Digital students The disconnect Achievement redefined Digital tools for digital students
Group of students walking down the hall [photo]
Achievement redefined: Sense of Self
Technology coupled with inquiry-based and collaborative learning, helps more children be successful. They find more opportunities to discover their talents, to explore options and to gain entry into jobs and/or colleges.

The number of years in school is a better predictor of a student's success in later life than test scores.
Impact of technology on graduation rate
Apple initiated the first longitudinal study (1985-1995) of the impact of technology on teaching and learning. The Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) study produced dramatic evidence of increased success among the study’s high school students. The high school, as a whole, graduated only 70 percent of its students: 30 percent dropped out before graduation. Only 17 percent of the graduates went on to college. By comparison, 100 percent of the ACOT students graduated. And 90 to 100 percent of the ACOT graduates went on to college.

Skills contribute to success and confidence
In a follow-up study six years later, the students were asked if and how technology factored into their successes. They commonly asserted that the technology had helped them develop confidence and that the type of collaborative, ambitious projects in which they had been engaged in resulted in equally valuable nontechnology skills. These skills helped them to believe in themselves and seek higher levels of achievement.

We had a group of kids that traditionally were shy or maybe sort of outcastsÑall of a sudden, their self esteem, they became the stars. They were the ones that would go home and learn and all of a sudden, they were helping others.

Current evidence
1:1 laptop initiatives like those in the state of Maine and Henrico County Public Schools continue to confirm the importance of technology in increasing student achievement and students’ sense of self. Schools involved in the laptop initiative are experiencing fewer disciplinary referrals, increased attendance and overall better academic performance than they did without the technology. When students feel better about learning, achievement increases.

Technology can help students reach beyond the limits set for them by “experts.”

“We’ve seen the lower end students really rise above what they think they’re capable of, what they’ve been capable of in the past and they experience success and start to become more and more confident throughout the year.” - Mary Palmer, English Teacher Century High School, Bismarck, ND
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Charles Babatu Murphy
Teacher and Technology Coordinator, Roosevelt High School, St. Louis, MO



Kristin, Student


More resources

Technology and how digital kids use it Achievement for
All Children
We found some surprising data about the children who fill our schools today.
What digital kids do online MILE Guide for 21st Century Skills
This guide can help any state, district or school answer some critical questions about how they are preparing students to meet the challenges of the new millennium.
Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow Research Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow Research

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