The effect of home computer use on children’s cognitive and non-cognitive skills

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the effect of using a home computer on children's development. In most OECD countries 70% or more of the households have a computer at home and children use computers quite extensively, even at very young ages. We use data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), which follows an Australian cohort born in 1999/2000. Skills and computer usage information is collected when children are approximately 5 and 7 years old. For cognitive skills, our results indicate that computer time has a positive effect. For non-cognitive skills the evidence is mixed, the effect depending on the score and the age of the children. We test the robustness of our results by comparing OLS, IV and Value Added estimators. Generally, the IV estimates are larger and the Value Added estimates lower than the OLS ones. However the pattern of the results is quite consistent. (I2,J13,J24)

Is computer availability at home causally related to reading achievement in grade 4? A longitudinal difference in differences approach to IEA data from 1991 to 2006

“…The theories have not been systematically tested against each other, but they have more or less explicitly been relied upon in several empirical studies, briefly reviewed below. Fiorini (2010) analyzed longitudinal data from an Australian sample of 4-5 yearolds using an instrumental variable approach and found positive effects of home computer use on two different cognitive tests measuring school readiness. Content theories seemed to provide the most plausible explanation for the outcomes, according to Fiorini (2010).…”

“…Fiorini (2010) analyzed longitudinal data from an Australian sample of 4-5 yearolds using an instrumental variable approach and found positive effects of home computer use on two different cognitive tests measuring school readiness. Content theories seemed to provide the most plausible explanation for the outcomes, according to Fiorini (2010). Fairlie and Robinson (2013) conducted a large-scale experiment in California in between 2008 and 2009 in which 1123 students in 15 middle schools who did not have access to a home computer were randomly selected to either receive or not receive a laptop for home use.…”

Home educational resources, out of school factors and foreign language achievement: A study exploring the Turkish context

“…Supporting this finding, studies of home computer access have exposed promising correlations between academic achievement and having access to computer at home (Attewell & Battle, 1999;Attewell, SuazoGarcia, & Battle 2003;Borzekowski & Robinson, 2005;Fiorini, 2010;Judge, 2005;Jackson et al, 2006). However, other technological home resources such as having Internet connection at home and owning a DVD player were found to have no relationship with L2 achievement.…”

“…Çalışmaya ait diğer bir sonuç ev ortamında bilgisayara sahip olmanın yabancı dil başarısını yükselttiğini ortaya koymaktadır. Eğitim alanında yürütülmüş araştırmalar benzer sonuçlara ulaşmıştır (Attewell, SuazoGarcia ve Battle 2003;Attewell ve Battle, 1999;Borzekowski ve Robinson, 2005;Judge, 2005;Fiorini, 2010). Bilgisayar ve yabancı dil başarısı arasındaki bu ilişkiye rağmen teknoloji ile ilgili diğer değişkenlerden olan internet bağlantısına sahip olma ve DVD-VCD oynatıcıya sahip olma ile yabancı dil başarısı arasında ilişki bulunamamıştır.…”

“…According to Teachman (1987), the availability of home resources such as books, home computer, and reading materials creates an environment favorable to studying and makes students display a positive alignment toward education. The availability of reading materials in the home is positively related to children's academic achievement (Leibowitz, 1977) Studies of home computer access have discovered promising correlations between academic achievement and having access to computer at home (Attewell & Battle, 1999;Attewell, SuazoGarcia, & Battle, 2003;Borzekowski & Robinson, 2005;Fiorini, 2010;Jackson et al, 2006;Judge, 2005). In his research that examined how school and student characteristics are related to Turkish students' English course achievement, Güvendir (2015) found that students who have a private study room, computer, educational software in his/her computer, and literary books had higher English achievement scores compared to the students for whom these resources were missing in their home environment.…”