One-to-One Technology Integration and High Pedagogical Practices: Technology, Dignity, and Democracy in the Middle School

• In Event: Measure of Perceptions and Learning Within Instructional Technology Contexts

Abstract

One-to-one technology initiatives have largely ignored the role of middle schools in developing democratic spaces for learning and affirming the dignity of learners. This paper centers middle schools and teacher beliefs using the theoretical frameworks of high pedagogy, dignity and democracy (Beane, 1997), and teacher beliefs and technology integration practices (Ertmer et al., 2012). Using a methodology of case study and phenomenology to examine one-to-one technology in middle school, the paper finds that technology can facilitate shifts in practice toward dignity and democracy. However, this shift occurs when a teacher already demonstrates an ethic of care, suggesting that one-to-one technology may facilitate teaching for dignity and democracy if schools and districts also work to develop beliefs centering care and dignity.

Author

• Marie K. Heath, Loyola University Maryland