Laptops and Elementary Student Writing:

A Help or a Hindrance?
Digital tools that help students write better
in 21st century classrooms

Assignment #2 - Essay
Sandra R. Tice
UBC Master of Educational Technology Program
ETEC 511

November 28, 2014

UBC Student #92576123
3,020 words

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Preface
During the 2014-2015 school year, I will be teaching a writers workshop
to two different grade 6/7 classes, including 60 students, ages 11-13, while
developing numerous student writing opportunities for both classes which meet for
100 minutes every week. I am curious to investigate how my curricular objectives
tie into the educational themes covered in UBCs MET ETEC 511 Module 2:
Instructional Design and Educational Technology. I will explore the research
supporting laptop usage specifically for writing at the intermediate elementary
level to ensure my teaching is supported by sound, current pedagogical research.
My students will have access to a mobile laptop cart for a minimum of one class
per week. Prior to beginning this research, I predicted that my students would have
mixed reactions to writing on the laptops, and would, perhaps, face additional
distractions from the Internet and social media sites during work time. For those
students who have writing difficulties due to lack of organizational skills, specific
learning disabilities or challenges, or who tire easily when handwriting, may find
the laptop usage beneficial. The prolific writers might be more engaged with the
technology and enjoy the process more than if they were writing by hand, and the
most struggling students may or may not benefit. I have enjoyed exploring the
research that supports students using laptops and tech tools specifically for writing
and hope to use the findings to enhance my teaching practice throughout the year.

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Introduction
A growing number of elementary schools have implemented laptop
computers into their classrooms since the mid-1980s, providing educational
researchers with multiple opportunities to investigate whether or not student
engagement and learning outcomes in writing have improved with increased access
to current technologies. This report seeks out research that illustrates how educators
are supporting student writing with laptop technology at the elementary level.
Additionally, it will help educators explore whether or not laptop technology usage
for student writing is a help or a hindrance in increasing motivation along with
improving their writing outcomes.
Writing is an essential communication skill needed both at school and in the
workplace. As students progress from the primary grades to the intermediate levels,
writing proficiency requirements increase for each and every learner. Educators
seek effective ways to support student-writing achievement and to provide
interventions when students are not writing proficiently. Solid writing skills are
essential for all students if we are to have a literate society. Todays technology
tools support individualized student learning by assisting with increased
proficiency, access and engagement within rapidly changing written
communication forms.
There are many factors that affect teaching students to write. A typical
elementary classroom may include students of multiple ages, with distinct linguistic
or cultural backgrounds and who possess varying writing skill levels. Not only do
teachers need up-to-date training and appropriate methods of formative and

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summative student writing assessments to address these needs, but also they require
current and effective tools to support student writing in a diverse student
population. Digital tools allow 21st century learners new ways to communicate with
each other and with the broader world around them, as well as the ability to learn at
an individualized and personalized pace. The need to reach students at all levels
increases the desirability for educators to move beyond teaching writing with
traditional pencil and paper methodologies to using authentic and personalized
technology.
According to Mills (2014) in a digital networked society, writing in private,
public, and civic life involves literacy practices that include a broadened
range of genres, modes, and media and that writing is inclusive of socially
organized sign-making practices that make use of both print and digital
technologies for producing meanings. (p. 435)
As todays students move seamlessly throughout a digital environment
between home and school, texting, tweeting, and communicating, they use writing
in new ways that were unheard of just a few short years ago. Current research
indicates that using 1:1 technology such as laptops or personal devices including
tablets or other simple word processors can improve student writing outcomes and
engagement and motivation in upper elementary (grades 4-7) classrooms.
Increased Technology Availability and Access
Limited access to traditional computer labs frustrates teachers and students
while decreasing learning opportunities. As schools move away from dedicated labs

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towards using mobile tools, ultimately adopting one to one (1:1) technology,
students gain far greater access to authentic research materials and writing
production tools than ever before. Accessible student learning devices including
laptops/notebooks, and simple word processors can empower students to take
control of their own learning. Students can use laptops to better research, organize,
draft and revise, which means they can produce written work more quickly,
efficiently and edit more effectively. Laptops in the classroom increase
opportunities for students to discuss information as they find it, while building
critical thinking skills. They learn to evaluate source validity, to differentiate
between intended audiences, and to interpret relevant design features all aspects
of increased information literacy skill proficiency.
Using Laptop Technology to Support Student Writing in Classrooms
Laptops provide students with increased access to informational sources and
allow students additional ways to produce, create, organize, edit, manage and share
their work. Students can easily take notes using word processing applications and
conduct research on the go. While laptops improve access to visual, oral and
multimodal informational resources, they can also assist students with writing
tasks, whether they are second language learners, students who are gifted, learning
disabled, or at-risk, who may be otherwise marginalized, or have any other types of
special educational needs. Laptops can be extremely beneficial to support learners
with special needs. Specially designed programs websites containing universal
design features and applications (apps.), such as Dragon Dictation or Sound Note
are tools that facilitate speech to text production can help students with learning

