The Shape of Disruption: Student Independence in the 5th Grade Classroom
Abstract: This mixed methods study investigated how the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) XO Laptops and their Sugar software would influence student independence within five fifth-grade classrooms. Over a four-month period, 114 fifth-grade students and their five teachers were trained to use the XO Laptops, which were then incorporated into a series of curricular activities and projects. The study demonstrated that the independence of the learners was positively impacted. During the XO Laptop sessions, the number of student-student helping interactions was over five times more frequent than student-teacher helping interactions. During non-XO Laptop sessions observed, the frequency of student-teacher helping interactions was consistent with the XO Laptop session levels, but there were only about a quarter as many student-student helping interactions.
Presider: Kathleen Puckett, Arizona State University