school’s level of implementation, students seem to be more ready for college because of

the skills and experience they gain through a 1:1 initiative.

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School organizations tend to be slower to change than mainstream society.

Schifter (2008) mentioned this in his research about technology in schools, noting that,

“Computer technology is an ever-changing industry, it has been difficult for schools to

keep up with technology advancements.” Nonetheless, it appears that for many schools a

1:1 laptop initiative is no longer a far-off dream but rather an initiative for which to be

budgeted, implemented, and supported long-term. To the extent that they have choice,

students may, and probably should, choose schools that allow them to create and use up-

to-date tools on a daily basis, help students identify the best available learning resources,

and prepare them overall for college and life success. As Participant 7 said, “If computers

are put to the right use and monitored correctly they are a great resource for students and

teachers.” The results of this study appear to support that student’s claim.

Implications for professors. It wasn’t until 1967 that many colleges started

teaching computer programing (Murdock, 2004). Compared to other sectors, colleges and

universities have been fairly slow to adopt computers as learning tools. Many of the

participants in this study reported that their college professors do not allow computers in

their classes. Professors must understand that technology is not going away and that

banning laptops in their classroom is limiting opportunities for student learning. Laptops

can and should be leveraged for instruction and learning rather than being banned in

classrooms.

Professors should allow and find ways to use student laptops in their classrooms.

This includes but is not limited to using social networking sites to communicate with

peers, networking with outside professionals, taking notes, and getting information about
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concepts and topics presented. All of these applications are positive and productive for

learning.

Participants in the study also reported that many of their professors lacked

awareness of effective online resources. Technology is changing the resource

environment so fast that universities are unable to adequately apprise professors of

ongoing changes and updates. Professors must be willing to use their own time to seek

online resources on a routine and regular basis. Professors could identify many powerful

digital resources simply by asking students. Many students would be quite willing to

draw on their high school experiences and personal knowledge to share web sites and

other online resources with professors. Professors could then evaluate those resources and

find ways to integrate them into their classes if relevant.

Most professors expect students to use technology outside of class time,

regardless of whether or not they utilize technology to facilitate classroom instruction.

With increased awareness of digital resources, professors could leverage instructional

time to engage students and provide timely opportunities for students to dig deeper into

course content. Professors also could model effective and productive use of online and

other technologies. If laptops were allowed and leveraged for learning in postsecondary

classrooms, college professors could use many of the same teaching practices that study

participants reported that their high school teachers used.

Implications for policymakers. Policymakers in the state of Maine already have

made the decision that technology as a learning tool is important. They have made 1:1

laptop initiatives a statewide priority. As outlined in Chapter 2, Iowa currently (2012) has

90 to 100 1:1 laptop schools. This means that approximately 25% of Iowa school districts
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are providing powerful learning technologies that allow students to create, collaborate,

improve keyboarding skills, enhance note-taking skills, improve presentation skills, and

learn social etiquette, among other things. Although schools receive both state and federal

funding, much of the school funding is earmarked with strict regulations as to how funds

can be spent by the local school district. One example of this is the Physical Plant and

Equipment Levy. Schools are limited regarding how they can use this money, especially

for technology.

Policymakers have to understand that technology is fundamental to education in

the 21st century. Administrators identify limited state funding as an ongoing barrier to

offering more online courses (Project Tomorrow, 2011). Anecdotal evidence indicates

that inadequate funding and policy barriers are impeding other school technology

initiatives as well, including implementation and expansion of 1:1 laptop programs.

Legislators must provide ample funding that allows schools to update and stay current

with technology. That state and federal funding also must be flexible enough to

accommodate districts’ unique technology allocation needs.

