Not only are teachers affected by the use of technology and the removal of paper from classrooms, we must never forget that students and parents are also involved. As Lindsay Duncan of California State University stated, today’s classroom is digital. Not only are teachers getting used to these changes, we also must be sensitive to our students’ and their families’ transitions into new technology. Duncan focused on the use of iPads in the classroom. Her study was used to determine the student and parent perceptions on their use in 3-6th grade classrooms in Emerald Union School District. The study indicated that the surveyed fourth graders felt the use of iPads in the classroom was “essential” and “contributing to their motivation and learning in school” (Duncan, 2012). The results of the parent survey suggested that parents felt that iPads were not an essential learning tool, but indicated that technology is important (Duncan 2012). Duncan’s research focused on the following questions:
1. Do students view the iPad as a motivating factor to their learning?
2. Do students view the iPad as an essential and beneficial tool for their learning?
Duncan gives a good summation of another study from Canada that evaluated the use of technology in the classroom. “Before the introduction of the iPad, many districts used laptops as a one-to-one program for student learning. Li’s 2007 study in Canada used a mixed method approach to collect data from 15 secondary math and science teachers, and 450 secondary students. The study looked to explore students’ and teachers’ perceptions about technology integration in school. The study revealed that, in general, students held much more positive attitudes toward technology than teachers. The majority of students found technology useful and effective to their learning. More then 18% of students surveyed in this study cited enjoyment of learning and confidence in their ability as to why they found technology useful. “Many students emphasized using games or other fun ways, from virtual reality to simulation and to the Internet” (Li, 2007, p. 387). Student responses from the survey include such comments as:
- Technology is effective for leaning because it is something new for students to do or see. It’s a different way of learning that’s usually fun for everyone. (p. 387).
- Technology is WAY better than the teacher because you learn at your own pase [sic] and it is extremely funner [sic]. School is usually boring (p. 387).
- [Technology] is hands on and it’s interesting to me. I can learn more if I learn it that way” (p. 387).
As the study continued, participating teachers began to move away form paper assessments and began to implement online assessments. This is advantageous because it suggests that teachers and students will get quicker feedback on scores. This feedback can enable teachers to adapt their lessons, or perhaps re-teach a lesson. Researchers were interested to know the students’ opinions on taking tests on paper or online. Data from this question resulted in 82.1% (n=72) students preferring to complete the tests on the iPad instead of on paper. In an open-ended question, students responded with reasons why they prefer the iPad or paper, and listed things that indicated using on-line assessments were quicker, the students could type faster than they could write, that is does not waste paper and was more fun. One student even mentioned how they liked that you could zoom in on questions if the font was too small to read. This is important when considering learners with different individualized education plans concerned with eye sight (Duncan, 2012).
It is obvious, from the work of Duncan and further research that has been done, that technology is engaging and motivational for many students to perform better in class. There most certainly needs to be more research performed on those exact motivators, but this is a promising start. Also, from Duncan’s research it seems that more attention needs to be given to the families of our students in order to educate them on particular and specific technologies and their positive influence on student learning.
Again, here are the questions addressed in Duncan’s study: give us your thoughts:
Paperless Schools in Illinois 