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ARTICLE CRITIQUE 3

Article Critique 3

Paris A. Dimick

Georgia Southern University

FRIT 7237: Evaluation of Educational Needs & Programs

Dr. Hodges

April 5, 2021
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Reference:

Lowther, D. L., Ross, S. M., & Morrison, G. M. (2003). When each one has one: The influences

on teaching strategies and student achievement of using laptops in the

classroom. Educational Technology Research & Development, 51(3), 23–44.

Frechtling,J, Mark,M, &Rog,D. (2010). The 2010 user- friendly handbook for project

evaluation. National Science Foundation. 52-74.

Summary

       As technology development has progressed exponentially, the inclusion of those factors will

impact the education system every day. According to Lowther, Ross & Morrison, "… the

proportion in classroom relative to computer laboratories is also increasing" (When each one has

one, pg. 23). This article, 'When each one has one,' outlines a study in which the evaluator seeks

to find how laptop programs can influence students' educational experience and learning in and

out the classroom (pg.25). The background information of this study takes place in Crossover

School District in a predominantly suburban middle-class family. It specifically takes place

within seven schools in this district (four elementary and three middle schools) and implements

the Anytime, Anywhere Learning (AAL) laptop program. Every device used will come with a

monthly lease fee of fifty dollars. There will be one computer per student and 5 per class which

is identified as the control. The participants will include 5-7th grade students, teachers, and

parents from two groups. Concerning this information, there will be 21 classrooms used (12

laptops; 9 control), wherein the 5th grade will have three laptops and three control; the 6th grade

will have six laptops and three control; the 7th grade will have three laptops and three control. It
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is important to note that the control is teachers received training, and classrooms were equipped

with 5-6 desktop computers.

            Regarding data collection, this study pulled School Observation Measures (SOM), which

is where data regards instructional practices were collected through 10-13 randomly selected

classrooms for 15 minutes each (180 minutes total). The Survey of Computer Use (SCU) is an

instrument used in addition to SOM, where its job was to gather data on student access and use

of computers and use of computers regarding activities. Writing assessments have been used to

get samples from the device on ideas and content, organization, style, and convention. Problem-

solving assessments were used to gauge students' level of comprehension in connection to

problems and creating solutions. Student surveys were used to identify several areas, such as

how the devices affected their writing ability, interest, and school improvement. Also, they

surveyed the students on how often they use the device, internet access, and even open-ended

questions on the best and worst aspects of the program. Finally, they used Teacher

Interviews  and  District parent surveys to gather intel on how the program has affected them

personally and with other educators and how parents viewed the program. The results indicated

overall positive results regarding all categories mentioned. Both students and parents enjoyed the

devices and were agitated by boot time, errors, unsaved work, or the device being too big.

Critique

Reader Reaction

           My overall reaction to this article felt very close to home regarding the topic and grade

level student life. This article's elements verified a lot of how I grew up as an elementary and

middle school student with a device and internet. I was one of the very fortunate to have a laptop

or desktop or both and have the internet at home and within the school. The experiences that I
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have had led me to become an instructional technology major in graduate school. When used

correctly and implemented using ethical theories and methods, technology can be powerful in

elevating knowledge or research skills. I also loved the fact that both teacher and parents' voices

were involved; this allowed me to relate because my dad, who was in his 60s/70s at the time,

took a computer class, and I was able to help guide him as an elementary student with yahoo

email and primary usage. 

Elements

      As stated before, the article was well constructed regarding providing multiple evaluation

techniques like surveys, observations, in-depth interviews, and tests. The article detailed the

purpose of the method and how it provided research within the goals of this article study. SOM

and SCU were both surveys that used 5-point & 3-point rubrics to evaluate specific data points

such as instructional strategies and academic focus time. According to Frechtling, Mark &Rog,

"very popular… when gathering information from large groups" ( The 2010 user-friendly

handbook for project evaluation, pg.58), and in this particular study, they surveyed over "257

laptop students" (pg.33). Tests were also constructed appropriately regarding the skills analyzed

by the 6th and 7th-grade students performing the writing and problem-solving test.

Limitations

           Concerning areas that could be evaluated and fixed a bit more are identifying time

constraints within the whole process. I was perplexed on how long this study took or how much

time each instrument was used. When using qualitative and quantitative methodologies, it is

essential to understand the value of the data and the practicality of those issues being evaluated.
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According to The 2010 user-friendly handbook for project evaluation, "Although technological

innovations have shortened the time needed to process quantitative data, a good evaluation

requires considerable time to design and implement" (Frechtling, Mark & Rog , pg. 55). Within

this particular study, the only time they mention how long they took to conduct the survey is

when they outline the SOM survey, which takes 3 hours of visitation time. When they talk about

all the other methods, there are no other time references made available. They also never tell us

how long this entire survey took from start to finish.

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