5 Chapter 5: A Laptop for Every Learner: The Not So Simple Solution
5 Chapter 5: A Laptop for Every Learner: The Not So Simple Solution
Lindsay Humphreys
1:1 Defined
The development of 21st-century skills (Rich, 2020) is a mandate that has been increasingly and broadly adopted in education. This directive includes mastering skills that enable learners to collaborate, learn actively, inquire, and involve themselves in the design process through technology. Institutions are assisting students to develop 21st-century skills in part by implementing one-to-one (1:1) programs, which are believed to foster said skills (Islam & Grönlund, 2016). These programs mean that every student within an institution has access to a personal laptop (or tablet) at all times to complete their school work (Islam & Grönlund, 2016). Researchers have posited that 1:1 is a method by which student growth and preparedness can be ensured (Powers et al., 2020). To properly prepare students for the world outside of the school building, those who argue in support of developing 21st-century skills (e.g., Alvarado, 2018) contend that pedagogy is enacted to bring about the best consequences, which has shifted over the years to meet the needs of the individual, and society (Bates, 2019) resulting in an increasingly authentic, technology-charged classroom.
This chapter takes a utilitarian perspective while discussing the ethical implications of a 1:1 program. Utilitarianism, a consequentialist approach to ethics, maintains that the morally superior action is the one that results in the greater good (Driver, 2014). When everyone has equal access to education, society is better off. As the classroom changes because of technology, diligence must be maintained to ensure that education is for the greater good, and that society takes meaningful steps to ensure that it is inclusive. This chapter discusses the benefits of a 1:1 program, and also the ethical challenges such programs face. This consideration of benefits and challenges includes the effects on learners, educators, and other stakeholders; data, privacy, and consent; inclusivity and the digital divide; and autonomy and independence.
Laptops in the Classrooms
A Device for Everyone!
In an effort to have students achieve growth in 21st-century skills, institutions arm each of their learners with a device (Islam & Grönlund, 2016). This approach has been bolstered by a technology industry that has produced better and cheaper devices for the classroom (Blikstad-Balas & Davies, 2017; Boninger et al., 2019). And it may be true that the computer is one of the most important tools of this lifetime (Gray, 2015); however, research into effective, replicable use of 1:1 initiatives is scarce (Parrish & Sadera, 2020). As such, researchers have yet to fully understand if a personal laptop does improve learning outcomes and prepare students for their future, or if they simply put students and teachers in an ethically ambiguous situation.
Don’t Forget the Teachers
A device may help enhance learning for students; how