Home Computers and Child Outcomes: Short-Term Impacts from a Randomized Experiment in Peru

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. The unauthorized commercial use of Bank documents is prohibited and may be punishable under the Bank's policies and/or applicable laws. Terms of use: Documents in Copyright ©Inter-American Development Bank. This working paper may be reproduced for any non-commercial purpose. It may also be reproduced in any academic journal indexed by the American Economic Association's EconLit, with previous consent by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), provided that the IDB is credited and that the author(s) receive no income from the publication. This paper presents results from a randomized control trial in which approximately 1,000 OLPC XO laptops were provided for home use to children attending primary schools in Lima, Peru. The intervention increased access and use of home computers, with some substitution away from computer use outside the home. Beneficiaries were more likely to complete domestic chores but less likely to read books. Treatment children scored almost one standard deviation higher in a test of XO proficiency, though there were no effects on objective and self-reported skills for using a Windows-based PC and Internet. There were positive impacts on the Raven's Progressive Matrices test among children who did not have a home computer before the intervention, but no significant effects for the sample as a whole. Finally, there was little evidence for spillovers within schools, although close friends and classmates of laptop recipients did exhibit higher proficiency with the XO computer. Cataloging-in-Publication JEL classifications: C93, I21, I28

Media and Human Capital Development: Can Video Game Playing Make You Smarter?

“…Reading should improve children's reading recognition skills. Computer use may have positive affect both types of cognitive skills and television may improve reading skills (Fiorini 2010; Malamud and Pop-Eleches, 2011; Beuermann et al, 2013; Gentzkow and Shapiro, 2008; Huang and Lee, 2010). Some active leisure activities, for example, team sports and educational games, may also positively affect cognitive skills.…”

“…Fiorini and Keane (2014) find that time spent on media is as important input in cognitive skill production as after-school care. According to the findings of Fiorini (2010), Malamud and Pop-Eleches (2011), and Beuermann et al (2013), computer use fosters verbal and nonverbal intelligence. Gentzkow and Shapiro (2008) and Huang and Lee (2010) conclude that moderate television watching improves children's reading ability.…”

Scaling the Digital Divide: Home Computer Technology and Student Achievement

“…Fairlie and Robinson (2013) report the results of a randomized trial involving younger students in Grades 6-10. There have also been two studies of the rollout of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative in rural Peru (Beuermann et al 2013;Cristia et al 2012). While these studies often report positive outcomes of computer access on some outcomes, they typically report no or modest impacts on basic academic indicators.…”

The educational value of internet use in the home for school children: A systematic review of literature

“…Another identified that the use of the Internet at home for learning and communication, not playing and browsing, were associated with higher cognitive scores (Johnson, 2009). However, not all research articles identified a positive effect on cognitive development, a study that explored one laptop per child scheme in Peru found no significant increase in cognitive development for participants (Beuermann et al, 2013). Like academic achievement, how the Internet is used appears to influence its value with regards to cognitive development.…”