The study, conducted by nationally known education researcher Saul Rockman of San Francisco, involved more than 150 teachers and more than 450 students from 20 schools where students have 24-hour access to laptop computers, and computers are fully integrated into classroom instruction. Critical thinking is second only to writing as the skill that a third of teachers say is most improved using laptops. Laptops enhance learning in core academic subjects and increase students' passion for learning. When asked to name their favorite project of the year, students in their second year of laptop use named a project in a core academic subject area twice as often as students without access to laptops did. Seventy-one percent of teachers believe their students who use laptops are highly motivated and more willing to focus on schoolwork.
Laptops lead to higher quality work, especially writing.
Eighty-seven percent of teachers believe access to laptops has increased the quality of their students' work. More than a third name writing as the academic area of most improvement. In high-school classrooms where students have access to laptops, teachers spent twice as much class time consulting and conferencing with individual students or small groups as teachers in classes without laptops did. Laptops extend the school day. In schools where students are learning with laptops, we are seeing the types of educational change called for by today's national standards and school-reform efforts.