Laptops and literacy: Learning in the wireless classroom - By Mark Warschauer

Mark Warschauer's Laptops and Literacy: Learning in the Wireless Classroom has eight chapters that build upon one another to show how the incorporation of technology, specifically laptops, could work to increase literacy rates. Warschauer looks at ten schools in Maine and California to show how laptops help improve literacy in the classroom. He wrote his book based on the action research he conducted at these schools over a two year period. The schools that he has chosen for his study vary with the students' socioeconomic statuses (SES), their location, and the ethnic make-up of each school. Warschauer shows that the success of a one-to-one laptop program depends on the SES of the students and location of the school. He shows that students who were " primed since an early age to prepare for college " are more successful in one-to-one laptop programs, while students from low SES neighbourhoods are less inclined to have the " strong research focus " and critical and analytic skills that are needed for this kind of program (Warschauer, 2006). Warschauer presents very persuasive arguments to show that one-to-one laptop programs increase literacy rates. He includes many anecdotes from teachers, students, and administrators that mainly report on their positive experiences with laptops and their use in the classroom. At the end of each chapter he provides a brief summary of what he has discussed which helps the reader get a clear overview of the many topics he addresses. Warschauer opens Laptops and Literacy by commenting on what he calls a current " literacy crisis " as he shows how technology has caused us to have multiple literacies. He focuses on academic literacies and digital literacies and emphasizes throughout his book that " the societal tools of literacy have also changed radically in the last 50 years, as reading writing, and research move rapidly from the page to the screen " (Warschauer, 2006). Reading on the internet is different than reading a book and Warschauer shows that technology could be used to promote reading and writing simply because of this current page to screen shift (Warschauer, 2006). Warschauer's book is really good for explaining how technology could be implemented into the classroom. However, at some points in his book I felt as though he was providing a sales pitch where he really was trying too hard to sell his idea. It made me stop to wonder: Can …