ICT and inclusion in Secondary Education classes in the Autonomous Community of Madrid: Analysis of one-to-one teaching practices

Abstract

This paper summarizes key conclusions from a one-to-one computing research in the Autonomous Community of Madrid that has taken place at Secondary Education classes committed to inclusion driven by “teaching practices” developed at the classroom level. Seven Secondary Education schools have been analyzed: six of them are state-owned and have participated in a “Technological Innovation Program” and the seventh school was privately owned but publicly funded, and was very much involved in ICT integration; this research is part of a broader research involving 77 cases/classes all over Spain. A qualitative methodology has been carried out. Researcher diaries were designed and used throughout the process in order to register class observations, interviews with ICT coordinators and interviews with participating teachers and pupils’ questionnaires were also designed and used. A documents analysis has also been done. This research shows that ICT use (in particular, the implementation of the so-called digital classroom) has an impact on the way students get into groups and has also relevant methodological impact. Generally speaking, ICT use leads to a more individual way of working. The qualitative analysis that was conducted allows us to link the one-to-one computing with inclusion, and leads to three main educational considerations: 1st, individual type of work may well lead to higher inclusion as individual work let students follow their own personal pace; 2nd, ICT use encourages students to think “better” and in a more organized way and, therefore, to learn to learn; and 3rd, “prompt feedback” is also a powerful inclusive tool as may lead to timely recognition of student’s mistakes and further learning process advancement. Moreover, the paper underlines other educational considerations from a social perspective and from teachers’ professional development perspective too.