After 10 years of No Child Left Behind standards-focused education, mathematics scores have improved only marginally for elementary-aged students. Students who developed a solid conceptual mathematics foundation at the elementary level succeeded later in higher-level mathematics courses; thus, educators have sought ways to increase mathematics achievement, especially among elementary school students. Educators have utilized advances in technology with gamebased learning applications and wireless Internet access to create exciting interactive learning opportunities for students that may translate into student achievement. The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to examine the effects of iPad use as a 1-to-1 (1:1) computing device on 5th-grade students' mathematics achievement in two rural Virginia elementary schools. A nonequivalent groups pretest and posttest design was used with 104 fifth-grade students. For one academic quarter of nine weeks, the experimental group used iPads as 1:1 computing devices daily during mathematics class while the control group members did not. A pretest was administered before the iPad intervention and a posttest was administered after the iPad intervention. The change from pretest to posttest was not significantly different between the two groups as measured by a one-way repeated measures analysis of variance. Recommendations for future study include increasing the intervention duration, using additional participants, collecting qualitative data, and providing students with continuous 24-hour, seven-day-a-week iPad access.

Asynchronous online discussion boards are frequently utilized as a pedagogical tool within traditional, hybrid, and online collegiate courses. Research has found teacher candidates can be disenchanted with the monotonous structure of traditional asynchronous online discussion boards. In educator preparation, we claim to understand teacher candidates learn differently. Yet, traditional discussion boards are not effective for all teacher candidates. Faculty can find ways to differentiate by incorporating alternative asynchronous discussion board platforms. A quantitative survey was used measure 77 teacher candidates perceptions of creativity, demonstrating understanding, enhancing student voice, and usefulness toward learning. Results indicate participants prefer BookSnaps, Flipgrid, and video-response to traditional discussion boards. More specifically when evaluating for enhancing creativity, understanding, student voice, and usefulness participants preferred Flipgrid. It is important to understand the factors, which create a high-quality asynchronous discussion board experience. This research can help faculty to determine how to strengthen the asynchronous online discussion board learning experience.

Students perceive care as a quality of highly effective faculty, and building positive relationships is essential to a successful college experience. However, many college students report never having developed caring relationships with faculty. We propose faculty have an opportunity to use technology to help build caring relationships in an effort to improve overall academic success. The majority of research on student–faculty interaction has primarily focused on determining what kinds of interactions students have with faculty. The aim of this study was to explore students’ perceptions of care and the role safe texting and electronic feedback played in building student–faculty relationships. A mixed-methods approach was used with college student participants (n = 307) to answer the following research questions: (1) What actions by faculty constitute “caring”? (2) What role does technology play in students feeling “cared for”? The findings indicate that safe texting platforms and electronic feedback had a positive impact by increasing accessibility and direct contact.