Roschelle, J., Penuel, W. R., & Abrahamson, L. A. (2004). The networked classroom. Educational Leadership, 61 (5), 50-54.
Introduction
Technology has the potential to change how and what students learn in science and mathematics (Roschelle, Pea, Hoadley, Gordin, & Means, 2000). Although ordinary schools rarely adopt the best research-inspired uses of technology (Cuban, 2003), they have made an exception in adopting one effective technology: classroom networks. In a networked classroom, students use handheld devices that connect to the teacher’s laptop computer; the handheld devices and laptop both connect to a shared display screen. Mathematics and science teachers in settings ranging from K-12 classrooms to university lecture halls have reported improvements in student achievement as a result of using this technology.
On the basis of more than a decade of successful reports from the field and increasing evidence supporting wide-scale adoption, researchers have begun to connect teachers’ insights about the technology to education theory and are documenting the technology’s effectiveness in enhancing student participation and achievement in mathematics.