Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Oakland University
Introduction
DIGITAL WRITING AND DIVERSITY
2
continues to produce newer issues to this day. Volume 55 Issue 6 released January 2017 is an
edition that covers the analyzation of the blended learning context in the university setting and its
effect on the learning platform of these students. This edition focused on the analyzation of
college students on self efficiency factors including facilitating conditions, subject norm and
anxiety. Data was collected based off of quick surveys, individual interviews and focus group
discussions in the University setting. Preliminary results insinuate that further refinement of the
learning platform and development of learning analytics need to be pursued. Volume 48 Issue 3
was published April 1, 2013 titled: “Digital Writing and Diversity: The effects of school laptop
programs on literacy progress and outcomes” by Binbin Zheng, Mark War Schauen, and George
Farkas. It focuses on the growth of U.S schools using one-to-one laptops. The key goal was to
test if these one-to-one laptop programs (when implemented in the schools) improve students
writing via technology. Two districts were chosen for the analysis: a school in California and a
school in Colorado. Both schools were elementary school settings and the analysis was
performed on grades four and five. The researchers selected these two locations because of the
consistent background of student demographics between the two school districts and both
elementary schools had netbook access throughout the day. They observed, interviewed, and
surveyed these particular group of students every year starting from 2007 and finishing in 2010
to see if the effects of using the laptop had changed the student's writing style, study habits, and
attitudes toward learning. Zheng, War Schauen and Farkas organized the students in three
categories: those without laptop, those who partially used the program, and those who fully used
the program and made comparisons of their writing style performance. One finding from the
study insinuated that at-risk learners: hispanics, low income families, and english speaking
DIGITAL WRITING AND DIVERSITY
3
learners performed significantly well on the overall writing test in both districts with the use of
Analysis
Zheng, Warschauer and Farkas began their research with very defined questions they
wanted answered. “What is the effect of one-to-one laptop programs on student writing
outcomes? 2. How does the effect vary among students in different demographic groups? 3.
What is the effect of one-to-one laptop programs on student writing processes?” (273). They
answered these questions by using surveys, interviews, tests and paper scores, and observation of
The outcomes of their research was organized into data tables that broke down each
demographic that the three researchers decided to focus on. The groups were broken down into
five categories for each chart, some divisions had subdivisions. These groups are ELL (ESL),
students that are learning english or it is their second language. Ethnicity, this is divided into
subdivisions of “Hispanics” and “others” with the base group being white, as both districts had a
high hispanic population. Free or reduced price lunches, this section was created to analyze
average students and those deemed “gifted”, meaning they have a high degree of potential
mental ability. And the last chart is the individualized education program (IEP) for students with
disabilities that receive extra lessons, whether at home in school or in a medical setting.
Throughout the course of the study each class was followed through a three year span
during school. In 3rd grade they had no laptop program, during 4th grade partial laptop
programs were provided and in 5th grade a full laptop program was introduced to create a
DIGITAL WRITING AND DIVERSITY
4
diagnosis of how well the students performed with and without the program being only partially
The final findings of the research were not as definite as Zheng, Warschauer and Farkas
had hoped that the outcome would be, there was very limited improvement in the base groups
and it could be written off as the class having statistically better year rather than it being an effect
of the laptop learning program. Although the base groups had disappointing outcomes the main
focus of the research, the at-risk learners did show improvement, though it was limited. Students
from lower financial settings, the free-lunch recipients, proved that they benefitted from being
provided with a personal laptop through the research. Having their own laptop to use provided
them with more available time to access their learning materials outside of the classroom rather
than having to wait to share a family computer. Along with the free-lunch students Hispanic
Other articles
“The Effects of Integrating Mobile Devices With Teaching and Learning on Students'
Chang and Tzu-Chien Liu written in 2016, just three years after “Digital Writing and Diversity”.