Recommendations for Existing 1:1 Programs

Outside of school, many students use laptop computers for schoolwork, social

networking, and creating online videos, presentations, and other resources. Similarly,

inside of schools, laptops have the ability to be efficient and powerful learning tools that

help prepare students for college. The following recommendations are for schools that

already have adopted 1:1 initiatives and are striving to make their programs as effective

as possible.
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Use laptops to promote digital etiquette. The participants in this study noted

that one benefit of having a laptop in high school was gaining digital etiquette skills.

Participants 11 and 12 both cited learning how to write formal emails, learning about

privacy issues, and being able to collaborate appropriately with people in the business

world as benefits of their high school’s 1:1 initiative. Participant 11 noted:

I would say definitely things like social etiquette and learning how to write a

professional email or deal with businessmen through email was helpful. I

remember learning things like privacy issues and contract stuff. Learning how to

write those formal emails is definitely one of the biggest things because I have to

write emails daily to professors and knowing how to phrase those emails is

basically extremely helpful.

As digital communication technologies and social networking tools continue to

evolve, teaching digital etiquette skills will be an added challenge for schools. Teaching

communication etiquette is a very possible and natural extension of a school’s 1:1

initiative.

Listen to students. One question that all participants responded to was whether

or not, with all else being equal, they would send their own child to a 1:1 laptop school

instead of a traditional school. All but one student said that without a doubt they would

send their own child to a 1:1 laptop school at the high school level. Some participants

reported that they did not think that elementary-age students should have a personal

laptop to take home but did believe that middle school and high school students should

have a school-issued laptop. Participant 12 went so far as to say, “I think every school

needs to be a 1:1 school in 10 years or less. I think allowing students to take the computer
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home is essential.” Current students seem to understand that computers will be

mainstreamed into education in the near future. Schools planning to adopt 1:1 computing

programs should listen to their students and empower them to be part of the adoption

process. Their ideas and buy-in will only enhance the effectiveness of those initiatives.

Adoption of a 1:1 laptop initiative should be thoughtful and well-planned.

While this study did not take into account the varying types of 1:1 laptop initiatives that

participants experienced while in high school, interviewees clearly described differences

in their 1:1 programs. Most of the participants also described various ‘implementation

dips’ that were experienced by their high schools and teachers. Schools that are adopting

1:1 laptop programs should move thoughtfully – and perhaps slowly – and ensure

adequacy of both short-term and long-term implementation. There is much that goes into

a 1:1 initiative and schools that “jump” in without enough planning or forethought may

lose many of the gains that the initiative is designed to achieve. As Participant 13 said, “I

feel if a school is going to have a 1:1 initiative they should know how to use them. If the

teachers don’t know how to use them it is a real issue.”

Maintain the condition of laptops. Multiple participants commented about

negative experiences with damaged or broken laptops. Most of the experiences that

students shared happened when the computer was three or four years old. Participant 13

stated:

I guess one thing people were frustrated with in high school was a computer

repair. I mean that third year we got the same laptop they were pretty beat up. It

sucks when you don’t have it (a laptop) when everybody else has it. And that was
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a big thing to not have your laptop. There was nothing you can do and it was

frustrating.

Participant 13 also mentioned concerns that teachers had with laptop repairs, saying:

I mean teachers got frustrated with the staff that's supposed to be fixing them, but

they were worried about the new things rather than the old things. They don’t

really care about your broken laptop as much as they should.

Although students and parents often are responsible for laptop damage, such damage is

inevitable. In general, participants reported that keeping their laptop in good working

condition was very important. When their laptop was not working, it seemed to have a

significant impact on the students’ academic work.

As research continues around the area of 1:1 laptop initiatives and college

readiness, the issue of damage to and maintenance of machines should be taken into

consideration. These challenges should be planned for as proactively as possible.

More research will be conducted and made available as 1:1 initiatives move into

maturity. The rest of this chapter provides some recommendations for further research

related to 1:1 initiatives and college readiness.

