Virtually No Effect? Different Uses of Classroom Computers and their Effect on Student Achievement

Oliver Falck, Constantin Mang () and Ludger Woessmann
Additional contact information
Constantin Mang: Ifo Institute for Economic Research

No 8939, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Most studies find little to no effect of classroom computers on student achievement. We suggest that this null effect may combine positive effects of computer uses without equivalently effective alternative traditional teaching practices and negative effects of uses that substitute more effective teaching practices. Our correlated random effects models exploit within-student between-subject variation in different computer uses in the international TIMSS test. We find positive effects of using computers to look up information and negative effects of using computers to practice skills, resulting in overall null effects. Effects are larger for high-SES students and mostly confined to developed countries.

Keywords: computers; teaching methods; student achievement; TIMSS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50 pages
Date: 2015-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-ict and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

Published - published in: Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 2018, 80 (1), 1-38

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Related works:
Journal Article: Virtually No Effect? Different Uses of Classroom Computers and their Effect on Student Achievement (2018)
Working Paper: Virtually No Effect? Different Uses of Classroom Computers and their Effect on Student Achievement (2015)
Working Paper: Virtually No Effect? Different Uses of Classroom Computers and their Effect on Student Achievement (2015)
Working Paper: Virtually No Effect? Different Uses of Classroom Computers and their Effect on Student Achievement (2015)
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