The Importance of Student One-to-One Technology

Every so often, we get asked about why technology is important in schools. We understand why some people are nostalgic about their time in school when paper and pencil were the primary tools for learning, but nostalgia is remembered through rose colored glasses. It is not what we should use to plan the curriculum of today's students. It is our job to prepare our students to succeed in the world they will graduate into, not the one we lived in. The economy is no longer a "paper and pencil" environment. Technology is a fact of life. We do them a disservice if they are not well versed in its applications for everything from applying for a job online to creating work products.

Teaching and learning, supported by modern technology, has the potential to improve student achievement and empower students with skills they need as they graduate from VCS schools. A rich body of research shows that when used effectively, technology has a positive effect on many student performance measures of both academic and skill-based competencies. Below are a number of examples.

When considering the effectiveness of technology interventions, positive findings increased threefold with effective training and support. (Archer, Karin, et al. “Examining the effectiveness of technology use in classrooms: A tertiary meta-analysis.” Computers & Education, vol. 78, 2014, pp. 140–149.)

A meta-analysis of 10 studies examines the impact of laptop programs on students’ academic achievement, found significantly positive average effect sizes in English, writing, mathematics, and science. (Zheng, Binbin, et al. “Learning in one-to-one laptop environments.” Review of Educational Research, vol. 86, no. 4, 2016, pp. 1052–1084.)

If technology is interwoven comprehensively into pedagogy, it can act as a powerful tool for effective learning of elementary students. (Chauhan, Sumedha. “A meta-analysis of the impact of technology on learning effectiveness of elementary students.” Computers & Education, vol. 105, 2017, pp. 14–30.)

Educational software designed to help students develop particular skills at their own rate of progress have shown enormous promise in improving learning outcomes, particularly in math. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Will technology transform education for the better?” J-PAL, 2019.)

Technology can enhance learning in secondary school mathematics and science. Overall, digital tool use had a positive effect on student learning outcomes. Use of intelligent tutoring systems or simulations such as dynamic mathematical tools were significantly more beneficial than hypermedia systems. (Delia Hillmayr, Lisa Ziernwald, Frank Reinhold, Sarah I. Hofer, Kristina M. Reiss “The potential of digital tools to enhance mathematics and science learning in secondary schools: A context-specific meta-analysis.” Computers & Education 153:103897, 2020.)

Studies involved 53,029 learners showed that technology-supported personalized learning had a statistically significant positive effect. More personalized approaches which adapt or adjust to learners' level led to significantly greater impact. (Louis Major, Gill A. Francis, and Maria Tsapali “The effectiveness of technology-supported personalized learning in low- and middle-income countries: A meta-analysis.” British Journal of Educational Technology, 2021.)

A meta-analysis of 60 high-quality, peer-reviewed empirical publications examined students' deep learning outcomes to assess the overall effectiveness of digital technology. The calculated effect size indicates a positive influence of digital technology on students' deep learning outcomes. (Xiu-Yi Wu, Shenzhen “Exploring the effects of digital technology on deep learning: a meta-analysis.” Institute of Information Technology, Education and Information Technologies 29(3):1-34, 2024.)