This quantitative study explores the success rate of middle school students who chose to participate in virtual learning during the 2020-2021 school year. Students were provided access to the internet and Chromebooks and had attendance requirements within the program. Families that chose the virtual learning option agreed to give the students…

Analysis of social action has increasingly considered the place of 'things' in recent years, including seeing objects (both physical and digital) as co-participants in social interaction, systems, and the research process. This article argues that video ethnography is well positioned to address such considerations including, with some…

Almost a decade after the massive incorporation of technology into schools in Galicia, Spain based on 1:1 computing programs, where teachers and students have access to laptop computers, this study explored the effects of technology on the lives of children in situations of socio-cultural and economic exclusion. Three case studies were selected…

This research explored the impact of a sixth grade one-to-one laptop initiative on student attitudes about learning and technological competencies. The study compared student preintervention and postintervention survey data prior to and after a sixth grade laptop intervention initiative. The survey responses were divided into 5 dimensions (School…

This research followed a qualitative analysis model using grounded theory to explore unknown variables regarding integrating technology into the K-12 classroom, focusing on secondary classrooms. This study observed a small private high school in the Southeast region of the United States and its policy requiring students to provide personal…

When implementing large-scale educational computing initiatives (e.g., One Laptop Per Child) it is vital to allocate resources for training, support, and device deployment judiciously. One question that arises is how learners' engagement with online educational resources is affected by receiving a new computer; do the benefits justify the costs?…

This study analyzed 4 different schools in urban Philadelphia that were utilizing 1-to-1 laptops within their classrooms for at least 3 years. The study focused on Grade 11 students in 3 high schools, 2 of which were district-run and 1 charter school. The 1 charter middle school was also analyzed for Grades 6, 7, and 8. These schools were compared…

Educators and the public often assume that digital technologies lay within the domain of newer teachers who may have grown up in a more digital world or have more practical experience using different mediums of technology, like social media and Web 2.0 applications. However veteran teachers have strong content and pedagogical knowledge at their…

The current study examines the effects of digital scaffolding on the English literacy of fourth- and sixth-grade students. A total of 1085 native English-speaking and language minority students from 25 treatment classes and 20 control classes across three school districts participated in this study for one school year. Treatment students read…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine what effective teaching with technology looked like in practice within middle grade Social Studies' classrooms. An additional purpose was to understand how teachers' combine content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and technological knowledge when making decisions about their curriculum.…

In the wake of No Child Left Behind, schools continue to be evaluated according to standardized test results. Researchers suggest that technology can assist students with development and school achievement. While laptop initiative (LI) technology was being implemented by South Carolina districts in the middle schools classrooms, educational…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the engagement of 11 middle school-aged students from a southeast Michigan public school, who were given laptop computers with twenty-four-hour-a-day Internet access in order to complete homework assignments. Specifically, this study examined the perceptions of sixth-grade students regarding the…

Synchronous collaboration with large groups in a classroom requires coordination and communication mechanisms that allow students to contribute towards achieving a common goal. This paper presents an application based on an Interpersonal Computer with a shared display that promotes synchronous, non-verbal (silent) collaboration with large groups…

Prior research suggests that summer learning loss among low-income children contributes to income-based gaps in achievement and educational attainment. We present results from a randomized experiment of a summer mathematics program conducted in a large, high-poverty urban public school district. Children in the third to ninth grade (N = 263) were…

Adolescents today have vastly different opportunities to learn and process information via pervasive digital technologies and social media. However, there is scant literature on the impact of these technologies on urban adolescents with lower socioeconomic status. This study of 531 urban students in grades 6-8 used a self-reported survey to…