Future Research

Truly evaluating a 1:1 laptop initiative is a difficult task. As a matter of fact,

evaluating almost any PreK-16 initiative in education is a difficult task because most

programs do not occur in isolation of others. Schools are complex organizations that have

multiple, ever-changing variables, including but not limited to variability in students,

staff, programs, budgets, communities, and political factors.

 145

There also is much that goes into evaluating college readiness. This study

examined college readiness in regard to previous exposure to a 1:1 laptop initiative in

high school. Further studies in this area should account for the many variances in 1:1

laptop initiatives that occur in schools. Every initiative has different goals and

implementation methods. It may be that certain types of programs or implementation

models are better at facilitating college readiness than others.

Future studies should investigate in more complex ways the relationship between

participation in a high school 1:1 initiative and college readiness. In particular, more

robust ways of determining 1:1 programs’ effectiveness need to be devised. Future

studies may be able to better link effectiveness of individual 1:1 initiatives with

participating students’ college readiness.

Participants in this study were from two different states, two different countries,

and five different high schools and attended thirteen different colleges and universities.

Further research in this area may need to ensure greater homogeneity of the research

sample. Narrowing the types of participants, settings, or laptop initiatives may better

illuminate the relationship between students’ college readiness and high school 1:1 laptop

program participation.

Further studies could look at retention rates for students who were exposed to a

1:1 laptop initiative in high school in comparison to students who did not have this

exposure. As the author of this study was conducting interviews, he could not help but

wonder how many of the students interviewed actually would finish college. Statistics

demonstrate that less than 50 percent of students who start at a college or university

actually finish within six years (National Center for Education Statistics, 2008). It is
 146

possible that students who feel more prepared for college due to exposure to a 1:1 laptop

initiative in high school more often complete college. A study of college completion in

relation to having a laptop in high school could have powerful potential.

Similarly, students who experience a 1:1 laptop initiative and go on to college

may transfer to other postsecondary institutions at less than the average rate. One could

hypothesize that students who are exposed to a 1:1 initiative have more information and

experiences in high school to select an appropriate college and declare a major. This may

mean that they are less likely to transfer from the college they originally selected. This

study did not evaluate students’ selection of a college or college major. Future research

could examine whether students exposed to a high school 1:1 initiative are better

prepared to select a postsecondary institution and/or college major.

The varying and often broad definitions of college readiness that have been cited

in this paper probably will be the same for years to come. However, 1:1 laptop initiatives

that work to promote college readiness will continue to evolve, adapt, and change to meet

the needs of students. Current 1:1 schools should develop and effectively communicate

the goals and evaluation measures of their initiatives in an effort to continue to promote

their programs’ effectiveness. Possible ideas to measure college readiness include, but are

not limited to, ACT college readiness indicators, instructional practices inventories of

classroom instruction for higher order thinking and engagement levels, and alumni

surveys that get feedback from students while in college.

Although this study did not evaluate various types of 1:1 laptop initiatives, it is

probable that the better the 1:1 implementation at the high school level, the more college

ready a high school’s students would be. As noted above, further research needs to be
 147

conducted that investigate the linkages between college readiness and scale, scope, or

implementation of secondary 1:1 computing initiatives. The state of Maine, which is

currently collecting and analyzing data while implementing a statewide initiative, may

serve as a model for 1:1 implementation. Lessons from this state may prove to be relevant

and meaningful for other states and schools interested in 1:1 laptop programs.

Summary

This chapter started with a discussion of the findings of the study and then

outlined implications for various stakeholder groups, including students, parents,

teachers, school leaders, professors, and policymakers. The chapter also made some

recommendations for future research in the areas of 1:1 laptop implementation and

college readiness. Further studies that evaluate these topics will be essential toward

promoting and improving 1:1 initiatives and college readiness.

This study concluded that 1:1 laptop programs in high schools do seem to

promote college readiness for their graduates, at least from the perspective of the

graduates themselves. The first-year college students in this study were able to clearly

identify and describe the benefits of having a laptop during high school as they engaged

in college-level academics. These students reported overall that they felt better prepared

for college and more efficient using a computer than their college peers. These reports

were consistent regardless of the level of fidelity of implementation of the high school

1:1 laptop initiative.