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difficulties while being enormously beneficial to all learners. (U.S. National Centre
for Learning Disabilities, 2013) Laptops outfitted with tools like these can increase
student creative expression while helping to facilitate writing.
Laptop Usage Increases Student Motivation and Engagement
Many students indicate they like using laptops and report both increased
motivation and learning satisfaction with their use. In a 2004 survey conducted the
State Department of Education in Maine, United States (New South Wales
Australia [NSW] Department of Education and Training (2009), data was compiled
from approximately 12,000 returned surveys that reflected student perceptions,
attitudes and work habits toward laptops. A number of key benefits emerged
including: student preference for using laptops, increased organization, work
quality and quantity increase, improved motivation to edit, increased engagement,
and overall increased school interest. (NSW Department of Education and Training,
2004).
Beck and Fetherston (2003) studied the effects of incorporating word
processors into a writing program for students, ages 8-9 years. They investigated
what would happen if reluctant writers were able to use word processors for their
writing activities and hoped to find a rationale to provide laptop computers for
students, so that students would no longer be hampered by some of the frustration
that often accompanies writing tasks undertaken with pen and paper. Although the
sample was small, comprised of only seven individual case studies five girls and
two boys, it included in-depth measurements, observations and interviews
conducted over a six-week period. At the outset, students had a perception about

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writing that was heavily weighted toward neatness, and thought that neat
handwriting equaled good writing quality. They did not like traditional writing
lessons, and in fact said, They hated them because their handwriting was not neat
and so they felt they were no good at it. Others complained about getting sore
hands due to the constant motion required to complete a handwriting task. At the
studys conclusion, all of the students wanted to write more and reported a
preference for word processor use. With laptops, all of the students produced
writing of a higher standard, longer, containing a wider variety of words, and their
stories showed evidence of deeper thinking, increased creativity and detail.
Laptops Change Teacher Practice
Numerous benefits are reported by teachers who have adopted laptops in their
classrooms as knowledge delivery changes from a teacher-centric to a studentcentered learning model including: a technology-rich classroom provides
opportunities for a more student-centered, a project-based learning orientation
within small groups; a technology-rich classroom becomes one in which teachers
spend a bulk of their time demonstrating, directing activities and interacting with
their students; students spend more time working on projects, in small groups, and
collaborating with their peers. (NSW Department of Education and Training, 2009)
Both students and teachers feel empowered when teachers spend less time lecturing
and use a more constructive approach than teachers in non-laptop classrooms. More
engagement from the students equals fewer classroom management issues.

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Teachers report positive impacts of laptops on students, with most agreeing
that computers have increased opportunities to apply knowledge and
encourage students to think creatively. Almost all agree that using
technology in the classroom helps to prepare their students for life in the
21st century. (Zucker & Hug, 2007) as cited in One to one computing:
literature review, NSW [2009], p. 12)
Student Achievement Increases When Students Use Laptops
Suhr, Hernandez, Grimes and Waschauer (2010) investigated the effects of a
technology-intensive intervention-based approach upon individual student use of
laptop computers measuring students academic achievement in Language Arts
over a two-year period. They concluded that new digital technologies yield benefits
that include: exposing students to a wide range of academic language; providing
scaffolding to students to increase comprehension of challenging and interesting
texts; increasing student engagement in text-based simulations that spark their
interests and motivate their learning; and providing a wide range of tools for
analyzing texts, brain-storming their ideas, organizing their thoughts, writing, peer
editing, and publishing their work.
Suhr et al (2010) report that regular writing and editing by computer requires
more regular access to computers than those afforded in the typical classroom,
based upon a study led by Warschauer (2006, 2008) that included 650 hours of
classroom observation; a survey of more than 900 students and teachers; interview
with 191 teachers, students, parents, and staff; and analysis of print and digital

