Is technology improving outcomes?

Is technology improving outcomes?
A new report from PISA looks at how education systems and schools are integrating technology into learning experiences, and with what results.
The findings, taken from the 2012 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), show that young people in general have very high levels of access to computers. A total of 96% of 15-year-olds in the OECD countries reported that they had a computer at home, and 72% reported computer access at school.
But has accessibility made a difference to learning outcomes? The findings of this report indicate that students who use computers very frequently at school do a lot worse in most learning outcomes; that students in countries/economies that have invested heavily in technology showed no appreciable improvements in reading, math, or science achievement; and that in places where it is common for students to use the internet at school for homework, students' performance in reading declined between 2000 and 2012. However, students who used computers "moderately" at school tended to have somewhat better learning outcomes than those who used them rarely.
The authors also explore the "digital divide." They say that as the gap in access to digital media and resources closes, research has started to focus on what people do with it, and this still depends on factors such as reading skills and social support. The report found that in general disadvantaged students preferred chat over email. Also, while in most countries/economies there were no differences related to socioeconomic status in the use of video games, the influence of socioeconomic status was strong when it came to reading news or obtaining practical information form the internet.

Johns Hopkins University 

Research in Brief

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