Martin Levins
Many have voiced concern about the potential influence that laptops may have on writing, and there has been some debate as to the effect of computer use on handwriting tasks such as those used in final, matriculation-style exams.
Most recently, WIlliam McKeith, executive principal of Presbyterian Ladies College Sydney and Armidale, wrote about this in the Sydney Morning Herald.
He echoes (sorry) Umberto Eco's comments in the Guardian, and laments the loss of handwriting, but, I believe these arguments confuse penmanship with writing and are based principally on nostalgia—neither offer any research basis for their claims.
The very nature of change suggests that effects (good or bad) will take some time before they surface. Hence major, longitudinal research has been a little thin on the ground, despite many smaller surveys and tests that have demonstrated successes with laptop use for writing improvement.
As many would be aware, the USA state of Maine provided laptops to all of its middle school students in 2002, and, last year, the University of Southern Maine released its 5 year study into the effects of the provision of laptops on writing, with particular reference to that state's standardised testing tool: the MEA.
Referenced at http://www.k12blueprint.com/k12/blueprint/story_good_news_from_maine_about_the_impact_of_laptops_on_writing_skills.php, the summary of the report is as follows:
"According to a recent research report by the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) at the University of Southern Maine, the use of laptops improves scores on writing skills assessments, that more frequent use is linked to higher scores, and that writing skills of laptop users transfer to writing without a laptop.
In addition to looking at test results, the study reported on student and teacher responses to a number of questions. Students were asked to provide information about their laptop use – whether they use the computer for drafts and final copy, final copy only, drafts only, or not at all. The researchers found that 21% of the students who did not use their laptops in writing met the state proficiency standards, as compared to 43.7% of the students in the “best use” group.
In other words, the percentage of students meeting Maine’s writing proficiency standard doubled when laptops were used for drafts and final copy."
And, most importantly:
"The study also found that writing scores improved for all students regardless of whether the MEA was administered online or with pencil and paper. Clearly, laptops in classrooms helped students become better writers in general, not just better writers while using laptops."
The full report is available from the University's website
I recommend this document to assist us all in understanding the complexities of student learning (in the context of writing tasks) and to provide some hard research data as to the efficacy of computer use.
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