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Report: Computers 'Do Not Improve' Pupil Results

Posted by Soulskill on from the makes-them-good-at-oregon-trail-though dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A report issued by the UK's Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has evaluated how technology in classrooms affects test results, and found that the availability of computers provides "no noticeable improvement" to students' test scores. According to the report, "Students who use computers very frequently at school get worse results." Also, "high achieving school systems such as South Korea and Shanghai in China have lower levels of computer use in school." The organization warns that classroom technology can be a distraction if implemented unwisely, and it also opens the door to easy ways of cheating.

6 of 283 comments (clear)

  1. Procrastinators dream by Camel+Pilot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Computers enable procrastination always providing readily available diversionary escape. Learning is still hard work... no short cuts.

  2. Common sense = none by rtkluttz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Its not computers, magnet schools, charter schools, teacher pay, higher taxes or any of those even when statistics sometimes hint at showing otherwise. The commonality is involved parents who help their kids when struggle, demand they toe the line when they get hardheaded, and have expectations for success. Its just not politically correct to say so because parent involvement lines up so closely with racial lines. Not exact, but close enough.

    --
    Digital is, by definition, imperfect. Analog is the way to go.
    1. Re:Common sense = none by Ayanami_R · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Live in ghetto, am minority, can confirm. We are pretty tough on our 14 year old and DEMAND good grades. His friends parents... not so much. They pretty much check out once their kids hit middle school.

      --
      "Science is the power of man"
    2. Re:Common sense = none by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You mean spending millions on Ipads doesn't mean we are progressing in education?

  3. Thank you by TWX · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "The organization warns that classroom technology can be a distraction if implemented unwisely..."

    I've been saying this for a decade. If the computer that the student uses is a general-purpose computer and can do 10,000 things, of which only one thing is that which the student should be doing, the student is going to be overwhelmingly tempted to do one of the rest of those 9,999 things instead, especially if that other thing is more fun.

    Software for teaching computers needs to be developed. It needs to limit the available options to the lessons and only a few diversions, like how computers were before they were networked in schools.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  4. Re:However, in special ed, they do keep them engag by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The past few years have been filled with schools blindly deploying smartboards, iPads, and high end windows/apple laptops. Unfortunately many of these districts didn't put in enough support systems or integrate the technology into the curriculum.

    This right here! A lot of districts are deploying technology based on sales presentations by iMarketing folk. My girlfriend is a teacher at a school where this has failed spectacularly. Next semester they start a 2 year program to phase out the iPads and replace them with something that doesn't make students cry and teachers put their firsts through the wall when doing such incredibly complicated feats such as adding a greek letter to a word document in a science assignment.

    A lot of these places were oversold on the hardware capabilities and absolutely had no idea how if at all software would support student learning.