Students’ writing and reading preferences in a paperless classroom

ABSTRACT

This study took place in a school which adopted a “paperless classroom” policy. The purpose of the study was to examine whether students who learn in a paperless classroom really prefer reading and writing on computers rather than on paper and whether their preferences differ according to contextual conditions and personal differences. The findings show that students’ reading and writing preferences depended on the context in which the reading or writing was performed. The boys preferred to read and write on the computer significantly more than girls. Conversely, the girls’ handwriting skills and preference for handwriting were higher than the boys’. Reading and writing on computer was found to be favored among strong students, while weak students tended to prefer using paper. This research also revealed a rapid decrease in favoring computer over paper in both reading and writing over time. Students who had experienced the paperless classroom policy in this school for three years were less supportive of the use of computers for reading and writing than younger students.

KEYWORDS:

• Reading
• writing
• paperless classroom
• BYOD
• handwriting
• print vs. digital

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Hagit Meishar-Tal is a senior lecturer and the head of BA program in Instructional technologies at Holon Institute of Technology (HIT), Israel. She served as a researcher in The Center for Innovation in Learning Technologies at the Open University of Israel and as a co-leader of a research group in Learning Technologies in Mofet Institute. Her main research focus is on interactive learning environments. She published many articles and book chapters on online collaborative learning, wikis, mobile learning, social networks as learning environments, and gamification of learning.

Dr Miri Shonfeld was the head of ICT at Kibbutzim College of Education and as the head of the forum for ICT coordinators in teacher education she worked to integrate technology in education. She was involved in writing the national program for the twentieth century as well as numerous position papers. Her research deals with online learning environments, collaborative work, intercultural links, and faculty development. She is currently the head of the Technology, Education, and Cultural Diversity (TEC) Center at Mofet Institute and a faculty member of the graduate program in Technology in Education at Kibbutzim College of Education in Tel Aviv.

ORCID

Hagit Meishar-Tal http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5951-6595

Miri Shonfeld http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2193-211X