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This paper explores two different schools' approaches to implementing an iPad program and a Netbook program to a year level of students. The aim of the study was to determine how these mobile devices were being used in the classroom and whether they enhanced teaching and learning. The experiences of students and parents were obtained through questionnaires and the teacher's reflections were obtained through interviews. The data were triangulated to determine how iPads and Netbooks were utilised in the classroom, and if there were any concerns about the use of each device. The research findings are presented in a thematic style, and provide an insight into how each device is used in a variety of subjects and at home. The paper concludes with some recommendations to inform school principals and leaders about the effectiveness of these devices as an educational tool. (Contains 1 table and 4 figures.)

This paper provides some initial findings from a current longitudinal study that examines the implementation of a student-owned 1:1 laptop program in a school for boys in Perth, Western Australia. This research tracks 196 students, their families and associated teachers for a 3-year period (2010-2012). Underpinning this research is a mixed methods approach investigating how boys use their laptops for learning, teachers' pedagogy and use of ICT, implementation differences between a junior and middle school, and possible impact of the laptops on learning. One theme that emerged from the first two years of data collection was a decrease in parent satisfaction with the extent to which the educational objectives of the laptop initiative were being met. This paper explores possible reasons for this decline in satisfaction, focusing on parent and student perceptions of (a) the time spent on laptops and (b) the activities that students are seen to be engaging with on their laptops. These perceptions are discussed in the context of parents' own knowledge of, and skills in, information and communications technologies (ICT) and relate to both school and home-based settings. (Contains 5 tables.)

Students learning in regional, rural and remote locations in Queensland are currently experiencing a "turn-off" in relation to school-based ICT in the first three years of high school. At the same time, students are experiencing increasing levels of interest and motivation from their use of ICT at home. Given the importance of ICT as an enabling factor in transforming pedagogy and bridging the barriers of distance, it is essential that educators connect with learners' experiences in order to devise strategies to ensure that students have increasing levels of engagement with ICT across the curriculum rather than the diminishing levels of satisfaction that are currently evident. This paper reports preliminary findings from the large study of Year 8, 9 and 10 students and focuses on data from students in regional, rural and remote schools (n = 629), which was extracted from the full dataset of 1,292. This research employed a case study approach using surveys, interviews and focus groups with students and teachers. This paper presents both quantitative and qualitative evidence indicating that home-based ICT usage was considered more interesting and preferred compared with school-based ICT usage. Explanations for why this trend is occurring will be discussed. (Contains 3 figures.)

The increasing use of information and communication technology (ICT) in schools has been largely explored in relation to how students' use ICT at school. In addition students' lives and experiences with technology beyond school have also begun to be explored. However, the nexus between the two is still an underdeveloped research area. Anecdotally we know that technology use either at home or at school affects the other. This paper reports on a contemporary case study-using structural equation modeling (SEM) of students' ICT use for school and home and their self-perceived competence with technology across the domains of home and school. The study found that students who learn to use certain forms of technology at home bring that "home learning" to school and vice versa. From an educational perspective teachers should therefore not be underestimating the value of the technologies that students are using at home for pleasure for use in the classroom. Furthermore the study found that schools played a major role in enhancing students' confidence around using ICT whilst the home environment provided opportunities to practice with that technology and facilitate technology-enhanced communication. Both the home and school domains enhanced the students' ICT skills and had the effect of making the student a more independent learner and user of technology.

The calls for the transformation of how science is taught (and what is taught) are numerous and show no sign of abating. Common amongst these calls is the need to shift from the traditional teaching and learning towards a model that represents the social constructivist epistemology. These calls have coincided with the Internet revolution. Through the Internet, learners are able to access many and varied sources of information: a new era of information access has begun and continues at a rapid pace. Delivery of synchronous Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images to learners (who can be thousands of kilometres from the microscope) is now possible using standard data lines, the Internet, and data projectors. This is an adjunct to other information sources and exploits developing communication technology. Learners are able to access the knowledge and expertise of the remote science experts, usually a scientist in the specialist field and a science educator. This paper discusses the Remote Access Microscopy Project (RAMP) research, and investigates links between existing and emerging communication technologies and pedagogical practices and the impact these have on learners. The RAMP research is built around four phases of activity: (1) a scan of student-learner attitude to science; (2) the Pre-Intervention phase; (3) the Intervention phase; and (4) the post-Intervention phase. (Contains 8 tables and 6 pictures.)