1 The Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment Volume 3, Number 2 January 2005 Learning With Technology: The Impact of Laptop Use on Student Achievement James Cengiz Gulek & Hakan Demirtas A publication of
1 The Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment Volume 3, Number 2 January 2005 Learning With Technology: The Impact of Laptop Use on Student Achievement James Cengiz Gulek & Hakan Demirtas A publication of the Technology and Assessment Study Collaborative Caroline A. & Peter S. Lynch School of Education, Boston College
2 Volume 3, Number 2 Learning With Technology: The Impact of Laptop Use on Student Achievement James Cengiz Gulek and Hakan Demirtas Editor: Michael Russell Technology and Assessment Study Collaborative Lynch School of Education, Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA Copy Editor: Rachel Kay Design and Layout: Thomas Hoffmann JTLA is a free on-line journal, published by the Technology and Assessment Study Collaborative, Caroline A. & Peter S. Lynch School of Education, Boston College. Copyright 2005 by the Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment (ISSN ). Permission is hereby granted to copy any article provided that the Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment is credited and copies are not sold. Preferred citation: Gulek, J. C. & Demirtas, H. (2005). Learning with technology: The impact of laptop use on student achievement. Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment, 3(2). Available from
3 Abstract: Rapid technological advances in the last decade have sparked educational practitioners interest in utilizing laptops as an instructional tool to improve student learning. There is substantial evidence that using technology as an instructional tool enhances student learning and educational outcomes. Past research suggests that compared to their nonlaptop counterparts, students in classrooms that provide all students with their own laptops spend more time involved in collaborative work, participate in more project-based instruction, produce writing of higher quality and greater length, gain increased access to information, improve research analysis skills, and spend more time doing homework on computers. Research has also shown that these students direct their own learning, report a greater reliance on active learning strategies, readily engage in problem solving and critical thinking, and consistently show deeper and more flexible uses of technology than students without individual laptops. The study presented here examined the impact of participation in a laptop program on student achievement. A total of 259 middle school students were followed via cohorts. The data collection measures included students overall cumulative grade point averages (GPAs), end-of-course grades, writing test scores, and state-mandated norm- and criterion-referenced standardized test scores. The baseline data for all measures showed that there was no statistically significant difference in English language arts, mathematics, writing, and overall grade point average achievement between laptop and non-laptop students prior to enrollment in the program. However, laptop students showed significantly higher achievement in nearly all measures after one year in the program. Cross-sectional analyses in Year 2 and Year 3 concurred with the results from the Year 1. Longitudinal analysis also proved to be an independent verification of the substantial impact of laptop use on student learning outcomes.
4 Learning With Technology: The Impact of Laptop Use on Student Achievement Introduction Technological advances, such as more powerful personal computers, directly affect the way people live in this information age. In the analysis of Fifty Trends Now Changing the World, Cetron and Davies (2001) noted that technology is increasingly dominating both the economy and society. Schools are no exception. The Digest of Education Statistics (National Center for Education Statistics, 2000) reports that the percent of students using computers at school more than doubled between 1984 and Similarly, Education Week notes that the United States, along with Australia, leads the world in the number of students per computer, with a ratio of five to one in 2003 (Technology Counts, 2004). Education Week (Technology Counts, 2004) also notes that 98 percent of nation s schools have Internet access and that more than 12 percent of the nation s schools have used laptops as an instructional tool. In addition, 38 states standards for teacher certification include technology, 15 states require technology training or coursework for an initial teacher license, and 9 states require a technology test for an initial teacher license. There is no doubt that educational leaders are increasingly looking for ways to increase instructional uses of technology. Over the past decade, rapid technological advances have sparked interest in utilizing laptops as an instructional tool to improve student learning. According to The New Lab for Teaching and Learning s Dalton Council Task Force Report in Laptop Technology (2001), Beaufort County in South Carolina launched a pilot program in 1994 using laptops for instruction with 330 sixth graders. The program was expanded to all middle school students by The same report indicates that Clovis Unified School District in California and New York City Community School District Six (with 2,700 students in grades four through seven) launched similar laptop immersion programs in 1996 (Dalton Council Task Force Report, 2001). Similarly, in 2000, the state of Maine piloted a laptop immersion program with one middle school, expanding it to 241 middle schools in 2001,
5 5 and increasing to a total of 36,000 laptops with 33,000 students and 3,000 teachers by The second largest initiative occurred in Henrico County Schools in Virginia, which piloted a laptop program in 2001 and expanded enrollment to 23,000 students by the end of Texas is the most recent 