Pre-service Teachers’ Reflections: The Influence of School 1:1 Laptop Programs on their Developing Teaching Practice

Abstract

Throughout Australia, many government and non-government schools have implemented a one-laptop-per-student (1:1) policy. Whilst there was initial interest in the implementation of these programs, little has been done to track the uptake of digital learning technologies afforded by access to the laptops. This study examined pre-service teachers' reflections on their experiences with 1:1 laptop programs in their secondary schooling. The lens for this reflection was their consideration of their aspirational teaching practice. Qualitative data were collected from two successive cohorts (2014 and 2015) of the first year of a Bachelor of Education course. The objectives of the research presented in this paper were to: capture recollections of the students' experience of 1:1 laptop programs; categorise these recollections into positive and negative experiences; and investigate the impact of 1:1 laptop programs on students' perceptions of teaching with ICTs and their personal learning at university.