STUDENTS AND LAPTOPS: IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION IN ONE-TO-ONE CLASSROOMS

STUDENTS AND LAPTOPS: IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION IN
ONE-TO-ONE CLASSROOMS

By Karen Kusiak

Thesis Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Estler

A Lay Abstract of the Thesis Presented
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Doctor of Education
(Individualized Program)
May, 2011

This study examines students’ use of one-to-one laptop computers in two Maine high school English classes. This qualitative study analyzes classroom observation and interview data as well as student work samples in an effort to understand the connections between the use of laptop computers and the construction of academic identity. The study is informed by academic thought in the field of Society and Technology Studies and also develops from scholarship related to cultural constructions of identity. The construct of academic identity in education literature is examined, and a refined definition is offered that considers students’ intellectual effort in the process of constructing academic identity. Curriculum and instructional practices in the two English classes are analyzed in relation to the use of laptop computers and the idea of transformation of education through technology is questioned. Student access to the general education curriculum is considered in light of determining how laptops are used to promote equitable practices for students in the two non-honors track classes selected for the study.