Technology infusion in K-12 classrooms: a retrospective look at three decades of challenges and advancements in research and practice.
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| Title: | Technology infusion in K-12 classrooms: a retrospective look at three decades of challenges and advancements in research and practice. |
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| Authors: | Ross, Steven M. (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Educational Technology Research & Development. Oct2020, Vol. 68 Issue 5, p2003-2020. 18p. |
| Subjects: | Educational technology, Educational objectives, School districts, Classrooms |
| Abstract: | Educational technology offers unique affordances as a learning tool and delivery system for enhancing and personalizing instruction. Over the past two decades, efforts by school districts and states to infuse technology into everyday K-12 education through one-to-one laptop initiatives have rapidly proliferated. In this paper, I examine such initiatives from studies in the literature and from my own research, starting with the Apple Classroom of Tomorrow in the mid-1980′s and continuing today with comprehensive mixed-method evaluations in school districts. Drawing from this work, I focus on several themes that create both challenges and opportunities for technology infusion to occur in more effective and sustainable ways. These include: (a) conceptualizing technology as an educational tool and delivery system, not as a "treatment" in itself; (b) defining and communicating to stakeholders what proximal and long-term outcomes the technology initiative is (and is not) expected to promote; (c) not over-promising impacts on student achievement on standardized assessments where technology applications are directed primary toward other educational goals; and (d) conducting ongoing evaluation studies to provide evidence of program implementation progress and effectiveness at different phases of the initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Educational technology offers unique affordances as a learning tool and delivery system for enhancing and personalizing instruction. Over the past two decades, efforts by school districts and states to infuse technology into everyday K-12 education through one-to-one laptop initiatives have rapidly proliferated. In this paper, I examine such initiatives from studies in the literature and from my own research, starting with the Apple Classroom of Tomorrow in the mid-1980′s and continuing today with comprehensive mixed-method evaluations in school districts. Drawing from this work, I focus on several themes that create both challenges and opportunities for technology infusion to occur in more effective and sustainable ways. These include: (a) conceptualizing technology as an educational tool and delivery system, not as a "treatment" in itself; (b) defining and communicating to stakeholders what proximal and long-term outcomes the technology initiative is (and is not) expected to promote; (c) not over-promising impacts on student achievement on standardized assessments where technology applications are directed primary toward other educational goals; and (d) conducting ongoing evaluation studies to provide evidence of program implementation progress and effectiveness at different phases of the initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 10421629 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s11423-020-09756-7 |
