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Computer access and student achievement in the early school years
Author(s) -
Owston R.D.,
Wideman H.H.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of computer assisted learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.583
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-2729
pISSN - 0266-4909
DOI - 10.1046/j.0266-4909.2001.00199.x
Subject(s) - laptop , mathematics education , school district , computer assisted instruction , psychology , computer science , operating system
This study examines the assumption that optimal learning occurs in classrooms where every child has access to their own computer. Grades 1 to 4 classrooms in seven schools of an urban school district were given laptop computers in three different student‐to‐computer ratios (1 : 1, 2 : 1, 4 : 1). Throughout the school year three samples of student writing were taken at equal intervals and classrooms were regularly observed. Writing samples were also collected from control classrooms in the same schools that did not have access to computers. A mancova analysis of holistic ratings of writing samples revealed that by the end of the school year students in the 2 : 1 ratio classrooms improved significantly more than their counterparts in the other groups; the control group students demonstrated the least improvement, while the 1 : 1 and 4 : 1 groups showed intermediate levels of improvement. The study concludes by questioning the long‐range efforts at equipping schools with one computer for every student.