Digital Smarts - Research Shows Mixed Results on Using Technology in Lower Grades

Research on how technology affects student achievement continues to show mixed results. A recent report by the Reboot Foundation shows a negative connection between a nation’s performance on international assessments and 15-year-olds’ self-reported use of technology in school. The more students used technology in schools, the lower the nation ranked in educational achievement.

In the United States, the results were more complicated. For younger school children, the study found a negative tie between the use of tablets in school and fourth-grade reading scores. Fourth-grade students who reported using tablets in “all or almost all” classes scored 14 points lower on the reading portion of a test administered by the federal government than students who reported “never” using classroom tablets. That’s the equivalent of a year of education or an entire grade level. Meanwhile, some types of computer usage among older students could be beneficial. Eighth graders who reported using computers to conduct research for projects had higher reading test scores than those who didn’t use computers for research.

Of course, as has been true since the beginning of educational technology, the presence of technology in the classroom completely depends on how teachers are directing students to use it. It is important to make sure that technology is not being used as a substitute for books, worksheets, and other passive presentations of educational material. As the article points out, the study also wasn’t able to see what happened to student test scores before and after the introduction of technology and compare those with similar students who continued to toil with pencil and paper.