This study fills a void in the research regarding 1:1 laptop initiatives and college

readiness. However, it is only a start to what hopefully will be a series of ongoing studies

that examine the relationship of laptop computers and other digital technologies to
 148

empower and promote student learning. It is probable that the future success of schools

and students depends on effectively leveraging the powerful digital learning technologies

that now permeate our world.

 149

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APPENDIX A. INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF TECHNOLOGY IN

EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS

1. Creativity and Innovation. Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct

knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.
Students will:
(a) apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes;
(b) create original works as a means of personal or group expression;
(c) use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues; and
(d) Identify trends and forecast possibilities.

2. Communication and Collaboration. Students use digital media and environments to

communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual
learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students will:
(a) interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a
variety of digital environments and media;
(b) communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a
variety of media and formats;
(c) develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with
learners of other cultures; and
(d) contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.

3. Research and Information Fluency. Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate,
and use information. Students will:
(a) plan strategies to guide inquiry;
(b) locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information
from a variety of sources and media;
(c) evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the
appropriateness to specific tasks;
(d) process data and report results.

4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making. Students use critical thinking
skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed
decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students will:
(a) identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for
investigation.
(b) plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project;
(c) collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions.
(d) use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative
solutions.

5. Digital Citizenship. Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related
to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students will:
(a) advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and
technology;
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(b) exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning,
and productivity;
(c) demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning; and
(d) exhibit leadership for digital citizenship.

6. Technology Operations and Concepts. Students demonstrate a sound understanding

of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students will:
(a) understand and use technology systems;
(b) select and use applications effectively and productively;
(c) troubleshoot systems and applications; and
(d) transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies.
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APPENDIX B. DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

Terms used throughout this study are operationally defined as follows:

Cloud computing: “a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network

access to a shared pool of configurable computer resources that can be rapidly
provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider
interaction” (Mell & Grance, 2011, p. 2).

College readiness: “the level of preparation a student needs in order to enroll and
succeed, without mediation, in a credit-bearing education course at a
postsecondary institution that offers a baccalaureate degree or transfer to a
baccalaureate program” (Conley, 2007, p. 5).

One to one computing (1:1 computing): each individual has a computer, which is not
shared with others (Jackson, 2009).

Reliability: refers to the extent in which research findings can be replicated (Denscombe,
2002).
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APPENDIX C. HUMAN SUBJECTS REVIEW FORM

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APPENDIX D. ADMINISTRATOR INVITATION LETTER

Dear High School Administrator,

I am a passionate high school principal who is committed to improving college and career
readiness for our current students. You have been personally selected because of your
leadership in putting technology in the hands of students via a 1:1 laptop initiative. As a
doctoral student at Iowa State University, my dissertation is structured around the
perceptions of first-year college students regarding technology and college readiness.

The questions I hope to answer in this study are:

1. What are first-year college student’s perceptions of the uses of technology for
instructional purposes by high school teachers?
2. What are first-year college student’s perceptions of the effects of a 1:1 laptop
experience on their readiness for college?
3. What are first-year college students’ perceptions of the uses of technology for
instructional purposes by college professors?

The goal of this letter is to ask for your help in finding participants so that I can work to
analyze, publish, and report back with the findings of this research study. The results you
will get back from me may be good information for you to share with your community,
students, and school board regarding technology and the impact of a 1:1 laptop initiative
on college readiness for your students.

