Analyzing and Evaluating the 1:1 Learning Model: What would Dewey Do? Danielle Cadieux Boulden North Carolina State University Bit.ly/1o0avTQ

Outline: Why John Dewey? Dewey’s Beliefs Dewey and 1:1 Computing Recommendations Access Support Use Conclusion

Why John Dewey?

Dewey’s Beliefs Experiences are the foundation of an education. Education sustains democracy. Education is child-centered and an active process.

For Dewey, experiences were the foundation of an education, and in essence, the education itself. (Dewey, 1897/2013; Dewey, 1902/1990; Dewey 1916/1944)

The role of the school is to prepare and enable students to learn how to live in a democratic society to ensure social progress. (Dewey, 1900/1990; Dewey, 1916/1944)

Education is learner-centered and part of an active process. (Dewey, 1897/2013; Dewey, 1902/1990)

Dewey and 1:1 Computing Dewey’s views on the Industrial Revolution as a framework for understanding what would be his views on the Information Age. “The Internet and the Knowledge Age have ignited similar calls for new educational approaches that use the advances in virtual technology to prepare students for the challenges and demands of thriving in this new disruptive time.” (Kilfoye, 2013, p. 56)

Support for 1:1 Paradigms

1:1 models support constructivist learning experiences. Pedagogical changes where students become active participants in the construction of knowledge (Mouza, 2008; Rockman et al., 2000). “Advances in digital technology during the past fifty years have opened up many new ways to structure learning experiences around direct participation,” (Cunningham, 2009, p. 50).

1:1 models show increased student motivation and engagement. Students have increased choice which leads to greater motivation and interest. (Bebell & Kay, 2010) Builds a bridge between students’ school experiences and their home lives. “The great waste of schools” is that “when the child gets into the schoolroom he has to put out of mind a large part of the ideas, interests, and activities that predominate in his home and neighborhood” (Dewey, 1915/1990, p. 75).

1:1 models increase access to resources to bolster problem-based or inquiry based learning. Increased access to a variety of resources and communication tools connect students to the wider science community. (Drayton, Falk, Stroud, Hobbs, & Hammerman, 2010) Subject-matter “should be introduced, not so much as new subject matter, but as showing factors already involved in previous experience and as furnishing tools by which that experience can be more easily and effectively regulated” (Dewey, 1897/2013, p. 37).

Critiques & Concerns

Technology as a Substitute for Human Social Interaction “Technology certainly cannot substitute for human classroom interactions” (Drayton et al., 2010). Each school should be an “embryonic community” where students work together as they encounter one another in adult life to enhance social progress (Dewey, 1900/1990, p. 29).

Drill-and-Practice Style Activities Technology becomes an add-on rather than a tool for transforming instructional practice and student learning (Cuban, 2001; Dunleavy et al., 2007). Dewey believed instruction was futile where students “are thrown into a passive, receptive, or absorbing attitude,” as it does not follow the active impulse of children (Dewey, 1897/2013, p. 38). Dewey warned of “ready-made materials” where the student is expected “to take in as much as possible in the least possible time” (Dewey, 1900/1990, p. 32)

Is 1:1 a Viable Model for Primary Students? Young children need active play. “The active side precedes the passive in the development of the child-nature; that expression comes before conscious impression; that the muscular development precedes the sensory; that movements come before conscious sensations” (Dewey, 1897/2013, p. 38)

Recommendations - Access - Support - Use

Access The “concentrated model” where students have access to their devices both at school and at home provides the same access students will have as adults as they function in a digital society, as well as increased equity (Rockman et al., 1997). Schools may need to restructure their technology access policies for optimal information access needed to provide students with real-world learning experiences (Kilfoye, 2013).

Support The level of support provided for teachers is an integral factor (Bebell & O’Dwyer, 2010). Dewey would advocate for 1:1 only in schools where transformed pedagogy is encouraged and supported through professional development, a collegial atmosphere, by administration, and where an overall climate of risk-taking is promoted.

Use As a means to enhance communication between students, students and teachers, parents, and the wider community. Laptops are “a potent tool for bringing the wider world into the classroom” (Warschauer, 2006). 21 st Century community includes the entire globe. Laptops will connect students globally to teach cultural diversity.

Tools for collaborative problem-solving to tackle modern-day social problems such as pollution, health-care issues, poverty, and violence in preparation to be tomorrow’s global leaders. Warschauer (2006) documented that accessing media through laptops helps stimulate student interest and build on prior learning experiences by provoking background knowledge. Multimedia production is important for multimedia literacy, knowledge representation, and knowledge creation (Warschauer, 2006).

“A distinctively learned class is henceforth out of the question. It is an anachronism. Knowledge is no longer an immobile solid; it has been liquefied. It is actively moving in all the currents of society itself” (Dewey, 1900/1990, p. 25). 1:1 learning models, if designed effectively, enable knowledge to be easily accessed, manipulated, and produced by ALL students. Conclusion