Laptop students outperform their non-laptop peers in all four scored areas of a writing assessment -- content, organization, language/voice/style, and mechanics -- scored blind by an independent team of researchers.
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For the third year, teachers report that access to laptops has improved student writing.
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Students themselves report that computers allow them to write better and do more extensive editing.
Laptops encourage collaboration among students.
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Laptop students work in groups several times a week on average compared to a few times a month before laptops were introduced in their classrooms.
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Laptop students assume a greater variety of roles in the learning process -- students teach students, students teach teachers as well as do more exploration on their own.
Laptop students are more confident in their computer skills.
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80 percent of teachers report that since introducing laptops in their classrooms students more often explore topics on their own and work on long projects.
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Students report that using computers increases pride in their work, allows them to turn in better projects, motivates them to work longer and harder, enables research, helps organize work and develop skills needed in college or the workforce.
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Laptop students most strongly agree with the statement "Computers help me improve the quality of my school work." Non-laptop students most strongly agree with "I enjoy playing games on computers."
Laptops are a catalyst for teachers to use more constructivist teaching.
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Laptop teachers showed statistically significant change toward teaching practices that put students at the center of learning, use discussion rather than lecture, encourage student-led inquiry and emphasize thinking skills.
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90 percent of laptop teachers use more activities that empower students to teach each other, rather than relying solely on the teacher for direction.
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More than 80 percent (four out of five) of teachers, whether they use a laptop or not, report that computers play a role in their increased use of constructivist pedagogy.
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100 percent of teachers credit computers for enabling them to evaluate student products rather than just tests.
Laptop teachers feel more empowered in their classrooms.
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Laptop teachers have a greater sense of control over their classroom instruction and management of student learning.
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Laptop teachers use computers far more often in a wider variety of learning activities than non-laptop peers. Their students use computers more often for data analysis (77 percent vs. 5 percent), presentations (59 percent vs. 16 percent), writing (72 percent vs. 21 percent) and research (85 percent vs. 35 percent).
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Laptop teachers also have greater confidence in using technology tools like word processing, e-mail, and the Internet.
Gathering test scores for students was a major hurdle: in some cases, schools could not provide scores or only a handful of students took a particular test. Many schools administer a state-specific assessment, preventing a comparison across school sites.
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In some cases, laptop students' scores were higher, but differences often were not statistically significant. Certainly standardized tests for the most part were not designed to reflect the types of learning that laptops support. Also, in most cases, laptop students were only in the second year of the program and had had their computers less than two years. It is not surprising, then, that results from standardized tests were inconclusive.
