May 24, 2007

Laptops for School Children Don’t Improve Performance

by Laura Starita

Education is a major area of interest for a number of modern-day philanthropists, from Bill Gates to Nicholas Negroponte. Given that both of them made their careers in technology-related fields, it’s no wonder that they would concern themselves with providing equitable access to technology for educational purposes. That’s why Gates has given laptops to schools and wired libraries, and Negroponte started his One Laptop Per Child initiative to provide $100 laptops to students in the developing world. The assumption behind these initiatives is that computers and the Web can be learning aids, and everyone – regardless of socio-economic status – should have access to them.

Yet a number of U.S. schools that have experimented with one-child-one-laptop provision are halting those programs after five or more years, an article in The New York Times reports. Early studies show that students’ test scores have not improved as a result of having computer access. Instead, children gained access to pornography and the means to cheat on tests by exchanging answers via chat programs. Interestingly, in schools where laptop access was voluntary, there was no difference between the test scores of students who chose to have laptops and those who opted out.

This is a major blow for one-laptop proponents, but it may still be too soon to dismiss the value of technology as an educational aid. Many teachers in schools where laptops were introduced conceded that they did not know how to integrate new technology, and some who did found that technical glitches stymied their lesson plans. In short, the role of the teacher still seems to be a major differentiator in the value of computer-assisted learning. This is a lesson that those promoting one-laptop projects for schools in the developing world should heed: Nothing happens without well-trained, well-motivated teachers. Perhaps progress on the quality of education can be made if India manages to produce a $10 laptop, as reported in the Times of India for example, but first puts the other $90 toward teacher training and salaries.

New York Times: Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops

Times of India: Hopes to Make a $10 Laptops a Reality