Wireless laptop and the initial stage of implementation

The impact of ubiquitous computing in the Internet age: how middle school teachers integrated wireless laptops in the initial stages of implementation.
Author(s):Kathleen Burns and Joseph Polman.
Source:Journal of Technology and Teacher Education 14.2 (Summer 2006): p363(23).

Abstract: This study investigated teacher experiences that emerged as a result of the introduction of wireless technology that placed personal laptops in the hands of every student in their classrooms. Five themes emerged as major factors during the transition to the effective use of ubiquitous technology in the classroom and its positive effects on teachers, including administrative expectations, knowledge acquisition, methods of teaching, teacher/student relationships, and teacher/teacher relationships.

There are some interesting points made in this article such as the emerged knowledge and understanding that teachers develop during a long term of wireless laptop projects. Teachers in this study found many shifts in both their understanding and behaviours when technology was brought into their teaching lives. However, it was found that teachers do not always have to change their pedagogical beliefs to adopt the technology; in contrast, the use technology in the way that students benefit most from the available application that fit into the class objectives.