Braydon Webb 17506739

Critical Analysis Technology in Schools

As technology becomes more integrated into Australian society, it becomes more evident in

the field of education. In the 12 months prior to April 2009, the most popular use of the

internet was educational activities with 85% of students using the internet at home for school

purposes (ABS, 2014). Students ages 12-14 years spent on average about an hour and thirty

minutes online each day (ABS, 2014). This paper aims to critically analyse two research

articles which both are assessing the success of the one to one laptop initiative by the

Australian Government. The two journals which will be analysed are Beckman and

colleagues journal on Understanding students use and value of technology for learning

(2014) and Simon J. Crook and colleagues report An evaluation of the impact of 1 : 1

Laptops on student attainment in senior high school sciences. Both these articles are

concerned with analysing the use of hand held technologies in classrooms but varying in

quantitative and qualitative approaches. As this essay will debate, using technology in

education is a revolutionary step towards better teacher practice and pedagogies. This essay

will briefly describe each of the articles, and analyse their methodology, results and

conclusion and evaluate these using relevant research to identify any gaps, oversights or

general issues with each of the articles. It will then compare the two articles to give insight

into their similarities and differences. The essay will then conclude by synthesizing what was

learnt from this critical analysis and what implications these articles might have on the

teaching and teachers pedagogies.

Beckmans journal titles Understanding students use and value of technology for learning is

a qualitative study which investigated the broader social environment of students technology

practices, through listening to the students view, to demonstrate the complex network of

1|Page
Braydon Webb 17506739

contextual and circumstantial influences on students technology practices (Beckman at el,

2014). The study was conducted in two Australian regional high schools, with 12 participants

in total. The study used interviews, observations and questionnaires to help prompt feedback

on the effects of technology in classrooms. After gaining results from the qualitative

methods, the study used Bourdieus sociological theory to investigate the social nature of

technology for learning (1990).

The introduction is a solid overview of the topic, giving insight into the reasons why

technology in schools is a big talking point. It clearly identifies the purpose of the study and

indicates it is a qualitative study which is researching the perspectives of students with

regards to the Australian governments initiative 1:1 Laptops for Learning programs and the

federal governments commitment to the Digital Education Revolution. It challenged the

idea of digital education was revolutionary by assessing the students perspectives of

technology use in classrooms and outside of school to see if the governments initiatives are

aligned with the average student.

The methodology in the study draws on students perspectives of technology and education.

Two schools participated in the study, both have socio-educational values lower than the

Australian average. The researches picked 12 students from 64 after sampling which aimed to

including students from different backgrounds, access to technology, different levels of use

and different perceptions of technology. The 12 students provided in-depth descriptions and

insights into students technology practices spanning over 10 weeks. This included one on

one structured interviews, a technology diary, and a final semi-structured interview. This

study design was guided by Bourdieus sociological theory to help researches gain a critical

understanding of students values of technology in school.

2|Page
Braydon Webb 17506739

The results and conclusion of this study indicated that students had a poor attitude towards

the use of technology in lessons. The most used technology in school was the 1:1 laptop

given out by the Australian government, which the interviewed students indicated using it

nearly every day. Students all agreed that the laptops were given to students to increase their

ability to connect to the internet for researching and learning in class. Although 4 students

had negative attitudes towards the use of laptops in class stating they didnt engage students

enough. The mixed reviews of the school laptops suggest students have diverse opinions of

laptops in class, and some believe technology may not be a revolutionary educational tool.

The conclusion suggests that technology has not revolutionised education, but shows

evidence of evolution. The study claimed that their research has uncovered that using

technology as an improved teaching method is not reflective in students.

Simon Crooks and colleagues study An evaluation of the impact of 1:1 laptops on student

attainment in senior high school sciences (2014) aimed to evaluate if having 1:1 laptops

distributed by the Australian Government was a predictor of success in the science

curriculum areas of biology, chemistry and physics. This study involved 967 students-within

the subjects (756 students, some did two science disciplines) from 12 different high schools

across Sydney including schools in disadvantaged areas with 5 schools without the 1:1

laptops and 7 schools with the 1:1 laptops. The study looks as the achievement levels of three

science disciplines including biology, chemistry and physics.

