The effect of pen and paper or tablet computer on early writing – A pilot study

Abstract

One consequence of the ongoing controversy on the implementation of digital tools in early writing instruction is a need to investigate the effect of different writing instruction tools such as pen(cil) and paper and tablet computers on early writing. The purpose of this pilot study is to develop a study design and a writing test to investigate the effect of writing instruction tool (tablet computer vs. pen and paper) and test format (digital vs. pen-and-paper) on early writing outcomes. For the writing test, our pilot study shows that pupils assessed by the digital test format wrote faster compared with those assessed by pen-and-paper format, independent of the writing instruction tool. Given the limitations of this pilot study in scope and its quasi-experimental nature, we provide some suggestions for the design of a larger scale study by taking into account the rapid development of the field of early writing instruction.