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documents produced by schools, teachers, and students. Some exceptional positive
students benefits were noted:
In laptop classes, Literacy processes became more public, collaborative,
authentic, and iterative, with greater amounts of scaffolding and feedback
provided. Literacy sources expanded to include a wealth of online
materials, more student-collected data, and digital or audio archives of
students own work. Literacy products extended beyond the essays and
PowerPoint presentations that dominate typical schools to include a greater
variety of textual and multimedia genres. All of these changes are in line
with those often touted by technology enthusiasts but have previously not
been regularly achieved through shared uses of educational computers.
Warschauer, (2008) p. 64
Suhr et al (2010) concluded that much of the published research shows that
that one-to-one laptop programs create a highly favorable environment for students
literacy development and students used laptops for a variety of tasks and completed
tasks such as writing and revising papers on their laptops, using word processing
features for formatting papers and checking spelling. Laptop classrooms were very
print rich with student work sometimes in multiple iterations (e.g. brainstorming
charts produced with graphic organizers, first drafts, and final drafts) filling the
walls with relevant examples of student writing. (p. 11)
Increasing Student Writing Outcomes

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Warschauer (2009) observed that substantial positive changes were achieved
in each stage of the writing process when 1:1 laptops were provided to ten
elementary, middle school and high schools in California and Maine. Schools
studied were located in urban, suburban and rural settings and dispersed across
wealthy, middle class and poor neighborhoods and included ethnically diverse
populations. The most frequent uses for laptops across all of the classrooms
included writing and editing papers, following by seeking online information.
Laptop use, Warschauer surmised, greatly affected the writing process and had a
major impact on instruction at every stage of the writing process in the stages
identified: Pre-Writing, Writing Drafts, Scaffolding Tool Use, and Rewriting. The
laptops changed reading and evaluation processes utilized by teachers, and
increased opportunities for teachers and students to provide on-going feedback on
writing, while student editing and revision were also facilitated. Following writing,
public sharing and dissemination of student writing occurred in more diverse and
varied ways than in a typical classroom (Warschauer, 2010, p. 107)
According to Warschauer (2010), Student writing became better integrated
into instruction, more iterative, more public and collaborative, more
purposeful and authentic, and more diverse in genre, while students written
products improved in quality and student writing became more autonomous
suggesting that one-to-one laptop use has a substantial positive impact on the
teaching and learning of writing. (p. 110)
Suhrs (2008) dissertation addressed the challenges of the phenomenon
referred to a Fourth Grade Slump referencing Challs (1992) explanation that the

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fourth grade slump is especially pronounced among children from economically
disadvantaged backgrounds and that this slump correlates to theories about
language proficiency development. Suhr states that the use of computers decreases
the challenges that occur when students are socio-economically challenged and face
gaps in acquisition of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiencies (CALP). He
cited Kuliks (2003) meta-analysis of 12 controlled studies that investigated the
effects of technology on student writing, including (a) word processing studies, (b)
studies of computer writing prompts, and (c) studies of computer enrichment (p.
24).
Kulik noted that while studies on writing prompts yielded mixed results;
studies on the computers environment effects on student writing, while few,
generally presented a favorable picture of computer-enriched writing
instruction in his estimation. Improvements in student writing quality were
also found in 70% of studies which examined the effects of word processing
(PC, laptop or AlphaSmart-type) on overall writing quality in elementary or
secondary school students. (Bangert-Drowns, 1993, p. 24)
The collective results of 15 studies on writing with laptop computers indicate
that students who write with word processors tend to produce higher quality
passages than students who use pen and pencil (Goldberg, Russell, & cook, 2003).
In addition, the higher quality of the word-processed writing was associated with
more and more comprehensive revisions of student-composed text. Researchers
also noted, When students write on computers, writing becomes more of a social
process in which students share their work with each other. (Goldberg et al., 2003,

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p. 18) This observation lends additional support to the connection between
computers in the classroom and constructivist practices. (Kuhr, 2008, p. 25)
Simple, Affordable Word Processors Such as the AlphaSmart are Beneficial
Simple word processing tools such as the AlphaSmart are less expensive and
more portable than higher-end laptops or netbooks. Suhr (2008) cites a study by
Russell et al (2003) in which analyzed AlphaSmart usage on the quality of student
writing within three fourth grade Massachusetts public school classes. Using a
range of quantitative and qualitative data-gathering methods, they concluded that
increased use of AlphaSmarts was associated with four positive outcomes: (a)
increased student sense of ownership over and fluency with technology, (b) positive
changes in teacher attitudes towards the use of technology in classrooms, (c)
increased peer-to-peer and teacher-to-student interaction, and (d) improvements in
the quality of student writing. Students who used AlphaSmarts (as opposed to pen,
pencil, or conventional typewriters) wrote longer compositions, undertook more
textual revisions, and submitted higher quality essays than students who did not use
these word processing devices. There were associated teacher-related changes,
including reduced lecture time, more favorable teacher attitudes towards
technology, and greater reliance upon cooperative learning instructional practices.
Simple word processors can be an effective and less expensive alternative to
higher-priced laptops and are valuable devices for elementary students.
According to Suhr (2008) when such technology is deployed in the
classrooms of teachers with a constructivist orientation, computer technology
appears to have a strong, positive influence that helps students to overcome the

