Contact Information:
Linda Kerr
Kajeet
240-482-3516
Study Concludes Access to Technology—In & Outside the Classroom—Increases
Student Engagement
Project
Tomorrow & Kajeet Announce Results of Two-Year Study with Chicago Public Schools
MCLEAN,
Virginia—Jan. 21, 2015—Kajeet®
(www.kajeet.com/education), the only wireless service provider dedicated to
kids and education, and Project Tomorrow®, a national education
nonprofit, announce the results of a two-year-long study on the impact of
mobile devices on teaching and learning. The Making Learning Mobile 2.0
study continues taking an in-depth look at the impact of 1-to-1 tablet
implementation, including Internet access outside the classroom, with Chicago
Public Schools students.
Results
from the Making Learning Mobile study included:
- The
school-issued tablet increased at-home Internet access for this cohort of
students by 53 percent. This is
especially significant given the persistence of the digital divide in home
Internet access within our communities.
- The teachers felt
more comfortable and assigned more reading and writing homework because the
students had home Internet access. This resulted in increased reading and
writing fluency, which is especially important for English Language Learners.
- 60 percent of the
students agreed their reading increased because of their personal access to the
tablet and the Internet; 60 percent noted they did more writing this
school year than in previous years and that the tablet helped them improve
their writing skills.
The project was sponsored by Kajeet with funding
from Qualcomm Incorporated, through its Qualcomm® Wireless Reach™ initiative. Kajeet and Project
Tomorrow will host a webinar on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 4 pm EST to discuss the
results, including how the tablets transformed teaching and learning for both
students and teachers from one year to the next.
As part of the
Making Learning Mobile 2.0 study, 127 Chicago 5th grade students and
their four teachers were provided with Android tablets using Kajeet Education
Broadband to connect kids in school and at home. The objectives were to
evaluate how the students used the devices, in and outside the classroom, to
support their schoolwork and extend learning beyond the classroom, focusing on
increased literacy. Ninety three percent of the students in the Chicago focus
school were considered low income and 45 percent were qualified as English
Language Learners. Just over one-third of the students noted they did not have
Internet access at home.
“We wanted to evaluate how access to these devices
for communication with teachers and classmates increases comfort with
technology, extends the learning day, and allows students to develop digital
citizenship skills within a safe and secure learning environment,” said Julie
Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow. “During the second year of the study, we were interested
in learning how the teachers would integrate the devices into instruction and
how that integration would help the students develop stronger research skills.”
“As technology spreads through schools, students are
proving eager to embrace it. But that same technology increasingly demands
mobile Internet connectivity — preferably broadband —to be fully effective as a
tool,” said Daniel Neal, CEO and founder of Kajeet. “There are still many
schools without adequate wireless Internet connectivity to allow mobile devices
to function to their full capability. Studies like this one show teachers,
students, parents and administrators the value of not only the technology, but
the necessity for connectivity as well.”
About
Kajeet®
Kajeet, the only
wireless solution provider dedicated to kids and education, is bridging the
digital divide in school districts across the country. Kajeet provides a safe,
affordable, mobile broadband solution that connects disadvantaged students to
the resources they need to complete required assignments and projects outside
of school. The Kajeet SmartSpot solution, a portable Wi-Fi hotspot combined
with the innovative Sentinel® cloud portal, enables administrators
and teachers to provide CIPA-compliant, customizable filtered Internet access
that keeps students focused on school work and provides off-campus Internet
connectivity without worry of data abuse. The Kajeet service platform,
which operates on both the Sprint and Verizon network, is protected by the
following patents 8,774,755; 8,774,754; 8,755,768; 8,731,517; 8,725,109;
8,712,371; 8,706,079; 8,667,559; 8,644,796; 8,639,216; 8,634,803; 8,634,802;
8,634,801; 8,630,612; 8,611,885; 8,600,348; 8,594,619; 8,588,735; 8,285,249;
8,078,140; 7,945,238; 7,899,438; 7,881,697. Other patents are pending.For more information, please
visit us at kajeet.com/education.
About Project Tomorrow
Project
Tomorrow®, the national education nonprofit organization dedicated to
empowering student voices in education discussions, designed and implemented this
program evaluation for Kajeet for Education. Project Tomorrow has 17
years of experience in the K-12 and higher education sector and regularly
provides consulting and research support to school districts, government
agencies, business and higher education institutions about key trends and
research in science, math and technology education.
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