OECD Report Finds that Computer Use in Classroom Is No Silver Bullet for Increased Learning
From Elizabeth Murray
For the past 10 days since the Organization for Co-operation and Development report was first issued, there have been many dire headlines written about it. However, it is important to dig a little deeper into what the report said to understand the significant conclusions it came to. For this report, entitled “Students, Computers and Learning: Making the Connection”, researchers compared data – from 64 countries including the US – for the period from 2009 and 2012, the most recent sets of testing under the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). The report examines the relationship among computer access in schools, computer use in classrooms, and performance in the PISA assessment. It also discusses differences in access to and use of ICT – known as the “digital divide”– that are related to students’ socio-economic status, gender, geographic location, and the school a child attends. Finally, the report highlights the importance of bolstering students’ ability to navigate through digital texts.

Use of Computers in Classroom
Despite considerable investments in computers, Internet connections and software for educational use, this report finds that there is scant evidence that greater computer use among students leads to better scores in mathematics and reading. Data from the study revealed the following:

• On average, in the past 10 years there has been no appreciable improvement in student achievement in reading, mathematics or science in the countries that have invested heavily in information and communication technologies for education.
• In countries where it is less common for students to use the Internet at school for schoolwork, students’ performance in reading improved more rapidly than in countries where such use is more common, on average.
• Overall, the relationship between computer use at school and academic performance is graphically illustrated by a hill shape, which suggests that limited use of computers at school may be better than no use at all, but levels of computer use above the current OECD average are associated with significantly poorer results.
• Some of the world's top performers in math and digital reading, like Korea
  and Shanghai, have the lowest use of Internet in school.

Decreasing the “Digital Divide”
One of the most disappointing findings of the report is that the socio-economic divide between students is not narrowed by technology, and perhaps is even amplified. Regarding this “digital divide”, the study found that in most countries, disadvantaged schools are just as likely, if not more likely, to have ICT resources. However, increased exposure to technology in school does not mean that disadvantaged students are catching up to their affluent peers in terms of digital skills.

"Even with equal access, not all students have the knowledge and skills to be able to benefit from the resources that are available to them ... if current gaps in reading, writing and mathematics skills are not narrowed, inequalities in digital skills will persist, even if all internet services were available free of charge."

This suggests that to reduce inequalities in digital skills, countries need to improve equity in basic education first.

Digital Navigation Skills for the 21st Century
The OECD study also looked at an assessment of students’ digital navigation skills, which are considered to be important for 21st century success. One example of these skills is using a keyboard and mouse to navigate texts by employing tools such as hyperlinks, browser button or scrolling, in order to access information. Other examples include making a chart from data or using on-screen calculators.

When it came to these digital skills, top performers were Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong-China, Japan, Canada and Shanghai-China. According to the report, this reflects closely to their performances in the 2012 print-reading test, suggesting that many of the skills essential for online navigation can also be taught and learned using standard, analogue reading techniques.

Conclusions
The OECD report concludes that ensuring that every child reaches a baseline level of proficiency in reading and mathematics will do more to create equal opportunities in a digital world than solely expanding or subsidizing access to high-tech devices and services. The costs for success in this area “are not limited to devices that need to be bought; they include teachers to train, resources to develop and buildings to adapt, as well as the foregone benefits of alternative uses of that money (opportunity costs).”

“The conclusion that emerges is that schools and education systems are, on average, not ready to leverage the potential of technology. Gaps in the digital skills of both teachers and students, difficulties in locating high-quality digital learning resources from among a plethora of poor-quality ones, a lack of clarity on the learning goals, and insufficient pedagogical preparation for blending technology meaningfully into lessons and curricula, create a wedge between expectations and reality. If these challenges are not addressed as part of the technology plans of schools and education ministries, technology may do more harm than good to the teacher-student interactions that underpin deep conceptual understanding and higher-order thinking.”

“In the end, technology can amplify great teaching, but great technology cannot replace poor teaching.”

Elizabeth Murray is Project Manager of MIT BLOSSOMS.

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