Do laptops in schools promote learner autonomy and achievement in English

language learning?

Paul Woods Regional English

Adviser

British Council Argentina

• What do we know about the impact of 1 to 1 laptops in schools - research from 6 states in USA

• The OLPC laptop project in Peru• Laptops in schools in Argentina• The Plan Ceibal project in Uruguay

XO laptops in a Uruguayan Primary School

Motivating factors 1.

Learning can take place anywhere

Motivating factors 2.

Both the teachers and the students are learning together

Motivating factors 3.

Even at a very early age pupils can access the vast range of resources on the internet

What Do We Know About the Impact of One-to-One?

North Carolina State University studied six statewide 1 to 1 initiatives

Five Student Outcomes Engagement

Teachers and students generally agreed that laptops increased student engagement

MotivationTeachers and students in some states concurred that laptops increase student motivation, but results were mixed.

Achievement Students and teachers in some of the states thought that

the use of laptops had a positive impact on student achievement, although this was not always supported by the test scores

Self-directed learning Students not only were participating more in group work but also were engaging in self-directed learning.

21st century skills (technology, innovation, communication, collaboration)Improvements across the board in these skills

CHANGES TO INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES• Technology use for Instruction and the Changes in

Pedagogy that Result:Teachers in the initiatives used the technology in a number of ways and reported a positive impact on classroom instruction, and teacher readiness to integrate technology

• Teacher and student rolesResearchers noticed that the roles of teacher and students shift during the implementation of a 1:1 program.

PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION• Leadership

It is generally acknowledged that effective leadership is crucial to the success of a 1:1 program.

• Professional developmentProfessional development is another important factor for the success of a 1:1 program.

• InfrastructureRobust infrastructure - including the opportunity to access the Internet is also important to one-to-one success.

Laptop Initiatives: Summary of Research Across Six States http://k12blueprint.com/k12/blueprint/story_impact_1_1.php

SummaryIn general, the introduction of 1:1 initiatives led to positive responses, ranging from improved student achievement to

shifts in the way in which classrooms are run.

Recommendations were

• Develop a thorough implementation plan and train teachers before distributing digital devices;

• Ascertain that the school or district has the appropriate technology and leadership infrastructure to run the program;

• Secure strong buy-in from all stakeholders, including district and school leadership, teachers, students, parents, and the community;

• Construct a leadership team with an eye toward members who will commit long-term to the initiative and support it;

• Provide continuous professional development that is aligned with teacher needs;

• Ensure continuous availability of efficient technical and instructional support personnel;

• Enact polices for the appropriate use of digital devices and resources; and

• Use data from project evaluations to inform and improve future program decisions.

Bethel et al (2008): IMPACTS OF ONE-TO-ONE

COMPUTING IN K-12 CLASSROOMS

Theoretical synthesis (how it works)• Increasing access to information;• Providing access to a richer learning environment;• Makes learning more situated, authentic, life-like;• Increasing opportunities for active learning and

interconnectivity;• Enhancing student motivation to learn;• Increasing opportunities for feedback;• Enhancing opportunities for collaboration.• Catalyst for change, supporting the learning process

through course design and motivation.

http://ecbethel.com/Edward_C_Bethel/research_files/Betheletal08onetooneC2.pdf

Results from analysis of 114 articles

Laptops in Peru

The Peruvian government spent $225m to supply and

support 850,000 One Laptop per Child (OLPC) laptops in

schools throughout the country.

“GIVING a child a computer does not seem to turn him or her into a future Bill Gates—indeed it does not accomplish anything in particular.”

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Report

Findings: • Children who received computers did not show any improvement in maths or reading. • No evidence that access to a laptop increased motivation, or time devoted to homework or reading.• Test scores remained dismal. • Only 13% of seven-year-olds were at the required level in maths • Only 30% reached required level in reading. • Some positive effects were found in general cognitive skills

Conclusion from the official report

“The effective implementation of the “One Laptop per Child” program was not enough to overcome the difficulties of a design that places its trust in the role of technologies themselves. The use of technologies in education is not a magic and rapid solution through which educational problems and challenges can be solved with the simple acquisition of technological devices and systems”.

https://edutechdebate.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/OLPC_Peru_IDB_Report_Synopsis.pdf

Other conclusions from Peru• Program implementation was effective• Despite their availability, the laptops were only

used on some days of the week, especially at school

• There were no effects on learning after three months

• The evaluation found a higher level of teacher satisfaction, and moderately positive results in the development of students' analytical skills.

