Papers about the Use of Computers in Schools

"The Unwired Classroom: Wireless Computers Come of Age" by Jamie McKenzie, published January, 2001 on The Educational Technology Journal in From Now On.  "In recent years, with the rush to network schools, the amount of wiring and cabling escalated dramatically in ways that often hampered the use of the equipment and led to restrictions and inflexibility.  With the arrival of high performance wireless notebook computers, we stand at the beginning of a promising new phase."

"Becoming a Technologically Savvy Administrator" by Joseph Slowinski, published in January, 2001 in the ERIC Digests. "As the world becomes more dependent on technology, students and their parents will continue to expect a public education to include the integration of computers and the Internet. Businesses are already demanding graduates who are technologically literate. Communities throughout the country will increasingly require effective leadership in the area of technology from insightful and forward-thinking school leaders. Given these expectations and demands, administrators who implement technology effectively in their schools and communities will contribute greatly to both education and the economy in the twenty-first century."

"Personal Computers Help Gifted Students Work Smart" by Geoffrey Jones, published in 1990 in the ERIC Digests.  "Gifted and talented students in many schools now have access to computers in their classrooms, and an increasingly large percentage of these students have home computers."

Lewis Perelman's "School's Out" (William Morrow 1992, Avon Books 1993).

"Technology Enabling School Reform" Bain and Smith, T.H.E. Journal, October 2000.  Students and faculty at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire have carried laptops for nearly a decade. T.H.E. Journal Online examines how the school used technology to enable and sustain a successful school reform effort (e.g. curriculum development, teacher collaboration, teacher evaluation/feedback, as well as "the usual" changes in instructional practices).  [Source: ASCD SmartBrief 10/17/00]

"Microsoft TechNet Education Case Study: Andover Public Schools", a case study by Microsoft written September, 2000 on the Andover, Massachusetts school district.

"Laptop Computers in the K-12 Classroom" by Yvonne Belanger published on the ERIC IT Clearinghouse in May, 2000.  Mobile computers in the classroom and implementing technology are the focus of this paper.

"Laptop Computers in an all-girls school: hearing the student voice in an evaluation of technology use" by Robert Abrams, Ph.D. The Hewitt School, an independent all girls school located in New York City, is in the second year of its laptop project.  This is an advance copy of the paper describing first year results as part of an ongoing evaluation of their project, which will be presented at AERA 2000 in April 2000. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Harris C and Straker L (due 2000): "Survey of physical ergonomics issues associated with school children's use of laptop computers." International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics.

"Learing with Laptops", a report published in September, 1999 on an ACER/Melbourne University study of the Year 7 laptop implementation at Balwyn High School, Australia.  Also see the ACER press release.

"Program Evaluation: The New York City Board of Education Community School District Six Laptop project.", a paper by Christine M. Ricci. It was presented as part of the Tools and Transformations: The Community School District Six Laptop Project and Its Impact on Teachers and Students symposium a the American Educational Research Association (AREA), Montréal, Canada, April 19-23, 1999. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

"Town Hall Debate: "Should Textbooks be Replaced by Laptops?"' was held February 1999 at the Online Forum of EDvancenet. An online debate led by Dr. Jack Christie, Former Chairman of the Texas State Board of Education and Mr. William L. Rukeyser, Coordinator of Learning in the Real World.

"An Educator's Guide to Evaluating The Use of Technology in Schools and Classrooms" published December 1998. This paper is a guide to evaluating local technology initiatives. It was developed for the U.S. Department of Education by the American Institutes for Research. It provides tips, worksheets, sample questionnaires, and other tools for evaluation.

"Powerful Tools for Schooling: Second Year Study of the Laptop Program", by Rockman et al published November, 1998. This is the report of the second year of an ongoing study being sponsored by Microsoft and Toshiba of the pilot projects in schools using laptop computers.

"Does It Compute? The Relationship Between Educational Technology and Student Achievement in Mathematics" published by the Educational Testing Service online, last updated November 3, 1998. This report presents findings from a national study of the relationship between different uses of educational technology and various educational outcomes.

Straker L and Harris C (Sept. 21 1998): Physical implications of laptop computer use by school children (abstract). In PREMUS -ISEOH '98. Helsinki: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, pp. 162.

"Challenging the unquestioning rush towards adopting laptop programs in schools" by Peter Albion, Faculty of Education, University of Southern Queensland published for the QSITE State Conference, August 14-15 1998.

"The effect of using laptop computers on achievement, attitude to science and classroom environment in science" by Fisher, D. and Stolarchuk, E. published August, 1998 in Proceedings Western Australian Institute for Educational Research Forum 1998. The paper is an evaluation of the effectiveness of laptop computers in grades 8 and 9 science classrooms, in a sample of Australian independent Schools.

"Laptop success and horror stories"  by Leticia Ekhaml from State University of West Georgia, Tom Beggs from State University of West Georgia, and Jan Ruskell State from University of West Georgia. Published in the proceedings of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, March 10-14, 1998.

"A Friend for the Language Arts" by Stephen Marcus was published in the January 1998 issue of Electronic School. It covers how technology can enrich reading and writing instruction.

"Computer Fluency: Teachers and the New Technology", a discussion paper by Kenneth W. Umbach, Ph.D. published December 7, 1997. The paper deals with the question, "What are the necessary factors for the acquisition of expertise in computer technology?"

