Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Committee Chair

Steven Bingham

Abstract

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine teacher perceptions of the extent to which they promoted student acquisition of 21st century skills in a one-to-one laptop program. Many proponents of one-to-one learning suggest that 21st century learning skills are best acquired in a student-centered, constructivist learning environment; therefore, constructivist learning theory was the conceptual framework for this study. The researcher also sought to discover any benefits or challenges that teachers encountered while implementing the laptop program. Eighty-six teachers at a southeastern state public high school responded to a survey, and 10 of those teachers were interviewed. The researcher also interviewed participating teachers’ students to determine the extent to which their responses corroborated teacher perceptions. Findings suggested that most classes at the research site were not taught in accordance with constructivist learning theory. Though most teachers perceived that the laptop program enhanced student learning, students reported that laptops were often a mere substitute for paper and pencil. Teachers found that the greatest benefit of the one-to-one laptop program was that all students were given equal access to resources. Teachers and students agreed that students benefitted from always having instant access to information with the laptops. The researcher suggests that future technology training for teachers be more content-specific and encourage constructivist learning.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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