Jennifer+Joseph

EDUC 8843-7103 Jennifer Joseph **Providing Increased Internet Access for Students** **TREC Educational Complex**

**Problem Summary**

The Theodore Roosevelt Educational Complex is situated in an economically disadvantaged community inBronx,N.Y. The graduation rates for this complex are about 34%, far below that of the city and the state. The high percentage of students who fail to meet the graduation requirement of 65 or above in both Algebra and Geometry on the state’s exit examination has been cited as one reason for these low graduation rates. Recently, the principals in this building have been promoting Computer Based Instruction. According to Kulik (1977), a meta analysis of 51 studies of computer based instruction (CBI), this type of instruction has been successful in raising examination scores, improving student attitudes, and lowering the amount of time required to master mathematical concepts.

The problem is that a significant percentage of the complex’s seniors do not have regular access to computers and/or the internet, hence they cannot benefit from CBI. These students in a few short months will write the same state exams, and compete for the same jobs and college places as their counterparts with unlimited internet access. To complicate matters some parents, while they purchase expensive clothing and sneakers for their children, do not appreciate the importance of computer and internet access to their child’s learning. Access to computers where students can access instructional supplements could improve their math proficiency, their chances of graduation, as well as their career and college readiness.

**Background of Organization**

The Theodore Roosevelt Educational Complex (TREC) is home to five of New York City's public high schools. Established in 1919, this building was until recently one large high school with over 3,000 students. After several years of being labeled as a "failing school,” the larger school was phased out and in 2002 and replaced by the five small schools. It is located in Bronx NY, and over 90% of its students qualify for free or reduced cost school meals, while 75% receive some sort of public assistance at home. Annual accountability reports and other data for each of the small schools could be obtained from [|www.schools.nyc.gov.theodoreroosevelteducationalcomplex].

**Stakeholders and Decision-Makers**

The school and the community as a whole will be affected by this plan. The principals in the building, as well as the technical staff will be able to make decisions about the implementation of the plan.The principals are: Mr. Stephen Gumbs, Ms Iris Blige, Mr. Wilper Morales, Mr. Michael Barakat, Ms. Panorea Panagiosoulis and Ms. Mary Ann Tucker.

**Assignment 2.1: P11 - Human performance (Performance Gap): Cause Analysis**

**Actual Current Performance** According to Chevalier (2007), performance should be expressed in measurable units, hence the units of measurement used in this paper will be the percentage of students who scored 65 and above on the Algebra 2 and Trigonometry Regents examinations. The Regents’ examination is the exit exam of New York State, a requirement for graduation and college entry. A 65 or more on the Algebra 2 and Trigonometry examinations would definitely improve students’ chances of college admission, and facilitate their transition from high school math to first year college algebra. Data from [|www.nysed] show that the success rate for the students in this building on the June 2011 administration of the Algebra 2 and Trigonometry examinations was a mere 20%.

**Desired Performance** Graduating seniors in lower SES communities ought to be equipped with all the tools necessary to optimize their college and career readiness. These students have made it to the senior class, no small accomplishment in a school district with an above average dropout rate. Hence the desired performance for the students in this building should be at least on par with the state average at 68%.

**Performance Gap** The implications of not being adequately prepared to face the challenges of college and beyond are far reaching. While the difference in success rate of the students in this complex to their counterparts in the rest of the state is about 30%, in the math exams, this statistic does not adequately portray the implications of this gap. This gap could be interpreted as being indicative of the dwindling number of American students who pursue college majors in science and technology ((Erickson, 2005; Fischman, 2007); areas in which it is necessary for Americans to increase their proficiency to cope with the challenges of a digital future.

**Cause Analysis**. The problem developed because students in this school district did not have access to the same quality of resources, teachers and home support as the other students in the city. Surveys conducted by the principals of the various schools indicate that only about 40 % of the seniors have unlimited access to computers. While each of the schools does have several carts of laptops, courtesy of Title 1 funding, the use of these computers is entirely at the discretion of the teacher. The gap still exists because, although according to the principals, the access to computer resources is still pitifully inadequate. There are also just 15 computers in the campus library, while the campus population is in excess of 3000. In addition, the library hours are also restrictive; 8:30 am to 1pm, and 1 pm to 3pm on schooldays.