"Technology Counts", a special report published December 1997 from Education Week on the Web  points out that there is little research to justify the billions of dollars schools spend on computers.

"The Web & The Plow" is a paper by Lowell Monke published in the October 1997 issue of Teacher Magazine on the Web. This article warns that like other new technologies, computers will have long term effects on education that we do not expect.

The report "Technology and the New Professional Teacher: Preparing for the 21st Century Classroom" was published in September 1997 by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. The report makes recommendations about the integration of technology into teacher preparation programs.  One of their case studies is Valley City State University, North Dakota, where all students are required to use a notebook computer.

"Laptop Computers in the High School" is a paper by Kent Bugg, Barry Reilly, and Steve Tippett written summer 1997. This paper is a student project from the Educational Policy Advocacy class at Illinois State University College of Education. Papers from earlier terms include ""Laptop Schools, A Paradigm Analysis" a paper written summer 1996 by Dan Bertrand, Jim Carter, Daryl Floit, and Pam Floit and The Paperless Classroom: A Paradigm Analysis", a paper written by students of that class in Summer 1995. An update to that paper written Spring 1997 is also available.

"Education and Computing" by Joe Serene of Georgetown University was published online July 15, 1997.  The paper gives their vision for computing and information systems at Georgetown.

"Report of a Laptop Program Pilot" by Rockman et al published June, 1997. This is a summary report of an ongoing study being sponsored by Microsoft and Toshiba of the pilot projects in schools using laptop computers.

"Computers and Classrooms: The Status of Technology in U.S. Schools", a report published by the Educational Testing Service on May 28, 1997. The study looks at how much technology is used in schools, how is it used and is access equitable.

"Training Teachers for a New Technology", a paper published April 1997 by Jeff Zwier sponsored by Microsoft on moving from the Macintosh to Windows 95 environment.

"Stage 3 Preliminary Report of Children’s Use of Electronic Technologies in the Home" a paper published January 1997 by Toni Downes & Cathy Reddacliff, Faculty of Education University of Western Sydney, Macarthur. This research, sponsored in part by Compaq, looks at families that have computers at home and what they do with them. Stage 2 of this report was published February 1996. Stage 1 was published October 1995.

Straker LM, Jones KJ and Miller J (1997): "A comparison of the postures assumed when using laptop computers and desktop computers." Applied Ergonomics 28: 263-268.

"Moving Toward a Mobile Teaching and Learning Environment: Using Notebook Computers" published January 1997 by Dr. Donald Sargeant, Chancellor, University of Minnesota, Crookston. It was prepared as a chapter in the book The Learning Revolution by Oplinger and Rush. The paper describes the plan for the first "Thinkpad-U" and gives an assessment of their first year experiences.

A paper titled "Management of Information Technology Education and training of staff at Kilvington" by Mr Jenk Akyalcin that describes the training and education of the full-time teaching staff at Kilvington Baptist Girls' Grammar School in Victoria, Australia in the use of their laptop computers was published October 1996.

"School Technology Kit" is a hypertext paper published October 1996 by Janice Gordon and Bram Moreinis at the Teacher Policy Institute. This paper covers issues about curriculum changes brought about by the introduction of technology in the classroom. Janice Gordon is a 4th grade teacher at Mott Hall, a school in Harlem, New York. Her class is using laptop computers as part of the Learning with Laptops program.

"Getting America's Students Ready for the 21st Century" published June 1996. The paper is "A Report to the Nation on Technology and Education" from The United States Department of Education.

"The School Design Model at Brewster Academy: Technology Serving Teaching & Learning", published May 1996 in Technological Horizons in Education Journal by Dr. Alan Bain, Assistant Headmaster, Brewster Academy Wolfeboro, N.H. This article describes their plan for using Macintosh PowerBooks in grades 9 though 12.

"Notebooks in the Classroom, From Toys to Tools", a paper by Patricia Thornhill presented at the Australian Computers in Education Conference, April 1996. She says, "The notebook computer can give students greater facility in writing, reading and access to information but they need a learning environment which helps them understand and recognize quality work and which trains them to critically analyze the information available." In the paper she describes how seventeen notebook computers are used as a mobile laboratory in grades three through six.

"Fostering the Use of Educational Technology: Elements of a National Strategy" by Thomas K. Glennan, Arthur Melmed, a report published 1996 by Rand, a nonprofit institution headquartered in California, is available both online and in printed form.

"Young Children Talking about Computers in their Homes", a study on children's use of electronic technologies in the home was conducted by Toni Downes, the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of Western Sydney Macarthur. This paper was published for the Australian Computers in Education Conference, 1996.

"Computers in Schools - a framework for development", a discussion paper from the Australian Computer Society and the Australian Council for Computers in Education from April, 1995.

"Notebooks For Learning" by David Hoffman was originally published in Technology & Learning, February, 1995. Five early notebook computer programs are outlined. An abstract is also available.

Project PULSE (Pupils Using Laptops for Science and English) sponsored by the Center for Technology in Education is described online at the National Center to Improve Practice in Special Education Through Technology, Media and Materials. Project Pulse is one of four laptop programs described in the article published in 1995. Project PULSE won an award for Best Practices in Educational Technology in 1995.

While not specifically about the use of laptop computers, the U.S. Department of Education has sponsored research about the general use of computers in the classroom. The article, "Challenges and Strategies in Using Technology to Promote Education Reform", is one of the articles published from that research.

To Schools and Their Use of Laptops on the Web