In 83 percent of 30 studies on the use of word processing software, students’ writing quality improved when they wrote their papers on a computer instead of writing by hand.
"Graham's review of the research doesn't resolve the age-old debate of whether students learn writing best naturally - just by doing it - or through explicit writing instruction.
But there are effective practices where the research is unequivocal. Distressingly, many teachers aren't using them. "We have confirmation of things we know that work, but are not applied in the classroom," said Graham."