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fourth grade slump and that may be especially beneficial for students who are at
greatest risk of falling behind in the upper elementary school years.
Significant improvements in student writing have been linked to student use
of laptops. Investigative research by Warschauer, Arada and Zheng, (2010) over a
seven year period, showed that when students have daily access to Internetconnected laptops, they conduct deeper background research for their writing,
revise and publish more, receive more feedback on their writing, and produce
substantially higher quality writing, and yet K-12 schools are slow to adopt one to
one laptop programs largely due to the costs. In the Littleton Public School District
near Denver, Colorado, they implemented an educational reform program called
Inspired Writing to all students in English language arts classes including grades
5 thru 10 using small netbook computers at a cost of less than $280 per unit. The
benefits touted by students and staff included: small size which fit easily on student
desks and made them extremely portable, students liked them, and they ran on a
six-cell re-chargeable battery that could last an entire day without charging. The
Linux netbooks operating system was easy to navigate, stable, and accompanied
with a wide range of free educational software including Open Office. The district
also adopted usage of free cloud-based Google apps, Google Docs and Gmail, and
used social media for writing, including Blogger, PBWorks, and Twitter.
The focus was on authentic writing tools, and developing distinct student
voices using themes including Tools for Better Writing, Access to Information,
Share and Learn, Self-Directed Learning, Remaining Relevant in a
Technological World, and Engagement with New Media are keys to the

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programs early success. Warschauer et al (2010) concluded it is extremely
important to view students not just as learners but also as real writers with
something important to say, with opportunities to write daily for an authentic
purpose and audience using individual and flexible forms of digital media. (p.
223)
The district mandated that staff use appropriate tools supported with sound
pedagogy, and emphasized develop student writing through exposure to a variety of
genres, modeling effective writing within each genre, and allowing students write
on topics of their interest while being able to share their work using publishing
tools including blogs, wikis, chat tools (e.g. CoverItLive.com) and writing
collaboratively using real time text tools (e.g. TitanPad.com).
Conclusion: Laptop Usage in the Elementary Classroom
Increases Writing Outcomes and Student Engagement
Lamb and Johnson (2012) implore educators to teach young people to write
using a variety of technological laptop tools that reflect authentic writing, from iPad
apps. to multimedia tools, all the while utilizing cooperative and collaborative
writing techniques, going beyond simple word processing by incorporating visual
layout tools including page layout, presentation, and hypermedia, which allow
infusion of visual elements into students work. Use of correspondence tools such
as e-mail, chats, bulletin boards and forums, blogs, texting and collaborative tools
that feature open-ended editing, or creation of concept maps, timelines, or
electronic whiteboards are preferred allowing students to share and edit documents
in real-time. Educators should expand their definition of writing as todays student

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communicative efforts can take many different forms, including text on a page, in
paragraphs, or text on a screen or in cartoon-like bubbles. If we consider Lamb and
Johnsons definition of writing to be simply a representation of language through
the use of symbols, then technological tools such as a laptop or notebook can
provide an effective way for elementary students to find success in their writing as
they create, edit, produce, collaborate and share their work. Its a whole new
written world out there, and if we wish to prepare students for success within the
21st century, many researchers agree that laptop initiatives are proving to be one
smart avenue for doing just that.

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into a year three writing program. Information Technology in Childhood
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Bangert-Drowns, R. L. (1993) The word processor as an instructional tool: A metaanalysis of word processing in writing instruction. Review of Educational
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Cramer, S. R., & Smith, A. (2002). Technology's impact on student writing at the
middle school level. Journal of Instructional Psychology [H.W.Wilson EDUC], 29(1), 3.

Grimes D & Warschauer M (2008), Learning with laptops: a multi-method case

study, J. Educational Computing Research, Vol. 38(3) 305-332, Baywood
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Kulik, J.A. (2003) Effects of using instructional technology in elementary and

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Mills, K., Exley, B., Time, Space, and Text in the Elementary School Digital
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