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TITLE:
An AlphaSmart for Each Student: Does Teaching and Learning Change with Full Access to Word Processors?

AUTHOR(S):
Michael Russell, Boston College
Damien Bebell, Boston College
Jennifer Cowan, Boston College
Mary Corbelli, Boston College

DOCUMENT TYPE: Article

ABSTRACT:
Although increasing numbers of schools are investing in portable writing devices, few have attempted to provide one device for each student. Instead, classroom sets of portable writing devices are often shared across classrooms or classrooms are equipped with a limited number of devices that are shared among students. As an example of the latter, Wellesley Public Schools, a suburban district near Boston, has placed six to eight AlphaSmarts in each third, fourth and fifth grade classrooms. Although students make regular use of the AlphaSmarts in their classrooms, students are often unable to access the device when needed because other students are using them. In the current study, we use a variety of methodological tools (teacher interviews, student interviews, student drawings, and over 50 classroom observations) to examine what happened in three Wellesley 4th grade classrooms when each student received their own AlphaSmart. Before describing our methodology and presenting the results of this study, we first summarize the literature on the effects of computers and writing as well as research on laptops and portable writing devices in schools.