This paper is a more widespread version of “Digital Writing and Diversity: The Effects of
School Laptop Programs on Literacy Processes and Outcomes”. Sung, Chang and Liu
incorporated research from many other papers other than Zheng, Warschauer and Farkas’s to
condense them into a cohesive whole that covered all topics and discussions around using
laptops and media in the classroom setting. 110 articles published from the year 1993 to 2013
were condensed into qualitative data. The results of the data were more conclusive than “Digital
Writing and Diversity” because they were able to cover more time and other topics that were
DIGITAL WRITING AND DIVERSITY
5
limited in “Digital Writing and Diversity.” The conclusion that Sung, Chang and Liu reach is
that using laptops in the classroom yielded positive results for all students. Compared to desktops
laptops were still a better alternative for incorporating the programs that the digital format can
offer. The final conclusion was that better designs could be created to better exploit the
possibilities offered by digital devices. Sung, Chang and Liu left off by urging the creation of
programs that incorporate mobile devices into the classroom for both students and teaches as the
Another article that uses the research that was conducted in “Digital Writing and
Diversity is Balancing the One-To-One Equation: Equity and Access in Three Laptop
Programs”, it is by the three original authors, Zheng, Warschauer, and Farkas with two additional
contributors, Melissa Niiya and Shelia Cotten, titled “Balancing the One-To-One Equation:
Equity and Access in Three Laptop Programs”. The paper was composed just a year after the
original because it was just a continuation by the same researchers in order to further their ideas
and the results impact in the field. This paper broadens the area that is covered in “Digital
Writing and Diversity” to also encompass school districts in Alabama. The outcomes of the
throughout all of the districts. The ELL students benefitted more than the non-ELL students and
used the provided laptops for educational purposes more often than the non-ELL students. The
largest failing of the research was in the lowest SES (socioeconomic-status)districts, the results
were affected by lack of training for teachers and interest in the surveys, as well as sustainability
of the program. The only conclusive outcome was that lower SES and ELL students benefitted
from the program. But there were still problems with the program that urges for more research to
DIGITAL WRITING AND DIVERSITY
6
find the most effective way to implement these programs in order to benefit all students in all
districts.
Conclusion
There are several projections we can conclude about this study on digital writing and
diversity. There was no information provided in this study on the relationship of the researchers
to the faculty or students. Evidence on whether this was a blind study or that the students knew
that their academic performance was being collected was not postulated. Within twelve studies
and meta analysis examined since 1990 on the effects of technology usage on student writing,
word processing and computer enrichment, a mixture of positive feedback on the student's ability
to better their understanding in word processing in writing and introduce writing prompts
enhancing the ability for the demographic to improve ordinary word processing was discovered
(Kulik, 2003). Word processing and writing prompts provide a generally positive outcome for
students within this study of digital media. There was a mix of positive and negative outcomes
in the area of computer enrichment. Digital tools (including social media, automated writing
evaluation and blogs) have proven high usage outside of school within the study. Within the five
groups that were analyzed it was conclusive in the first study by Zheng, Warschauer and Farkas
that the three year differential between acclimation to laptop use provided a different impact
upon learners. There is hardly any evidence that provides a difference between learners at risk
and learners that are not at risk (Shapley et al., 2008). The students classed into the “Free or
Reduced Lunch Price” background and the group classed “Hispanic” both transpired a positive
benefit in this first study. During the second study by Zheng, Warschauer, Farkas, Niiya, and
Cotton postulated that “English as Second Language” students benefited in the first and second
study. The improper training and maintenance of the second study did not provide completely
DIGITAL WRITING AND DIVERSITY
7
full results due to the deficiency in providing proper instruction for the teachers to follow the
rules of this study. Further research needs to be acquired to determine if the introduction of the
netbook in the classroom can efficiently provide a positive feedback on students studies.
References
schools: What controlled evaluation studies say. Arlington, VA: SRI International.
Shapley, K., Sheehan, D., Maloney, C., & Caranikas-Walker, F. (2008). Evaluation of the Texas
Technology Immersion Pilot: Outcomes for the third year (2006-07). Austin, TX: Texas
Sung, Y., Chang, K., & Liu, T. (2015, November 23). The effects of integrating mobile devices
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131515300804
Warschauer, M., Zheng, B., Niiya, M., Cotten, S., & Farkas, G. (2014, February 10). Balancing
the One-To-One Equation: Equity and Access in Three Laptop Programs. Retrieved
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10665684.2014.866871?scroll=top&needA
ccess=true
Zheng, B., Warschauer, M., & Farkas, G. (2013, July 09). Digital Writing and Diversity: The