I am asking you to supply me with the names of 5-10 alumni who I could contact as
potential participants in my research study. You may submit me their contact information
in any format including email, excel spreadsheet, or Microsoft Word document. The
information I am requesting for 5-10 of your college placed alumni includes:
• Alumni full name
• Alumni email and/or phone number(s)
• The college or university the alumni currently attends
• The city and state of the college or university the alumni attends

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration in passing on alumni names. I will
look forward to providing you with my findings if you are able to help me find these vital
participants. If you have questions or suggestions please contact me by phone at 515-205-
9987 or email at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Trent Grundmeyer
Indianola High School Principal
Doctoral Student at Iowa State University
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APPENDIX E. INFORMED CONSENT FORM

Title of Study: The Perceptions of First-year College Students Regarding Technology

and College Readiness
Investigator: Trent Grundmeyer, ISU doctoral candidate (with assistance from Dr.
Scott McLeod, ISU Associate Professor)

This is a research study. Please take your time in deciding if you would like to
participate. Please feel free to ask questions at any time.

INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this study is to uncover the perceptions of first-year college students
regarding their exposure to a 1:1 laptop initiative while in high school for a minimum of
two years. Furthermore, participants will help the researcher understand the effects that a
1:1 initiative had on their freshman year and evaluate their perceptions of technology use
by college professors. You are being invited to participate in this study because you fit
the criteria for this study:
1. Exposure to a 1:1 laptop initiative while in high school for two years or more.
2. Completion of your first-year of college.

DESCRIPTION OF PROCEDURES
If you agree to participate, Trent Grundmeyer will interview you for no longer than six0
minutes. You will be presented with the interview guide ahead of time. The full interview
will be recorded. You will be identified by a pseudonym for the study and your
information will be protected before, during, and after this research project. During the
interview process, you may skip any questions that you don not wish to answer.

Your participation will last for the amount of time that the interview takes. After the
interview, the audio recording will be transcribed, and you will be presented with a copy
of the transcript for your review. This will be delivered via an e-mail to the address that
you provide to me. After that, your participation will be over. At the conclusion of the
dissertation research, you will be provided a write-up of the findings from the study.

RISKS
There are no known or foreseeable risks for participation in this study.

BENEFITS
If you decide to participate in this study, there are no personal advantages to
participation. It is hoped that the information gained in this study will benefit school
leaders, college leaders, and students in relation to promoting technology resources to
benefit college readiness.

COSTS AND COMPENSATION

You will not have any costs related to participating in this study, other than the time you
spend during the interview and reviewing the interview transcript. The time you spend as
a participant in this study is voluntary.
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PARTICIPANT RIGHTS
Your participation in this study is completely voluntary and you may initially refuse to
participate or stop participating in the study at any time. If you decide to not participate in
the study or leave the study early, it will not result in any penalty or detrimentally affect
your relationship with the researcher, his major professor, and/or Iowa State University.

CONFIDENTIALITY
Records identifying participants will be kept confidential to the extent permitted by
applicable laws and regulations and will not be made publicly available. However,
federal government regulatory agencies, auditing departments of Iowa State University,
and the Institutional Review Board (a committee that reviews and approves human
subject research studies) may inspect and/or copy your records for quality assurance and
data analysis. These records may contain private information.

To ensure confidentiality to the extent permitted by law, the following measures will be
taken:
1. Your interview will be recorded and transcribed but you will be identified in the
transcripts and on tape with a pseudonym.
2. The data will be stored on a password-protected computer in a locked room at all
times.
3. The data only will be kept until the completion and publication of the study. If the
results are published, your identity will remain confidential.

QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS You are encouraged to ask questions or express your

concerns at any time during this study.

For further information about the study, contact primary investigator Trent Grundmeyer
at 515-205-9987; or Dr. Scott McLeod, 707-722-7853.

If you have any questions about the rights of research subjects or research-related injury,
please contact the IRB Administrator, (515) 294-4566, [email protected], or Director,
(515) 294-3115, Office for Responsible Research, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
2011.

