As the Annual America’s Digital Schools (ADS) survey looks toward its next report, organizers want to delve into the data. “From ADS2006 we learned that many 1:1 implementations were viewed as successful. However, we know that some large-scale programs have been failures,” explains the ADS web site. Plans include addressing the following issues:

What are the underlying causes of success and failure? What are the alternative scenarios in which districts are experiencing success, such as Plano ISD in Texas. In-depth surveys will be conducted at a variety of 1:1 schools. The surveys will be comprehensive and cover professional development, administrative leadership, curriculum software, tool software, assessment software, communications and collaboration software, hardware and connectivity. Conjoint analysis and logistic regression analysis will be employed to the extent feasible.

The 2006 report found rapid growth in ubiquitous computing (used synonymously with 1:1 computing in this report). Says a summary of key findings, “In 2003, QED reported that 4% of U.S. School districts had started 1:1 implementations. ADS 2006 indicates that more than 24% of school districts are in the process of transitioning to 1:1.”

The 2006 report also that 88% of school districts where academic results were tracked report moderate to significant positive results. Professional development is identified as the most important element for success.

The report also looks at devices, predicting that student appliances will grow 104% over the next five years, table computers 78%, handheld devices 37%, and interactive whiteboards 24%. An annual growth rate of 27% is predicted for PC laptops and 25% for Mac laptops.

The survey was conducted by The Greaves Group and The Hayes Connection and sponsored by Discovery Education and Pearson Education.

More information is available at the ADS web site.