The introduction gave good insight into why the study has been selected, giving a global

view, national and state view. It highlights that the 1:1 laptop initiative was a very blind

decision, as no evidence reinforcing the use of technology as a positive indicator to

achievements level was present. They claim that this will help to unsolved questions which

have been left unanswered concerning technology and achievement levels.

3|Page
Braydon Webb 17506739

The methodology in this study uses quantitative data which was collected by 12 high schools

in Sydney which varied in gender, socio-economic and grades profile. The schools where

split into two groups to have two equal groups concerning the variations listed above and

were listed as schools with laptops and school without laptops. The methodology was

conducted in three parts, multiple regression of natural experiment data, effect sizes of

natural experiment data and questionnaires. The questionnaires were used to determine what

the laptops were used for during lessons. This qualitative approach gave insight into how the

teachers used the technology in class. The use of this mixed method approach helped to

determine if all teaching environments were similar.

The results indicated the impact of 1:1 laptops on student attainment in the sciences, even

though the effect sizes were small, increased average net examination scores by three to five

marks higher in students. Crooks concluded with stating that the 1:1 laptop environment

provided the catalyst for a paradigm shift providing students with the opportunities for more

student-cantered and personalized learning.

Both articles are looking at students and the relationship between the 1:1 laptop initiatives

which was rolled out in partnership with the Digital Education Revolution. Beckmans

article claims that this is not a revolution and their evidence in their study proves that

technology isnt as influential as some people think. Crooks article challenges this idea by

using quantitative data to reinforce that the 1:1 laptop initiative actually had positive results.

This paper will now compare the two articles to find gaps and general issues with their

claims.

Crooks study had a bigger study group then Beckmans study. While Beckmans study had

included purposeful sampling to try and get a group of participants who reflected the average

of students in Australia, Crooks article was more valid having used over 750 students across

4|Page
Braydon Webb 17506739

12 schools. Teddlie suggested that sampling strategies should stem logically from the

research question and hypotheses that are being addressed in the study (2007). In Beckmans

study they aim to get students understanding of technology in schools, but only choose two

schools in regional Australia, failing to choose a good sample of group student. Crooks study

used a larger study group including more schools and students to overcome this issue to give

more meaningful results as it represents a more realistic picture of Australian students.

Although Beckmans study did try to overcome study size group by using purposeful

sampling to try and give the best estimated sample of Australian society. Purposeful sampling

is when the researches rely on their judgement to select participants in the study (Gall et al,

2014). Although their judgment in the sampling procedure may be considered bias against the

1:1 laptops, and choosing the 12 participants may have not truly represented their claims.

This is why Crooks study becomes stronger as it randomly selected 12 schools across Sydney

making two groups (students with and without laptops). The groups were created to be made

as equal as possible. Although it should be noted that they organised the distribution of

laptops so that the students without laptops had greater and not have one group who had no

access at all at home or at school. This gives better results when concerning their involvement

in school. Also ethically, giving students who have high access to laptops at home another

Madrigal and colleagues suggest that both methods of research have strengths and

weaknesses (2012). Crooks article uses a mixed methods approach to avoided any weakness

which might occur in a solo quantities study. Beckmans study argued that technology was

not revolutionary, although Crooks study overcomes this by indicating that students results

were higher by receiving laptops in class. While it is necessary to have both quantitative and

qualitative studies conducted in the same field of research, the best approach is a mixed

methods approach (Punch, 2012, Pg 113). The two articles contradict each other, but Crooks

method seems to have more strength in its claims. This is because Beckmans qualitative

5|Page
Braydon Webb 17506739

study cannot validate these trends by calculating a p-value (Mardrigal et al, 2012). A

quantitative study can provide information including statistical significant which helps

overcome the possibility that an observed effect would have occurred due to sampling error

alone. Crooks study states that all subjects models were statistical significant throughout the

study (P-Value <.05) making it more reliable source compared to Beckmans.

