Wednesday, March 21, 2001

Researchers Conclude That Wireless Technology Is a Double-Edged Sword By SCOTT CARLSON A study by two researchers at Cornell University found that wireless-computing programs have mixed effects on the grades of students. While unfettered access to the Internet can enhance a learning environment, the researchers say, it can also harm students' grades in some cases. Geri Gay, a professor of communication and director of the university's Human-Computer Interaction Group, and Michael Grace-Martin, a research associate there, collaborated to produce the study. Ms. Gay and Mr. Grace-Martin meant to test assertions often made by technology boosters: that so-called ubiquitous access to computers enhances student performance, and that laptops "extend" the school day, because students continue working on assignments after class is over. The study logged the Web-browsing activity of about 80 students in two separate courses, a computer-science course and a communications course. A $300,000 grant from the Intel Corporation, given specifically for this study, provided laptops and wireless access for the students. Through a central server, Ms. Gay and Mr. Grace-Martin recorded the amount of time that each student spent surfing the Web and the number of Web pages he or she visited, then compared that to the student's grade at the end of the semester. According to the report of the study, communications students who visited more Web sites during class scored higher than other students in the course. Ms. Gay said she did not know how much the grades varied, but the differences in Web browsing accounted for only 24 percent of the difference in grades. In the report, the researchers point out that Web browsing was an integral part of the course, which studied how the Internet aids communication. However, those communications students who spent more time online at home performed less well than those who spent little time online at home. Communications students spent 40 percent of their time online at home, compared with 15 percent of their time online in class. There were contrasts in the computer-science course as well. The more time that computer-science students spent browsing during class, the worse they performed, the report says, although the differences in browsing time accounted for only 13 percent of the difference in grades. Browsing times outside of class seemed to have little effect on the students' grades. Ms. Gay says the study shows that computers could be an effective classroom tool, as long as students remain focused on class activity. "I think that computers really are pervasive," she says, adding that "it is going to require a lot of thinking on the part of academics to figure out how to incorporate computers effectively." "Just putting them in the classroom could be a curse," she says. "But if we think it through, there could be terrific benefits." James H. Watt, the chairman of the language, literature, and communication department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, saw a presentation about the preliminary results of the study late last year. "This is clear evidence for what has been a suspicion -- that maybe what we're introducing is something that is not all positive," he says. Rensselaer has started a wireless program of its own. Mr. Watt says studies like this one might help guide instructors, showing them how to design around electronic distractions. "You're going to have to accept [the diversions] in some cases, or you're going to tell them to turn off their computers and get out a piece of paper." Although the study was supported by Intel, which has an interest in promoting computer use in the classroom, Ms. Gay says that the financing did not influence the findings. "I told them that we may find negative things," she says. An article about the study will appear in July in a special issue of Educational Technology & Society, a journal of the International Forum of Educational Technology & Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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