Student Engagement: Views from Technology-Rich Classrooms Judith Haymore Sandholtz UC-Riverside Cathy Ringstaff and David C. Dwyer Apple Computer, Inc. Abstract Student engagement, an important link to learning, is easy to recognize but difficult to define operationally. Many researchers use “time-on- task,” a measurement made by outside observers who watch randomly selected students for short periods. This study, using self-report data from 32 elementary and secondary teachers whose students used technology in an ongoing basis, suggests a different way of measuring engagement. It also challenges the commonly held belief that students’ engagement with technology is merely the result of novelty. And it provides guidelines for the classroom use of technology that are necessary to achieving an enduring and positive impact on student engagement. Introduction Engagement is difficult to define operationally, but we know it when we see it, and we know when it is missing. Students are engaged when they devote substantial time and effort to a task, when they care about the quality of their work, and when they commit themselves because the work seems to have significance beyond its personal instrumental value (Newmann, 1986, p. 242). Despite being difficult to operationalize, student engagement is recognized by teachers and researchers alike as an important link to student achievement and other learning outcomes (McGarity & Butts, 1984; Capie & Tobin, 1981; Fisher, Berliner, Filby, Marliave, Cahen & Dishaw, 1980). Studies have been conducted investigating how variables such as teacher management styles (Tobin, 1984), student grouping (Anderson & Scott, 1978), instructional activities (Delquadri, Greenwood & Hall, 1979), and even the day of the week (Cornbleth & Korth, 1979) affect