• The most important lesson was the need to focus the use of technology to improve learning in students, not only at a curricular level, but also to develop their skills and relevant competencies for their life in 21st Century society.

What people told “The Economist”

“Part of the problem is that students learn faster than

many of their teachers”

Lily Miranda, who runs a computer lab at a state school in San Borja, a middle-class area of Lima

“If teachers are telling kids to turn on computers and copy what is being written on the blackboard, then

we have invested in expensive notebooks,”

Sandro Marcone - in charge of educational technologies at the Ministry of Education

What is OLPC?

• Mission - the "$100 Laptop" - could revolutionize how we educate the world's children.

• Goal - to provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment, and express themselves.

• OLPC XO rolled out to developing countries in November 2007.

• Worldwide over 2.5 million children and teachers have XO laptops

1:1 learning - OLPC classroom devices

“OLPC's mission is to empower the world's poorest children through education” Nicholas Negroponte, MIT

“As the pace of change in the world increases dramatically, the urgency to prepare all children to be full citizens of the emerging world also increases dramatically”.

“What children lack is not capability, it is opportunity and resources. In the first years of OLPC we have seen two million previously marginalized children learn, achieve and begin to transform their communities.”

Where are the OLPC laptops?

• Uruguay• Paraguay• Peru• Madagascar• India

• Nepal

• Gaza & Ramallah

• Kenya

• Afghanistan

• Rwanda

Nepal

Down Every Path

Uruguay

Students in Artigas

Kenya

Gaza and Ramallah

Afghanistan

Madagascar

Peru

Nicaragua

Rwanda

India

Laptops in Use in Schools in the Americas

North America Canada 5,000 OLPC laptops Mexico 50,000 OLPC laptops United States of America 16,500 OLPC laptops

65,000 Apple Mac notebooks25,000 Dell laptops

Caribbean and Latin America Argentina 60,000 OLPC laptops (La Rioja) 1800,000 Intel Classmates 350,000 netbooksVenezuela 500,000 Intel ClassmatesColombia 20,000 OLPC laptops Haiti 13,000 OLPC laptops Peru 870,000 OLPC laptops Uruguay 510,000 mostly OLPC laptopsBrazil 1,500,000 Intel Classmates Paraguay 4,000 OLPC laptops

What are some of the criticisms?

Lack of teacher training and ongoing support OLPC gives underprivileged children laptops and "walks

away". This "drive-by" implementation model was the official

strategy of the project. Negroponte has said in response to this criticism that

"You actually can" give children a connected laptop and walk away

Experiences with self-guided learning in India (Sugata Mitra).

“Laptops are getting opened and turned on, but then kids and teachers are getting frustrated by hardware and software bugs, don't understand what to do, and promptly box them up to put back in the corner.“ (Intern in Peru)

Intel Classmate

• Intel teamed up with the British Council to introduce computer-based language learning in Egypt

• Egypt’s National Strategic Plan for Education Reform is designed to deliver high-quality education to all citizens.

• The Ministry of Education ran a computer-learning pilot program, in collaboration with the British Council and Intel, in a school in Cairo.

• The pilot was based on Intel-powered classmate PCs pre-loaded with English language learning software from the British Council.

Assessment• The pilot had four

assessment areas: training implications for

teachers impact of technology on

student motivation impact of technology on

attitudes towards technology

relevance of computer-based English language material from the British Council to the school’s English syllabus

Impact

• Highly engaged learning: the children and teachers readily engaged with the classmate - pilot evaluations highlighted increased levels of enjoyment and engagement

• Greater learner satisfaction: teachers and students reported higher levels of motivation and commitment

Result British Council has teamed up with Intel to pre-load

LearnEnglish materials onto Classmates – 150 million by 2015

Argentina – LearnEnglish Materials

Up to 3 million children using laptops in primary schools will have access to British Council LearnEnglish materialsThe LE materials have been mapped to the City of Buenos Aires curriculumIn-service training is needed for teachers in how to use the materialsBritish Council has recruited a trainer of trainers to work with local trainersPlans to work with 41 teacher training colleges in Province of Bs As and 26 trainers, to reach 2600 trainees initially

