Teaching the Teacher

Episode 31: Computers in the Classroom

w/ Wolfe, Alexander, Chen, Hunsu, and Wollscheid
Hosted by Dana Lendall

DANA (HOST):
Hello! And welcome back to “Teaching the Teacher,” where we go back to school ince a
week to learn about a new topic. Today we have a very exciting episode. If you’ve been
a teacher of any kind in the past 40 years, I’m sure you’ve had a discussion about this in
some way. We’re talking about technology in the classroom! Woohoo! More specifically,
whether using technology for writing purposes is beneficial or not. I have a lot of smart
people in this room, so before we go any further I want everyone to give a small
introduction, so the listeners can get to know you before we talk their ears off! You can
just say your name and what you research! Wolfe, shall we start with you? And then we
can just go in a circle.

WOLFE: (she/her)
Sure! Hi everyone, I’m Edward Wolfe. I work at Educational Testing Service in
Princeton, New Jersey. I researched how lack of comfort and experience using
computers disadvantages students with my colleagues Bolton, Feltovich, and Niday.

ALEXANDER: (she/her)
I’m Melody Alexander. I’m a professor at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. My
colleagues, Bartlett, Truell, and Ouwenga, and I researched whether test scores and
time taken to complete assignments were different when students used traditional
methods versus online methods.

CHEN: (she/her)
Hello! I’m Jing Chen, a research scientist at the National Center for Education Statistics.
My colleagues, White, McCloskey, Soroui, and Chun, and I focused on how using
technology to write affects adults, and whether scorers of writing tests score differently if
the writing is online or on paper.

HUNSU:
I’m Nathan Hunsu. I’m a graduate assistant at Washington State University in the writing
assessment program. My research was about the issues that may be caused by
changing from paper to online writing assessments and how to address and solve these
issues!
 WOLLSCHEID:
Hello! I’m Sabine Wollscheid. I work at the Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation in
Oslo, Norway. Sjaastad, Tømte, Løver, and I researched how different writing instruction
tools affect early writing outcomes, writing speed, and spelling.

DANA (HOST):
And, of course, I’m Dana Lendall, the host of this podcast. If you’re new here, I’m an
elementary school teacher. On this podcast I like bringing on guests who can share
different perspectives and teach us things we don’t know about but want to! I’m really
excited about today’s episode. If you guys have listened before, you may know I’ve
been trying to decide if I want to have my kids do their writing assignments on the
computers or not. So I’m so glad our guests agreed to be here and share their research
findings! Thank you guys!

ALEXANDER:
Thanks for having us! I love talking about my research, and I’m sure everyone else can
relate.

DANA (HOST):
Of course! My listeners are mostly teachers and other people who work in education, so
they are the perfect audience for your research! Okay, so first I just want to talk about
technology in general, not necessarily relating to writing. So obviously technology has
advanced so much in the past few years. Growing up I think most households had one
computer to share between the whole family, if they even had one at all. Now it seems
like everyone has their own computer or tablet, even young children! Isn’t it crazy how
much has changed in such a short amount of time?

WOLFE:
I totally agree! I mean, I did my research in the mid 90s, so computers were only just
becoming more popular. And what you just said, “if they even had one at all,” was
exactly why I did this research! A lot of students didn’t have access to computers, but
they were still beginning to be used in classrooms, which seemed unfair to me. It was
like telling students there was going to be a test, but only give half the class a study
guide. How were students without computers expected to use them as well as students
who could spend hours using them at home?

DANA (HOST):
Wow. Great point that I hadn’t even thought about. Our students have computer classes
a few times a week, so even kids without computers at home still have access to them,
but nowhere near as much as students with personal computers, you’re so right.
 ALEXANDER:
I did my research only a few years after Wolfe published his, so computers were still not
as common as they are now. Online assessments had already gained popularity, but it
was mostly just multiple choice tests. But it was obvious that in the next few years
technology would take over our life.

DANA (HOST):
It is truly interesting to see how much has changed in a few short years. Wollscheid,
your research is relatively recent. You mentioned in your article that digital literacy is a
core element in curriculums in the Nordic countries (Wollscheid et al., 2016). What does
that mean?

WOLLSCHEID:
Yeah! In Nordic countries, computers, tablets, and smartphones are part of the school
infrastructure. As of 2006, digital literacy is one of the five core skills students learn, like
reading and writing skills! But my colleagues and I found out that keyboard writing has
replaced cursive writing in most of the US, and that many countries favor keyboard
writing (Wollscheid et al., 2016). It's interesting to see how education is shifting to
become more online.

DANA (HOST):
That’s awesome! I feel like the Scandinavian countries are always so advanced in
education. Now Alexander and Wolfe, you both mention in your articles that using
computers has improved students’ attitudes towards education. Why do you think that
is?

WOLFE:
I think it's because word processors make editing and revising your writing so much
easier (Wolfe et al., 1996).

DANA (HOST):
True! I remember having to ask my parents to spell things out for me, or write them
down so I could copy the letters. It would’ve been such a time saver if I could just
attempt to write the word and have my computer correct me. And I’m sure my parents
would be a lot less annoyed! Now let's talk specifically about writing. Does using a
computer instead of paper and pencil have an effect on writing?

WOLFE:
Yes.
 ALEXANDER:
No.

CHEN:
Yes.

HUNSU:
Yes.

WOLLSCHEID:
No.

