Netbooks and Open Tools in K-12 Education
Technology, Writing, and Academic Achievement

Professor Mark Warschauer has received two new grants to explore the impact of technology on student learning.

Netbooks and Open Tools in K-12 Education

Funder: Google

PI: Mark Warschauer

Though one-computer-per-student laptop programs have proven popular in U.S. K-12 schools, they have not spread very quickly due to the costs involved. The use of low-cost netbooks or smartbooks deploying free open source software and tools provides a way to get over the cost barrier, but as of yet no research studies have investigated the use of netbooks in U.S. K-12 education. This exploratory study examines the use of netbook computers deploying open source software in three diverse school districts, and compares the impact of such use on teaching and learning processes to that which takes place in more typical school laptop programs (i.e., using full-power laptops and commercial software). The hypothesis is that low-power netbooks and open source software are approximately of equal educational value for one-computer-per-student programs to full-power laptops running commercial software. If this hypothesis is found to be true, the study could influence how fast and in what ways school districts across the U.S. implement one-computer-per-student programs.

Technology, Writing, and Academic Achievement

Funder: Haynes Foundation

PI: Mark Warschauer

In the upper-elementary grades, when U.S. students transition from "learning to read" to "reading to learn," achievement levels start to drop off. This dropoff is especially precipitous among students such as Latinos, English language learners, and of low-socioeconomic status who may lack the academic language proficiency that is needed for making this transition. Such students are disproportionately likely to experience a "fourth grade slump" in reading, writing, and language arts from which they never fully recover, leading to decreased performance in middle school and a high drop out rate in high school. However, there is some evidence that a focus on informative writing, frequent assessment of writing, and effective deployment of new technologies can all help students to successfully manage this transition and thus avoid the fourth grade slump.

Recently, L.A. County's Saugus Union School District implemented in all its fourth grade classes an education reform that was distinguished by three features: extensive student writing using blogs, wikis, and other social software; frequent external assessment of student writing using an automated software program; and sustainable approach to individual student computing based on low-cost mini-laptops, open source software, and open educational resources. After one year of the program, student scores on the English Language Arts California Standards Test increased by 24 percentage points, which, according to the district, represents the highest level of year-to-year student improvement since standardized testing began in California.  Initial analysis of data suggests that Hispanic and low-socioeconomic status demonstrated the highest gains in test score outcomes.

A one-year mixed methods case study will investigate the impact of Saugus program on the literacy practices and outcomes of the district's ethnically and linguistically diverse students. The study is examining how literacy achievement of fourth grade students in Saugus changed following the first and second year of the program, how that differs among particular groups (e.g., Latinos, English language learners, low-socioeconomic status students), and how these changes compares to changes in comparable school districts; how frequently and in what ways students use laptops and whether these differ among particular groups; and whether changes in literacy achievement correlate with frequency or type of use of netbooks. Sources of data include collection and analysis of district and state test score data; a district-wide survey of fourth-grade teachers and students; observations of classroom instruction; interviews with teachers, staff, students, and parents; and examination of district, school, teacher-produced and student-produced documents.

Study findings are expected to illuminate whether and in what ways an educational reform focused on writing, assessment, and sustainable technology can help diverse students avoid the fourth grade slump and successfully transition from learning to read to reading to learn. L.A. and Orange County Departments of Education will help publicize the findings to schools and districts in their areas, and the results will also be incorporated into a book the principal investigator is authoring for Teachers College Press on netbooks and open source software in K-12 education.