Isolating the "Tech" from EdTech: Experimental Evidence on Computer Assisted Learning in China. NBER Working Paper No. 26953

Autor/inn/en	Ma, Yue; Fairlie, Robert W.; Loyalka, Prashant; Rozelle, Scott
Institution	National Bureau of Economic Research
Titel	Isolating the "Tech" from EdTech: Experimental Evidence on Computer Assisted Learning in China. NBER Working Paper No. 26953
Quelle	(2020) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Educational Technology; Technology Uses in Education; Program Effectiveness; Computer Assisted Instruction; Academic Achievement; Rural Schools; China + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Unterrichtsmedien; Technology enhanced learning; Technology aided learning; Technologieunterstütztes Lernen; Computer based training; Computerunterstützter Unterricht; Schulleistung; Rural area; Rural areas; School; Schools; Ländlicher Raum; Schule; Schulen
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. [Funding for this research was provided by Dell Global Giving and the TELOS Initiative at the GSE at Stanford.] (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	National Bureau of Economic Research. 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-5398. Tel: 617-588-0343; Web site: http://www.nber.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01