Educar Website - Argentina

www.chicos.gov.ar/justo-el-ingles-que-necesitas

http://learnenglish.educ.ar/

Criticisms

• Many pupils take the laptops home and don’t use them at school

• Some schools lack connectivity• Teachers have not been trained

to use the laptops, or have received insufficient training

• Inadequate arrangements for maintenance when things go wrong

Uruguay – Plan Ceibal

• Every child has a laptop• Tele-presence

technology • Remote teachers

Colombia and Argentina • RT 1 hr per week• CT 2 x 45 minutes per

week• Proof of concept phase • Progressive expansion

2-way video & audio

“This is Uruguay's problem: 40% of children who attend public schools come from the poorest fifth rung of society. And out of this fifth, just 3% makes it to college. Through Plan CEIBAL we decided to take a chance on making a change and to find a way out of this crisis we live in.”

Miguel Brechner, Plan Ceibal

Joint lesson planning

Students with Classroom

laptops

Local classroom:• TV screen showing

remote teacher• Lesson materials

shown via Webex

Joint lesson planning

Local class teacher

managing activity

Remote teacher using video-

phone

Uruguay – Remote Teaching using OLPC

What the class teachers say• Yo me siento más tranquila y con ganas de empezar. (Elizabeth)• Yo tenía mucho miedo al idioma. Me parecía que me iba a resultar

muy difícil poder enseñarles a los niños si yo tenía dudas, pero ahora que ya trabajamos en eso yo me siento más segura y apoyada. Me gustó mucho el grupo de compañeros docentes que se eligió. (Gabriela)

• Venía con muchas dudas, no en dictar el curso, sino en saber si podría dictarlo con eficiencia. Me gustó la forma de enseñarnos y me parece que no es tan difícil. (Ana)

• Me voy más tranquila. Han sido muy fortalecedores estos días, muy claros los profesores y excelentes las propuestas. (Silvia)

• Muy contenta y entusiasmada. Creo que en estas primeras unidades me siento segura de trabajarlas porque manejo el idioma (hasta ahí) El curso ha sido muy claro y enriquecedor. (Natalia)

• Experiencia sumamente enriquecedora. Me llevo más seguridades que inquietudes. El equipo con el que trabajamos es excelente.(Andres)

Indicators related to Social Impacts • Frequency of use of XO by children • Locations for internet Access Program Implementation • Operating status of XO • Teachers’ opinion on training • Evaluation of Plan Ceibal • Problems at school level Indicators related to Learning Impacts • Activities preferred by children • Activities used for homework • Time needed to learn to use the XO • Uses of XO • Motivation to use the XO in class Teachers: • Instructional planning • Self-administered surveys for children, teachers, principals and

parents Tools • Computer based text production by children • Individual and group interviews

Plan Ceibal Evaluation Indicators

Key Findings: • Internet via Cyber cafes

(65% 2006, 25% 2008 in the country side) Internet via school (32% 2006 67% 2008)

• Children take two weeks to

learn to handle the XO. Most learned by individual exploration.

• 50% of teachers use XO at least once a week, 21% almost daily.

• 92% of children use XO for homework.

• Browse activity is most preferred • Activities such as Write, Paint, and

Memorize less preferred by children in higher grades.

• Access to the XO not only closes the gap in access to computers and the Internet but also its use levels the students who don’t have a computer at home with the ones who do.

So - is the jury still out?• Teachers need to be trained adequately,

both in how to maximise use of the software on the laptops and how to manage a class where the pupils have laptops, for example, encouraging students to create their own simple blogs

• Where laptops are to be used as part of a structured programme, materials need to be mapped to or created for the local syllabus

• With young learners not everything can be done on the laptops – they need to touch, feel, handle, move round the room, do things actively with other children

• Testing should test what the students have been taught!

Elizabeth Dearmas's Class

We hope to show that, with sufficient support, appropriate training for classroom teachers and appropriate materials for the pupils, learners can achieve measurable results through lessons delivered via tele-presence technology, supported by classroom teachers with only a very limited knowledge of English.

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