One-to-One Learning: Student Motivation and Achievement

Article Analysis One for EDUA 6376

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Because of educational acts like the Goals 2000: Educate America Act of 1994 and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, one-to-one learning implementations have become increasingly more popular in many classrooms. Teaching through the pandemic has only heightened the use of this method of learning. As I prepare to enter into a 1:1 classroom next school year, I wanted to know the effects 1:1 implementation has on learning, the benefits and drawbacks, the best types of devices to use, and best classroom practices to make this type of learning most successful. My research thus far has shed much light on the topic and I am eager to learn more.

The first article I read titled One to One Technology and its Effect on Student Academic Achievement and Motivation conducted a quantitative study that weighed the effects 1:1 implementation can have on student motivation and achievement. The authors conducted their study within a Title 1 school in central Illinois. Their research came from two fourth grade classrooms. One class learned using traditional learning methods and the other used 1:1 implementation. The data collected for the study came from the scores from two different assessments that were connected to their math and science curriculums. The overarching goal of the study was for the assessment to show that the class who was using 1:1 learning scored higher scores and had better attendance rates.

After analyzing all of the data, the results were somewhat inconclusive and did not adequately support one way of learning over the other. After reading the study, I found myself a little disappointed in the results. However, I am not entirely sure that the methods used to test this theory were the most sufficient. I feel like the methods were limited and could have presented more opportunities to truly test achievement and motivation.

I did find it interesting that common barriers within educational technology like the digital divide and lack of professional development still posed as an issue when it came to best implementing 1:1 learning (Harris et al., 2016). At the end of the article, the authors concluded that professional development and a student’s exposure to technology play a major role in the success of 1:1 integration. My hope as I continue this study is to find research that provides possible solutions for overcoming those barriers, as well as resources that support 1:1 learning in K12 classrooms.

Reference

Harris, J. L., Al-Bataineh, M. T., & Al-Bataineh, A. (2016). One to one technology and its effect on student academic achievement and motivation. Contemporary Educational Technology, 7(4), 368-381. Retrieved from https://files-eric-ed-gov.wmlsrsu.idm.oclc.org/fulltext/EJ1117604.pdf

Article Analysis 1-Kasey Brown.pdf

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