Another reason why the gap still exists, as alluded to by Dr Rossett (Laureate, 2010), is the lack of support from the parents and community. The students who actually have computers and internet at home complain that they have to complete with other family members for access. Adults and older siblings do not think that practicing math is a priority for computer use.

**Organizational History and Background**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Goals.** The goal of this organization is to ensure that all students are college and/or career ready at the end of four years.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**History.** This school came into being in 1918, and it was given that name to honor the life and legacy of President Theodore Roosevelt on his death in May 1919. For several years the school served the community, offering both vocational and academic courses of study, however, during the 1970's as the quality of life in the neighborhood declined, the school saw an increase in truancy and a decrease in academic achievement which continued for several decades. There was some improvement during the 1990s, and in 1996 the school was removed from the state's list of failing schools. However this status was short lived, and in 1999, Roosevelt returned to the list of failing schools. In 1999, the four-year graduation rate of only 33 %. The school was also added to the city's list of Impact Schools, that is schools which had a high incidence of violent, and the mayor of New York assigned more police in 2004 after a riot at the suspension center housed in the building. The school was phased out and eventually closed in 2006. For the 2005/2006 school year the school had the lowest graduation rate in 3%. The building remains open as the "Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus", composed of six autonomous small schools. ([])

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Mission** **and Vision.** Three of the schools in this building mission statements posted on their websites. They are as follows:School A : Our mission is “to prepare college-bound students for the world of higher education through a rigorous academic program provided by an inspired and caring staff in a small learning community.”School B: our mission is to equip our students with the business, professional and academic skills to succeed in college and beyond through a rigorous curriculum with business elements and practical opportunities to learn and apply business concepts.Emphasis is placed on careful differentiation of courses, and providing variety and challenges in student programming. FLABT seeks to collaborate with our parents, the Bronx community and the New York City business world in order to create this stimulating learning environment for our studentsSchool C: The Bronx High School for Law & Community Service strives to produce mature, well-educated lifelong learners. Our learning community is committed to helping all students become critical and independent thinkers who make wise and socially responsible decisions that benefit themselves and the community. By developing essential academic skills, and by understanding the underlying principals of law and community service infused within each core discipline, our students will graduate with limitless opportunities prepared to succeed in a diverse and challenging society.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Assignment 3.1** **Three Intervention Strategies**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">As suggested by Dr. Rossett (Laureate Media, 2010), the intervention could be implemented in a systematic manner, with intermediate solutions and opportunities along the way to collect data and assess the effectiveness of the intervention. Chevalier (2007) also suggested that intervention strategies should consider the cost of the costs of making a change, and the culture of the organization. All three of these interventions strategies involve improving student access to CBI, an instrument which has been found to improve mathematical proficiency.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Low end intervention.** At a cost of $ 5000, the campus could purchase another set of 20 desktop computers for the library. A basic low priced laptop costs about $ 250 ([|www.dell.com]). Teachers could also be encouraged to volunteer for library duties, during lunch and an hour after school just for the seniors. This would not be sustainable past an initial period due to constraints on teacher free time and lack of technical staff. In addition, in a building of over 3000 students 20 laptops would be quite inadequate, but it could be a start, and priority could be given to the seniors who do not have computer and/or internet access at home.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Middle end intervention.** For $ 25, 000, 20 more desktop could be purchased at a cost of $ 250.00 each. Suggestions would then be invited from math teachers as to which software would best serve the needs of their students and $ 5,000 could be spent equipping the computers with this software. The license for geometer’s sketchpad, for example is $ 1000 per year for 50 computers, hence for one year, students could have access to four or five to reputable on line sites which offer tutoring and interactive practice sessions in math. The rest of the money could be used to offer per session payments to library staff and computer technicians, so that the library could remain open until 5: 30 at least 2 days per week.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**High end intervention.** If given $50,000, I would buy 150 mini laptops, at a cost of $200.00 each and loan them out to the neediest students. These students would be required to bring the laptops to school everyday, and those who do not have internet access at home, could make use of the school’s internet to hone their mathematical proficiency. $ 10,000 could be used to buy licenses to CAI programs which the teachers and principals deem as being most effective. The non expiring subscription to geometer’s sketchpad, for example is $1500.00. The rest of the money could be spent to pay library staff and teachers who may have to stay after school with the students who have no internet at home.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Assignment 4.1: Justification for Intervention Strategy **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Introduction** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Three interventions were proposed to help close the performance gap which exists at the Theodore Roosevelt Educational Complex (TREC). The low and middle end interventions involved equipping the existing campus library with 20 - 40 additional desktop computers. While the low end just involved purchasing 20 computers, the middle end included 20 additional computers, subscriptions to recommended CBI sites and employing additional library and technical support staff. For the high end intervention it was proposed that laptop computers be purchased for the students. These laptops would be loaned out to the senior classes for use in school to take home if necessary. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">In order to determine the feasibility of each of the three interventions, data was collected from each of the stakeholders. An online questionnaire was sent to the all the principals, teachers, senior students and the campus librarian. []). There was also a 5 minute sit down interview with the campus librarian (See Appendix 3). The data was analyzed and several themes emerged. These themes will now be arranged in terms of strengths and weaknesses of each of the three interventions.  **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Themes from Research **  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Strengths**: Teachers and principals thought that this option was within the campus’ budget and relatively easy to implement. These parties were also happy that students’ internet use would be supervised. It was also mentioned that increased access for students to CAI sits and other online curriculum supplements would be a boost to student achievement. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Limitations**: There were some concerns that this intervention would only benefit the students who had no free time. In addition, the library was not conducive to group work. Students, in particular thought that the library was cold and unfriendly, and they did not want to spend extended periods of time there. Teachers also did not appreciate the idea of having to volunteer their time to supervise students in the library. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Strengths**: Students, teachers and principals all agreed that the subscriptions to reputable math sites would likely increase the students’ chances of passing the Regents’.. The proposed extended library hours were also perceived as being of benefit. The principals and teachers liked the idea of having additional staff to supervise students during computer use. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Limitations**: Some of the concerns were the same as with the low end intervention especially in the case of the unsuitability of the library for group work. In addition the librarian pointed out that the library was not physically equipped to handle 40 new computers. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Strengths**: Teachers and principals mentioned that the students now had no excuse for not doing online homework and other assignments. It was also noted that money would be saved by not having the recurring expense of paying additional staff to monitor the students’ computer use. The students overwhelmingly selected this intervention, primary reason being they did not have to go to the library, where all the good internet sites were blocked. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Limitations:** Principals pointed out that when students take computers home the likelihood of loss or damage would be increased. There would also be an increased risks of virus infection, since students, unsupervised would be likely to log on to insecure sites. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Justify why the intervention strategy you selected is more likely to resolve the problem than the other two. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Selected Strategy ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">The intervention strategy selected was the high end strategy. It would more likely solve the intervention than the other two since students would now have unlimited access to the internet, and access to premium CAI sites. Even students who have no internet access at home could take their laptops to the local library, or their favorite hotspot, and work at their own pace. Teachers would have the tools to personalize assignments, and differentiate instruction. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">The limitations of this strategy as identified by the stakeholders all had to with students losing damaging laptops or increased virus threats. However, there have been a few school districts where loaner laptop program have been successfully implemented, the Trimpe Middle school, in Belatho IL being one such example. According to information from this school’s web site ([|www.bethalto.org/education/school]) each of the school’s seventh and eight grade students participated in the school’s take home laptop program. Information from this schools web site indicates that the computer’s warranty and mandatory insurance (payable by the student) will any repairs cover repairs, and there is an anti theft device installed on each computer. These measures could also be implemented on the TREC laptop loaner program. In addition, students will be required to sign an agreement, which states that their browsing history could be easily tracked; they would lose their laptop privileges if they were found to visit undesirable sites. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Why the other interventions were rejected ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">As pointed out the principals and teachers 20 additional desktop computers were far too few for CAI to be successfully implemented, and positively impact student achievement in math. In addition the, as mentioned by the teachers in the survey, the free CAI sites were not as effective as the premium ones. The librarian mentioned that the library would become “pretty cramped” if 20 additional computers were installed. She had a hard time as it was ensuring that students used their computer time doing schoolwork. Teachers, while they liked the idea of increased computer access for the could not commit to volunteering their free time to help monitor the students in the library. For the survey item which asked teachers how many hours they would volunteer to assist students in the library, more than 50% of them checked the 0-1 box, 90 % of students mentioned that did not want to spend more time in the library than necessary. According to them it was a cold and uninviting place, and the librarian was mean to them. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Two of the principals and the librarian mentioned that the library, like the rest of the building is almost 100 years old and it may not be physically equipped to handle 20 additional computers. One principal pointed out that that it may be impossible to rewire the entire building to accommodate additional electrical outlets and other cables. The librarian, even with promises of additional staff did not appreciate the influx of up to 40 additional students at a time in her domain.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Low End Intervention **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Middle end intervention **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">High end intervention **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Low End Intervention **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">The middle end intervention **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**How the chosen interview strategy best meets the organizational goals stated in the performance gap in Module 2**.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">The performance gap identified in module 2 was the difference in the percentage of students who scored 65 and above on the Algebra 2 and Trigonometry Regents examinations, and the average of the other schools in the state. The Regents’ examination is the exit exam of New York State, a requirement for graduation and college entry. A 65 or more on the Algebra 2 and Trigonometry examinations would definitely improve students’ chances of college admission, and facilitate their transition from high school math to first year college algebra. Data from [|www.nysed] show that the success rate for the students in this building on the June 2011 administration of the Algebra 2 and Trigonometry examinations was a mere 20%. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Several studies have shown a positive correlation between increased technological access and student achievement (Gulek & Demirtas, 2005; Bailey, Piperberg, & Hiller, 2006). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Sites such as Plato and castle learning will allow teachers to personalize assignments, and monitor the work of their students. Students can adjust their learning to their level without being self conscious. Why this would work also is that studies have shown that seniors are more responsible, and more focused; hence they are more likely to benefit from CAI, since they are more likely to do the
