Learning with eMates in Etobicoke Final Project Report

Abstract

This study examines the assumption that optimal learning occurs in classrooms where every child has access to their own eMate laptop computer. Grades one to four classrooms in six schools of an urban school district were provided with laptop computers in three different student-to-computer ratios (1:1, 2:1, 4:1). Throughout the school year three samples of student writing were taken at equal intervals and classrooms were regularly observed. Writing samples were also collected from control classrooms in the same schools that did not have access to computers. A MANCOVA analysis of holistic ratings of writing samples revealed that by the end of the school year there were significant differences between the four groups in their development of writing proficiency (p<.05), with students in the 2:1 ratio classes showing the greatest average gains, followed closely by the 1:1 and then the 4:1 classes. The control group students demonstrated the least improvement. A logistic regression analysis of the observational data indicated that in classes with eMates, teachers were less likely to be engaging in direct instruction and more likely to using a resource-based, project-oriented pedagogical strategy. They also spent more time managing student activities