******************************************************************** ***
PARTICIPANT SIGNATURE
Your signature below indicates that you voluntarily agree to participate in this study, that
the study has been explained to you, that you have been given time to read this document,
and that your questions have been satisfactorily answered. You will receive a copy of the
written informed consent prior to your participation in the study.

Participant’s Name (printed): ________________________________________________

Participant’s Email Address: ________________________________________________
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______________________________________________ ____________________

(Participant’s Signature) (Date)

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APPENDIX F. INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

Interview Introduction

Hello (respondent name). Thank you so much for agreeing to speak with me. I know you
have a busy schedule and really appreciate your willingness to participate in this project.

As stated in a previous letter, I am a doctoral student at Iowa State University and high
school principal from Iowa conducting a study of perceptions of first-year college students
regarding technology and college readiness. Today I hope to glean insight into your
perceptions of how a 1:1 initiative you experienced while in high school has impacted your
college experience as well as your perceptions of your professors’ use of technology.

Any information you share will not be attributed to you or used to identify you or anyone
else. You will remain anonymous in any ensuing presentations or publications that may stem
from this study. As a result of your participation, there should be no risks for you personally
or for your school. Your participation is strictly voluntary and may be discontinued at any
time during the interview. You may also decline to answer any question during this
interview.

For ease of note taking, getting all of your input, and not slowing down the interview, I
would like to record our conversation. The recording made today will be kept confidential
and in a safe place. The only people that will hear the audio recording will be me and the
person who transcribes our conversation. It will be kept in a secure location and destroyed
when the study is complete. If at any time you would prefer that I turn the recorder off,
please let me know, and I will do so immediately.

Any questions before we begin?

Did you sign the Informed Consent to participate in this study?

Do I have your permission to begin recording our discussion?

Interview Questions

Research Questions #1: What are first-year college student’s perceptions of their 1:1 laptop
experiences on their readiness for college?

General Questions
1. How many years did you experience a 1:1 laptop initiative in high school?
2. Please describe your experiences with having a laptop computer while in high school.
a. For what did you primarily use your computer? Personal? Academic?
b. Were you able to take your laptop home from school?
c. What was you experience with online classes in high school (if any)?
3. Why did your high school adopt a 1:1 laptop initiative?
a. What was the goal of the laptop initiative?
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b. Do you know how the initiative was evaluated for effectiveness? If so, how?
4. What did you feel the advantages and disadvantages were of having a laptop while in
high school?

Cognitive Strategies
1. Do you feel you are able to identify better online resources because of your laptop
experience in high school?
2. Were you able to develop any study skills based on having access to a laptop computer in
high school? If so, what skills do you feel you developed?
3. Did the computer help you at all to think critically? If so, how?
a. Can you remember any examples of your high school teachers using online resources
to help you think critically?
4. How did having a laptop while in high school help you to develop any other cognitive or
study skills you feel you would not have gained without the use of the laptop?

Self-Management
1. Many educators and policymakers are worried that current high school graduates are not
‘college ready.” What does being “college ready” mean to you?
2. Do you believe that you have better self-management skills because of having a laptop
while in high school? If so, how so?
a. Do you feel you are more efficient using a computer because of your high school
laptop experience?
b. What other skills or knowledge do you feel you have because of having a laptop
while in high school?
3. Do you feel you were better prepared for college than other students because of your
exposure to having a laptop while in high school? Why or why not?
4. Some claim that students who are exposed to 1:1 laptop initiatives in high school are
more college ready because they are more organized, efficient, confident, connected, and
can produce higher-quality school work. Do you agree or disagree? Why? Do you see
any differences between you and current college peers that didn’t have a laptop in high
school? If so, what? If not, why not?