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Project Manager Responsibilities **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Project management techniques**: While certain tasks may be delegated to others in the organization, the project manager is ultimately responsible for the completion of the project. He or she needs to ensure that the project is completed on time, within budget and within specifications (Januszewski and Molenda, 2008). Therefore as project manager, I will have to carefully delegate responsibility so the persons in the school who generally purchase equipment, who have the appropriate experience and contacts to get the best value for the money. These purchasing officers will be given a date by which to complete the purchasing, so that he software could be downloaded, and student will have enough time benefit from the computer use before they sit the examination in June.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Resource management techniques**: Resources, according Januszewski and Molenda (2008), are the “tools, materials, settings, and people etc that students interact with to facilitate learning and improve performance” (p. 8). In order to mitigate losses, as practiced by Trimpe Middle school ([|www.bethalto.org/education/school]), each computer will be insured against damage and theft. Individual schools could decide who pays for the insurance. In purchasing and downloading software, laws concerning copyright and intellectual property would be strictly observed. In order to minimize virus attacks, students will be reminded that their browsing history could be tracked, so they should be careful which sites they visit.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Delivery system management techniques**: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">This intervention will be delivered via CAI. The seniors will have access to several sites for their own use. Teachers can send assignments to specific students based on their individual shortcomings; or as further reinforcement of the topic of the day. Or to offer make up work, and or grade recovery. In addition students can visit any or all of the sites, each school will use its choice of CAI to differentiate Document delivery system management techniques <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Information management techniques: CAI sites like PLATO, or Castle learning have inbuilt analysis systems where teachers, principals even parents could log in get reports. . <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**The Manager as Change Agent** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Financial and Budget Information.** It is the responsibility of an effective project manager, according to ensure that that the project is completed on budget, and within specifications (Chevalier, 2007). While the manager is ultimately responsible for the successful completion of the project, he or she will need to delegate tasks to other members of the organization (Chevalier). In order to get an accurate idea of the costs associated with implementing this intervention, a committee of three assistant principals was established. These assistant principals were recommended by their principals based on their experience in purchasing computer hardware and software. This committee was also asked to determine which combination of laptops, CAI software and anti theft software was best suited for the purposes of the intervention; and how best to remunerate the technical staff for the time it would take to get the laptops ready for student use. Their recommendations are shown in the table below: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">([|www.dell.com]) || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">$3,200.00 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">([|www.castlelearning.com] || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">$675.00 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">(non expiring)  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">[|www.geometer’s sketchpad.com]  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">$1500.00  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">[|www.gadgettrak.com/]  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">$ 199.95  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Training for staff**: Both of the CAI sites offered on line demonstrations and detailed tutorials for teachers and students, so it will not be necessary to conduct extensive training. They also offered online technical support for any issues that may arise. Teachers, at the next professional development session will use their log in information to explore these sites. Teachers will review these demonstrations and tutorials and discuss among themselves, and contact the offered technical support if necessary. To help them better grasp geometrical concepts. The Geometer’s sketchpad site on the other hand, offers an ongoing series of Webinars, a free series of web-based broadcasts that focus on a variety of mathematical topics online. Administrators also have the option to organize Custom Workshops tailored to the needs of the school if necessary. The Assistant principals agreed that the webinars would suffice. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Specifications**: The committee also reported that laptops will need to come equipped with the certain specifications necessary to support the required downloads: These included a windows 7 operating system (or equivalent); 2 GB total memory, and 320 GB Hard Disk Drive (minimum), anti glare display, integrated wi fi and LAN adapters, and an upgradeable integrated mobile broadband. The CAI site needed to be one which was easy to navigate; and the teachers had to have access question banks which were compliant with the school’s math curriculum and Regents syllabus. It would also be to the students advantage, they reported, to subscribe to a site where students could get a tactile and visual view of math; soft ware which would allow students to manipulate mathematical figures in order to determine their properties, and hence a better understanding of mathematical concepts.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> Necessities for Intervention || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Total Cost ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">100 Laptops@$320.00 each (with Windows 7, Microsoft home and office)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">CAI software license #1 for 100 laptops for one year
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">CAI software license # 2 for 100 laptops
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Anti theft Software for 100 laptops
 * Remuneration for technical staff for overtime work to download licenses on laptops 6 hours @ 34.50 per hour || $ 207.00 ||
 * Total || $ 5781.95 ||

