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Students say they love laptops - 23% of parents participate in survey |
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A survey shows support for continuing the student laptop program runs high within the Eastern Townships School Board.
On Tuesday evening, the ETSB presented the results of a questionnaire on its Enhanced Learning Strategy, which equips students from Grade 3 through Level 5 with a portable computer.
“We were the first public school board in the country to implement such an initiative,” said Steve Weary, the ETSB’s principal of special projects. “As we’ve gone along, there’s been a lot
of wondering about how well things are working.
“We hear both ends, but we’ve always been interested to know what the majority thinks.”
And that majority said they are in favour of supporting the continuation of the program, Weary reads.
The study, he said, will help direct what the program may look like in coming years, as the board plans to scale back laptop use to the classrooms where the computers are deemed most effective.
Students, parents, teachers and administrators filled out surveys in February, based on a similar questionnaire put out by another American school district.
Of those who responded, 83 per cent of students, 72 per cent of teachers, 79 per cent of parents and 94 per cent of administrators indicated they were in favour of seeing the laptop program continue.
Of the four participating groups, though, response rates varied, with 23 per cent of parents filling out surveys, 65 per cent of teachers, 73 per cent of students and 93 per cent of administrators.
Participants were directed to a website to fill out surveys, managed by a British Columbian firm. When Weary noticed a poor parent response rate, the survey was downloaded onto their children’s laptops and taken home for parents to complete, which Weary said produced twice as many responses.
Wear admits, though, that there was no statistical sampling done to arrive at the results.
“We had a very good response rate,” he said. “But this was not a scientific study, we wanted to get a good poll of usage.”
Across the board
According to the survey, administrators are prioritizing elementary cycle 3 and secondary cycle 4 students as those most likely to receive a laptop next year, saying those groups appeared to benefit most from the program.
Students from all grade levels overwhelmingly supported having laptops in the classroom, with 82 per cent indicating that laptops make schoolwork more interesting.
Among other issues, 31 per cent of teachers polled reported that students spend more time in class playing than working. Twenty-four per cent of teachers said they spend more time disciplining students when laptops are being used.
But Weary doesn’t believe that laptops are the cause of misbehaviour in the classroom.
“There’s no way to totally block that out,” he said. “The best way is to have students engaged in what they’re doing.”
Administrators, whose support of the laptop initiative ran highest, said they spend approximately 10 per cent of their time on issues related to the laptop initiative, including processing repairs and pedagogical support.
Of the just over 900 parents the board queried on the program, 77 per cent were from the elementary sector.
At home, parents said laptops are used about equally for personal use and schoolwork.
Among issues with having laptops brought home from school, 28 per cent of parent respondents found their child spends too much time playing with it at home, while 19 per cent said their child was too young to have the responsibility of caring for a laptop.
Of the four groups polled, Weary said the board doesn’t weigh one or the other more in the process of directing the future of the Enhanced Learning Strategy. Each group, he pointed out, shed a different light on how the program is used and perceived.
The next phase is analyzing data at the school level and looking for recommendations from schools’ governing boards.
When the Enhanced Learning Strategy was first launched in 2003, there was never any definite indication that the program would remain as widespread as it is now, Weary said.
Under the ETSB’s current budget, the majority of the more than $12 million projected deficit incurred by the program is meant to be paid back by 2015.
With the majority of the ETSB’s laptops on lease, and many set to expire this year, the board will determine which to buy out and which to replace.
The new deployment of the computers could be determined as early as next September, said the chair of the ETSB’s council of commissioners.
“We have to decide what shape this is going to take in the future, and this survey gives us an idea,” said Michael Murray. “Some of the issues raised by the survey may take longer to be resolved.”
To see the complete results of the survey, visit the ETSB’s website at www.etsb.qc.ca.
By Sarah Rogers
April 24, 2008 |
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Montreal Canadiens