Content Knowledge
1. Did you feel ready to handle college level content (or information)? Do you feel that
having a laptop in high school contribute to being ready for college coursework?
a. Did you have to take any sort of college readiness test to graduate or be accepted into
a postsecondary institution? If so, which? How did you do?
b. Do you feel you are better at creating presentations because of your laptop experience
in high school?
c. Do you feel you have better keyboarding skills because of your laptop experience in
high school?
d. Do you feel social networking and using email in high school had any effect on how
prepared you were for college?
e. Do you feel the quality of work you are able to produce is better in college because
you had access to a laptop computer in high school?
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Knowledge about Postsecondary Education

1. How do you think your freshman year of college would have been different if you had
not been exposed to having a laptop during your high school years?
a. How did having a laptop in high school help you to understand your college’s culture
(if any)?
b. How did having a laptop in high school help you understand financial aspects of
college (if any)?

Self-advocacy Skills
1. Were you able to get more help academically in high school because you had a laptop?
Do you think this helped you at all to be college ready?
2. Were you able to get more help physically or emotionally because you had a laptop in
high school? Do you think this helped you at all to be college ready?
3. Were you able to collaborate with others (that you otherwise would not have been able to
network with) because you had a laptop computer? If so, how?

General Questions
1. During this interview so far, I have asked you what impact having a laptop during high
school had on your self-advocacy, content knowledge, cognitive strategies, self-
management, and knowledge about postsecondary education. Are there other skills that
you believe you specifically gained because you had a laptop while in high school?
Do you believe that having a laptop during high school took away or had a negative
affect on you and your college readiness in any way? If so, how?
2. As a parent in the future, with the choice to send your child to a traditional school or 1:1
laptop school, which would you prefer? Why?”

Research Questions #two: What are first-year college student’s perceptions of the uses of
technology for instructional purposes by high school teachers?

Research Question #3: What are first-year college student’s perceptions of the uses of
technology for instructional purposes by college professors?

1. How does your college professors’ use of technology compare to that of your high school
teachers? Is it the same or different?
a. For what did your high school teachers primarily ask students to use technology?
b. For what do your professors primarily ask students to use technology?
c. What types of software did you use in high school?
d. What types of software do you use in college?
e. How has the software you routinely use for school changed from high school to
college?
f. What types of websites did you use in high school?
g. What types of websites do you use in college?
h. How have the websites you use for school changed from high school to college?
2. What do you think are the perceptions of other first-year college students about their
professors’ use of technology? How do you know?
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3. Do you feel that most students share your perceptions of technology use by your
professors in college? Why or why not?

Conclusion:
1. Is there anything that I did not ask you that you would like to share?
Thank you so much for participating in this interview. I appreciate your time and thoughts.
After I have reviewed the transcript of our conversation today, may I contact you if I have
further questions?

If you have any further questions for me, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time. A
written transcript of this interview will be made available to you to verify accuracy of your
views and experiences. You will hear back from me in 1-two weeks. As a reminder this
information will remain confidential and will be destroyed at the end of the project. Let me
confirm your email one more time. Do you have any final comments or questions?

Thanks and have a great rest of the day/evening.

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APPENDIX G. PARTICIPANT LIST

Participant Sex H.S. State Current College Major

Participant 1 F Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania, PA Religion
Participant 2 F Pennsylvania Community College of Philadelphia, PA Education
Participant 3 F Iowa Clarkson College, NE Radiology
Participant 4 M Iowa Buena Vista University, IA Accounting
Participant 5 F Iowa Kirkwood Community College, IA Business
Participant 6 M Iowa University of Northern Iowa, IA Education
Participant 7 M Iowa Creighton University, NE Exercise Sci.
Participant 8 M Iowa Wartburg College, IA Fitness Man.
Participant 9 F Iowa Des Moines Area Community College, IA Education
Participant 10 M Thailand Kasetsart University, Thailand Engineering
Participant 11 F Iowa Simpson College, IA Marketing
Participant 12 M Iowa Iowa State University, IA Education
Participant 13 F Iowa Iowa State University, IA Graphics
Participant 14 M Iowa Simpson College, IA Economics
Participant 15 M Iowa Iowa State University, IA Engineering