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Project Assessment/Evaluation**
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> **Formative evaluation plan**: Formative assessment occurs when teachers feed information back to students in ways that enable the student to learn better, or when students can engage in a similar, self- reflective process ([|www.fairtest.org]). As a result there will be two tiers of formative assessments for this project. Among the features of the recommended CAI site is the ability to automatically grade assignments, and students to get immediate feedback, as well as an explanation of their errors. According to Black and William (1998) “improved [student-involved] formative assessment helps low achievers more than other students and so reduces the range of achievement while raising achievement overall” (p. 141). This CAI site can also statistically analyze student and class performance. To assess the effectiveness of the intervention formatively, teachers (and administrators) could log in to access student and class performance reports. These reports identify the students’ deficiencies and misconceptions; and teachers can use this data so that the next set of assignments specifically targets these skills. Additionally, students could be given practice Regents’ mathematics examinations (past regents items could be found at [|www.regentsprep.org] to gauge their readiness for the actual exam. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> **Summative evaluation**: Summative assessment, on the other hand, is the attempt to summarize student learning at some point in time, say the end of a course [|www.fairtest.org]). Data gleaned from summative evaluations can shape how teachers organize their courses or, how schools organize their curricula. The summative evaluation would be based on the actual student scores on the June 2012 Regents’ examinations, as administered by the New York State department of education ([|www.nysed]). The data from this both types of evaluation could be used to determine whether the laptops and increased internet access project was a successful one. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Chevalier, R. (2007). A manager’s guide to improving workplace performance. American Management Association:New York,NY

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Leading and managing educational technology. Baltimore,MD: Author

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Erickson, J. (2005). //Scientists, engineers call for more women in math, science//. Retrieved Jan 13, 2012, from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Foster, A. L. (2005). Student interest in computer science plummets. //The Chronicle of Higher Education//. Retrieved Jan 13, 2012, from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Companies struggle to fill vacant positions. //The Chronicle of Higher Education//. Retrieved Jan 13, 2012, from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Gulek, J. C., Demirtas, H. (2005). Learning with technology: The impact of laptop use on student achievement.// The Journal of Technology, Learning, and //Assessment, 3 (2). retrieved from : http://www.jtla.org

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Bailey, G., Piperberg, J., Hiller B. (2006). Bridging the student support gap. In //Proceedings of the 34th annual ACM SIGUCCS fall conference// (SIGUCCS '06). ACM,New York,