Computer-aided Education: Experiencing Writing in the Digital World

This study examines the link between computer-aided English lessons and students' performance and motivation. The experiment was built on one of Campbell and Stanley's experimental models for educational research. Two groups of students with similar socio-economic backgrounds were randomly appointed to represent G1, the experimental group (N=40) and respectively, G2, the control group (N=40). Both groups were given similar types of written tasks, computer aided in G1. The statistical analysis shows significant differences between the two groups after 39 weeks, differences which were inexistent at the beginning of the experiment. Both proficiency and motivation are much higher in G1, which is attributed to the use of computerized tasks. The findings support the feasibility of integrating the computer in the English classes and suggest that more research be done to evaluate the metacognitive aspects of authentic, computer-aided writing in a foreign language.