Technology and Education: Computers, Software, and the Internet

Abstract

A substantial amount of money is spent on technology by schools, families and policymakers with the hope of improving educational outcomes. This paper explores the theoretical and empirical literature on the impacts of technology on educational outcomes. The literature focuses on two primary contexts in which technology may be used for educational purposes: i) classroom use in schools, and ii) home use by students. Theoretically, ICT investment and CAI use by schools and the use of computers at home have ambiguous implications for educational achievement: expenditures devoted to technology necessarily offset inputs that may be more or less efficient, and time allocated to using technology may displace traditional classroom instruction and educational activities at home. However, much of the evidence in the schooling literature is based on interventions that provide supplemental funding for technology or additional class time, and thus favor finding positive effects. Nonetheless, studies of ICT and CAI in schools produce mixed evidence with a pattern of null results. Notable exceptions to this pattern occur in studies of developing countries and CAI interventions that target math rather than language. In the context of home use, early studies based on multivariate and instrumental variables approaches tend to find large positive (and in a few cases negative) effects while recent studies based on randomized control experiments tend to find small or null effects. Early research focused on developed countries while more recently several experiments have been conducted in developing countries.

Examining music teachers self-confidence levels in using information and communication technologies for education based on measurable variables

“…Therefore, it can be possible for individuals to make information transfer, to access information and to evaluate information in a more rapid and easy way (Mooij, 2007). Bulman and Fairlie (2015) placed an emphasis on ICT for the improvement of the education system.…”

The effects of computers on children's social development and school participation: Evidence from a randomized control experiment

“…It represents the first field experiment involving the provision of 3 A larger literature explores the impact of home computers on educational outcomes, finding somewhat mixed results (for a few examples see Attewell & Battle 1999;Fuchs & Woessmann 2004;Fairlie 2005;Schmitt & Wadsworth 2006;Fiorini, 2010;Malamud & Pop-Eleches 2011;Mo et al 2012;Fairlie and Robinson 2013;Vigdor et al 2014; and see Bulman and Fairlie 2015 for a review). 4 free computers to children for home use ever conducted.…”

Disrupting Education? Experimental Evidence on Technology-Aided Instruction in India

“…A recent review of evidence from high-quality studies on the impact of using technology in education globally reports "mixed evidence with a pattern of null results" (Bulman and Fairlie, 2016). Overall, the evidence thus far suggests that realizing the potential of technology-aided instruction to improve education will require paying careful attention to the details of the specific intervention, and the extent to which it alleviates binding constraints to learning.…”

“…Our first contribution is to the literature on computer-aided learning (CAL), where the evidence to date has often been characterized as mixed (Bulman and Fairlie, 2016). Nevertheless, our reading of the evidence suggests that some clear patterns are starting to emerge (see Appendix B for our synthesis).…”