DANA (HOST):
Wow, almost an even split! Okay, first let's hear from Alexander and Wollscheid. You
guys think the medium used to write has no effect on the writing itself? How did you
come to this conclusion?

ALEXANDER:
Yup. So we took a group of college students who had the same education – they used
the same course materials, received the same lectures, completed the same projects –
and gave them a written pre-test to see their base knowledge. Then the students were
taught the same lesson. Afterwards, half the students took an online test and the other
half took a traditional paper test. And we found no significant difference in the test
scores between groups (Alexander et al., 2001).

DANA (HOST):
Interesting. And Wollscheid, did you have similar findings?

WOLLSCHEID:
Similar results, but a different method for sure. Our research focused on three aspects
of elementary aged students’ writing: writing outcome, speed, and spelling. We split the
students into two groups. One group wrote on paper and the other used tablet
computers. We gave each student a page of a story and asked them to transcribe as
much of it as they could in seven minutes. Then we read them ten sentences aloud and
asked them to write them down. Lastly we asked them to write a story about their
favorite season within seven minutes, and asked them to write another if they finished
early. We didn’t find any difference in any of the measurements in either group
(Wollscheid et al., 2016).
 DANA (HOST):
Wow, that sounds like solid evidence to me. Now, I think everyone is dying to hear the
other side of this argument. How does using a computer affect writing? Wolfe?

WOLFE:
Okay, so, obviously I found that using a computer does affect your writing. My
colleagues and I compared essays written with paper and pencil to essays written with a
word processor and found that essays that used a word processor were neater and
longer, had a more formal tone, and contained fewer simple sentences. So using a
computer actually benefits your writing (Wolfe et al., 1996).

DANA (HOST):
Interesting. Hunsu, what did you find?

HUNSU:
My research was mostly analyzing other articles, so I don’t have much else to add that
hasn’t already been said. I found that higher level cognitive processing is done when
typing on the computer, so I definitely think using technology to write is beneficial. I also
think it’s important to mention that using computers for assignments often saves time
(Hunsu, 2015).

ALEXANDER:
My research also showed that writing on computers is faster (Alexander et al., 2001)!

CHEN:
Wow. Interesting results. But I have to say I disagree with all of you. I actually found that
using technology worsens writing!

DANA (HOST):
What! I think I just heard everyone’s jaw drop! Explain!

CHEN:
So my research focused specifically on adult writing. We gave them a background
questionnaire, a general literacy assessment, a vocabulary assessment, and a
functional writing assessment. Half of them wrote on paper and the other half on
computers. Both the paper and online writing assessment ended up being around the
same length, but the paper tests contained higher quality writing (Chen et al., 2011)!
 DANA (HOST):
Wow, that’s crazy! Maybe it has to do with the fact that they are adults and grew up
writing on paper, so they’re more used to that.

CHEN:
Probably. Our background questionnaire asked about experience with technology.
Going even further, we found that adults with less experience with word processors
were even more disadvantaged by computer tests (Chen et al., 2011).

WOLFE:
Our research found a similar result! Students who had low levels of experience with
technology scored almost a whole point lower and wrote more than a hundred words
less when they used a word processor (Wolfe et al.,1996)!

DANA (HOST):
Interesting! Anyone else want to add anything?

HUNSU:
I mean, it makes sense. As much as I urge people to make the transition from paper
testing to online testing, I think that schools that enroll students who do not have much
experience with computers, for whatever reason, should continue administering paper
exams (Hunsu, 2015).

DANA (HOST):
I think that’s smart. Well, that’s all the time we have today. Thank you guys so much for
coming on here and sharing your research! It’s so interesting to hear so many different
opinions, and the research that supports them. I will definitely keep all your findings in
mind. As we can see, there is no certain answer on if using computers to write is
beneficial. Technology is only advancing and its role in our lives is increasing. Even if it’s
not certain that using technology is beneficial, it will probably still continue to be used.
Remember that, regardless of if it is beneficial, students who have less experience with
technology tend to score lower on computer tests. I provided you with the evidence, you
can decide what to do with it. Thank you all so much for tuning into this week’s episode
of “Teach the Teacher.” It was wonderful to have so many scholars here with me to have
a discussion. I hope you learned something today. Next week we’ll be learning how to
get our students to love reading! Bye!
 Works Cited

Wolfe, E. W., Bolton, S., Feltovich, B., & Niday, D. M. (1996). The influence of student
experience with word processors on the quality of essays written for a direct
writing assessment. Assessing Writing, 3(2), 123–147.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1075-2935(96)90010-0

Alexander, M. W., Bartlett, J. E., Truell, A. D., & Ouwenga, K. (2001). Testing in a
Computer Technology Course: An Investigation of Equivalency in Performance
Between Online and Paper and Pencil Methods. Journal of Career and Technical
Education, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.21061/jcte.v18i1.600

Chen, J., White, S., McCloskey, M., Soroui, J., & Chun, Y. (2011). Effects of computer
versus paper administration of an adult functional writing assessment. Assessing
Writing, 16(1), 49–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2010.11.001

Hunsu, N. (2015). Issues in transitioning from the traditional blue-book to

computer-based writing assessment. Computers and Composition, 35, 41–51.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2015.01.006

Wollscheid, S., Sjaastad, J., Tømte, C., & Løver, N. (2016). The effect of pen and paper
or tablet computer on early writing – A pilot study. Computers and Education, 98,
70–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.03.008