Teachers must stay informed of new research which can help to improve their teaching

methods. While more research is needed, it would seem evident that laptops do help to

increase education achievement levels regardless of students values and opinions on

technology. By using the two articles outcomes and information we can help to create better

teaching methods and pedagogy when using technology in classrooms.

Beckmans study had quotes from students stating that they didnt work well with

technology and preferred more traditional methods of teaching such as writing in a text

book. As Gayle suggests all students learn in different ways, whether it is by writing,

listening, or visual representations. It is important to consider one size doesnt fit all as

education aims to be inclusive for all students (2013, p.22). Teachers should use technology

but should also plan to deal with students who dont work well with technology. For example

6|Page
Braydon Webb 17506739

providing worksheets both in virtual and paperback form would help to keep all students

engaged in the lesson content. Also the content being taught may indicate whether laptops

should be used. Crooks study highlighted that laptops helped improve physics, chemistry and

biology students results. This may not translate into other curriculum areas such as English

or PDHPE. Crooks indicated that it worked best for physics students as they got to use excel

during their work. While physics has a lot of mathematics involved it may indicate that

technology may be useful when teaching subjects like mathematics. As Slavin suggests

technology is helpful in improving students achievement levels in math giving more support

to Crooks claims (2013).

Crooks studies states teachers who have been teaching for more than 10 years find it difficult

to use technology. This may give indication to the Australian government to initiate a

nationwide education course to upskill these teachers to improve the use of technology in

classrooms. This is being implemented by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and

Reporting Authority who are making a technology curriculum which is waiting for final

endorsement by the Australian Government (ACARA, 2013). This will help develop teachers

who understand technology better and help students understand how they should use their

laptop and other devices in the classroom. This will change teachers pedagogies and

incorporate technology in the correct way as teachers will be better equip to deal with the

introduction of technology into the classroom.

By critically analysing these two studied and comparing them we can get a better

understanding on how technology and the laptop 1:1 initiative can be best used in Australian

schools. Technology is forever changing society and will continue to do so; this is why it is

important to continue to carry out research in this field of study. While Beckmans study has

7|Page
Braydon Webb 17506739

some strong evidence, Crooks study is more widespread and gives a better indication on how

technology can help increase student achievement levels. By identifying the gaps in

Beckmans study and using Crooks study as a guide to improvement, we can create teacher

implications when concerning technology in schools.

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2013). Household Use of information Technology, Australia,

2012-13. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/8146.0

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2013). Technologies. Retrieved

from http://www.acara.edu.au/technologies.html

Beckman ,K., Bennett, S. & Lockyer, L. (2014). Understanding students' use and value of
technology for learning, Learning, Media and Technology. 3(39), Pg 346-367,
OI:10.1080/17439884.2013.878353

Crook, S., Sharma, M. & Wilson, R. (2015). An Evaluation of the Impact of 1:1 Laptops on
Student Attainment in Senior High School Sciences, International Journal of Science
Education. 2(37). Pg, 272-293. DOI: 10.1080/09500693.2014.982229

Gall, M., Gall, J., & Borg, W. (2014). Case studies in qualitative research. In Applying
educational research: How to read, do, and use research to solve problems of practice (7th
Ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Gayle, H., Chapman, C. (2013). Differentiated Instructional Strategies: One size Doesnt Fit
All. (1st Ed.).

Punch, K. (2014). Introduction to social research: Quantitative and Qualitative approach. (3 rd

Ed)

8|Page
Braydon Webb 17506739

Teddlie, C., Yu, F. (2007). Mixed methods Sampling: A Typology with examples. Journal of
mixed methods research. 1(1) pg 77-100

9|Page