Here at the technology blog Digital Education, run by Education Week, is a link to a study out of North Carolina on correlations between home computer access and academic achievement. (Scroll down to the pdf file under “Report: Home Computers Linked to Lower Reading, Math Achievement.”) The researchers studied data on public school students that focus on racial and income-level gaps in home computer use. The abstract of the paper says:
“We also demonstrate that the introduction of home computer technology is associated with modest but statistically significant and persistent negative impacts on student math and reading test scores. Further evidence suggests that providing universal access to home computers and high-speed Internet access would broaden, rather than narrow, math and reading achievement gaps.”
The text of the paper quickly identifies the central problem of technology programs and initiatives in public schools. It cites huge state-wide initiatives to provide every student with laptops, but comes down squarely on the evidence deficit: “These considerable investments have been made even though very little evidence exists to support a positive relationship between student computer access and academic outcomes.”
In this case, as summarized on the blog post, the researchers “found that students who received a computer between 5th and 8th grade had a decline in their reading and math scores, overall. Students who did not have access to a home computer during this time generally did best on math and reading tests, and of those students who had a computer at home, those who only used the computer twice a month or less had the best scores.” Back to the study: “There is little evidence that more intensive computer use for schoolwork offsets these negative effects.”
Add to this study a finding from the latest American Freshman Survey (see summary here). It says: “There is some evidence that students who spend more time on social networking sites do so at the expense of their academics. While those who spent more time on online social networks do not report spending less time on studying/homework, they are slightly more likely to report that they have had remedial work in high school and/or will need remedial work in college.”
Such results put a damper on the considerable financial, professional, and personal investments proponents of technology put in Digital Age smarts, but they deserve to be included in the next big plan to put every student in front of a screen throughout the school day.
