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Advantages and Challenges of 1-1 laptop projects: the case of 23 Canadian schools in underprivileged contexts

, University of Montreal, Canada ; , University of Quebec in Montreal, Canada ; , , University of Montreal, Canada

Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference, in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States ISBN 978-1-939797-02-5 Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), Waynesville, NC USA

Record type: PROCEEDINGS

Abstract

The overall goal of this study was to better understand of the advantages and challenges of using laptops in 23 Canadian primary and secondary schools located in underprivileged contexts. In all, more than 2400 students (grades 3 to 11), 272 teachers, 14 education support staff and three school principals participated in the data collection. Three main data collection instruments were used: survey questionnaires, individual semi-directed interviews, and group interviews. Overall, the data collected highlights 12 main benefits of using laptops as well as four major challenges. The preliminary results of this study indicate that the ‘one laptop per child’ strategy fully contributes to students’ academic success at the participating schools, even in underprivileged contexts. The lesson retained is that, despite the technical and pedagogical challenges, this innovative initiative to provide ‘one laptop per child’ in underprivileged contexts has produced incontestable gains in both teaching and learning, and for the future social and professional lives of the students involved.

Citation

Karsenti, T., Collin, S., Dumouchel, G. & Dupuis, A. (2013). Advantages and Challenges of 1-1 laptop projects: the case of 23 Canadian schools in underprivileged contexts. In R. McBride & M. Searson (Eds.), Proceedings of SITE 2013--Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 1886-1893). New Orleans, Louisiana, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved March 28, 2024 from .