Isolating the “Tech” from EdTech: Experimental Evidence on Computer Assisted Learning in China

Yue Ma, Robert Fairlie, Prashant Loyalka and Scott Rozelle

No 26953, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: EdTech which includes online education, computer assisted learning (CAL), and remote instruction was expanding rapidly even before the current full-scale substitution for in-person learning at all levels of education around the world because of the coronavirus pandemic. Studies of CAL interventions have consistently found large positive effects, bolstering arguments for the widespread use of EdTech. However CAL programs, often held after school, provide not only computer-based instruction, but often additional non-technology based inputs such as more time on learning and instructional support by facilitators. In this paper, we develop a theoretical model to carefully explore the possible channels by which CAL programs might affect academic outcomes among schoolchildren. We isolate and test the technology-based effects of CAL and additional parameters from the theoretical model, by designing a novel multi-treatment field experiment with more than four thousand schoolchildren in rural China. Although we find evidence of positive overall CAL program effects on academic outcomes, when we isolate the technology-based effect of CAL (over and above traditional pencil-and-paper learning) we generally find small to null effects. Our empirical results suggest that, at times, the “Tech” in EdTech may have relatively small effects on academic outcomes, which has important implications for the continued, rapid expansion of technologies such as CAL throughout the world.

JEL-codes: I21 I25 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
Note: CH DEV ED LS PE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published as Yue Ma & Robert Fairlie & Prashant Loyalka & Scott Rozelle, 2024. "Isolating the “Tech” from EdTech: Experimental Evidence on Computer-Assisted Learning in China," Economic Development and Cultural Change, vol 72(4), pages 1923-1962.

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Related works:
Journal Article: Isolating the “Tech” from EdTech: Experimental Evidence on Computer-Assisted Learning in China (2024)
Working Paper: Isolating the "Tech" from EdTech: Experimental Evidence on Computer Assisted Learning in China (2020)
Working Paper: Isolating the 'Tech' from EdTech: Experimental Evidence on Computer Assisted Learning in China (2020)
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