Assessing the educational value of one-to-one devices: have we been asking the right questions?

The provision for every pupil in schools of one-to-one digital devices such as tablets and laptops is claimed to offer a range of benefits, both practical and educational. Opinions are still divided as to whether the benefits for teaching and learning in fact outweigh the cost, disruption to established teaching practice, and distraction for learners. This paper presents studies carried out in three different settings where such schemes have been implemented, in order to consider the extent to which the benefits as presented in the research literature are working out in reality, and whether such benefits constitute an adequate argument in support of investing further in these technologies. The paper finds that there is considerable evidence of practical benefit for processes of teaching and learning from the availability in schools of one-to-one devices, but limited evidence of concerted or systematic strategies on the part of schools for helping young people to engage profitably and wisely with the digital world, with respect both to their learning and their wider lives.