Technology learning

Research Summary

TECHNOLOGY AND STUDENT LEARNING

(1998), while further research studies are needed, emerging
In support of This We Believe characteristics: trends indicate that, under the right conditions, technology:
• Students and teachers engaged in active learning • Accelerates, enriches, and deepens basic skills.
• Multiple learning and teaching approaches that respond • Motivates and engages students in learning.
to diversity • Helps relate academics to the practices of today's workforce.
• Increases economic viability of tomorrow's workers.
• Strengthens teaching.
• Contributes to change in schools.
“Does it work?” and “Is it effective?” are legitimate questions • Connects schools to the world.
about educational technology. When educators ask these
questions, they are really asking if technology helps students Why might there be such discrepancy between authors?
learn. But technology is only a tool, and the question cannot Some of the studies that show no positive effect from the
just be “Does the presence of technology improve learning?” It introduction of technology into schools indicate deeper
is clear that when researchers try to evaluate the educational problems with the implementation. Many schools for
uses of technology, what they are really evaluating are the example, have technology sitting idle or allow students
broader pedagogical practices being used. The question, then, to use it infrequently. Other schools conduct almost no
becomes: What kinds of technology are being used, under training for their teachers or fail to provide teachers with
what context, and in what ways that help promote student adequate technology-based curriculum materials. Under
learning? (Fulton, 1998; Software and Information Industry such circumstances, no one would expect there to be
Association, 2000; Wenglinsky, 1998). improvements in student learning.

People who recommend more computers for the schools are Other studies with negative results indicate that the
like doctors who prescribe more medicine. What medicine? How initiatives themselves focused on hardware and software,
much medicine? For what reason? The same questions apply to or teachers taught about the technology instead of using
computers. (Tapscott, 1998, p. 135) the technology to enhance learning experiences. Bracewell,
Breuleux, Laferriere, Beniot, and Abdous (1998) asserted that
From this perspective, this research summary examines the integration of educational technology into the classroom,
technology’s effect on student learning. in conjunction with supportive pedagogy, typically leads to
Summary of Research increased student interest and motivation in learning, more
student-centered classroom environments, and increased
Not all the research paints a rosy picture of technology in real-life or authentic learning opportunities. Davis (1997)
schools. Some show no academic improvement; no pay off agreed that technology integration led to student-centered
for costly investments (Mathews, 2000). Other authors believe classrooms, which increased student self-esteem.
technology takes funding away from other resources and
programs that may be more beneficial to students (Healy, Schacter (1995) concluded that technology initiatives have
1999; Oppenheimer, 1997); that technology sits idle and to focus on teaching and learning, not the technology, to be
is underused (Cuban, 2001); and that an over-reliance on successful: “One of the enduring difficulties about technology
technology can rob from children opportunities to express and education is that a lot of people think about the
creativity, build human relationships, and experience hands- technology first and the education later” (p. 11). Educators are
on learning (Alliance for Childhood, 2000). starting to recognize it is more important to use technology
for learning than it is to learn how to use the technology.
Others come to very different conclusions. After reviewing
the available research, the National Association of School
Boards of Education Study Group on e-Learning concluded
“e-Learning will improve American education in valuable ways
and should be universally implemented as soon as possible”
(NASBE, 2001, p. 4). Schacter (1995) reflected on the analysis
of more than 700 studies and concluded that students who National Middle School Association
had access to educational technology showed positive gains 4151 Executive Parkway, Suite 300
Westerville, Ohio 43081
in academic achievement. According to Lemke and Coughlin
p: 614-895-4730 f: 614-895-4750
www.nmsa.org

100_03486

Becker examined data from the 1998 national survey of essential ingredient in restructuring because it can provide
teachers, Teaching, Learning, and Computing (TLC), and the diversity in instructional methods necessary to reach
concluded: all school children,” according to Polin (1991). Papert (1996)
described the important role technology can play in learning
[U]nder the right conditions—where teachers are personally (Cherniavsky & Soloway, 2002; Papert, 1989, 1996; Schank,
comfortable and at least moderately skilled in using computers 2001; Schank & Cleary, 1995).
themselves, where the school’s daily class schedule permits
allocating time for students to use computers as part of class I am convinced that a large proportion (though certainly not
assignments, where enough equipment is available and all) of cases of learning difficulty are produced by imposing
convenient to permit computer activities to flow seamlessly on children ways of learning that go against their personal
alongside other learning tasks, and where teachers’ personal styles. Over and over again I have seen children shake off their
philosophies support a student-centered, constructivist apparent disabilities when given the opportunity to learn
pedagogy that incorporates collaborative projects defined partly in a way that comes naturally to them. What I see as the
by student interest—computers are clearly becoming a valuable real contribution of digital media to education is a flexibility
and well-functioning instructional tool. (Becker, 2000, ¶4) that could allow every individual to find personal paths to
learning. (p. 16)
Educational visionaries are often frustrated that technology
has primarily been used only to automate traditional Summary
education. They see the various ways technology will be used
In summary, technology has the potential to improve teaching
to revolutionize education through ‘learning by doing’ and
and learning, but it depends heavily on teachers’ purposes in
in the kinds of collaborative communities young people are
using the technology, under which contexts they use it, and in
creating with technology (Richardson, 2006; Tapscott, 1998).
which ways it is used.
Further, “Computer based technology has been called an

REFERENCES
Alliance for Childhood. (2000). Fool’s gold: A critical look at Fulton, K. (1998). Kathleen Fulton on evaluating the effectiveness
computers in childhood. College Park, MD. Retrieved January of educational technology. Academy for Educational
20, 2005, from http://www.allianceforchildhood.net/projects/ Development. Retrieved January 20, 2005, from http://
computers/computers_reports_fools_gold_contents.htm millennium.aed.org/fulton.shtml
Becker, H. (2000). Findings from the teaching, learning, and Healy, J. M. (1999, April). The mad dash to compute. The School
computing survey. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 8(51). Administrator, 6–10.
Retrieved June 2, 2006, from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8n51/
Lemke, C., & Coughlin, E. C. (1998). Technology in American
Bracewell, R., Breuleux, A., Laferriere, T., Beniot, J., & Abdous, M. schools: Seven dimensions for gauging progress. A policymaker’s
(1998). The emerging contribution of online resources and tools guide. The Milken Exchange on Educational Technology.
to classroom learning and teaching. Montreal: Universite Laval. Retrieved January 20, 2005, from http://www.mff.org/
Retrieved March 19, 2002, from http://www.tact.fse.ulaval. publications/publications.taf?page=158
ca/ang/html/review98.html
Mathews, J. (2000, May 2). High-tech heretics: Group of
Cherniavsky, J. C., & Soloway, E. (2002). Editorial: A survey of skeptical educators questions the usefulness of computers in
research questions for intelligent information systems in the classroom. The Washington Post, p. A11.
education. Journal of Intelligent Information Systems, 18(1), 5–14.
National Association of School Boards of Education Study
Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and underused: Reforming schools Group on e-Learning (NASBE). (2001). Any time, any place, any
through technology, 1980–2000. Cambridge, MA: Harvard path, any pace: Taking the lead on e-learning policy. Retrieved
University Press. June 3, 2006, from http://www.nasbe.org/Educational_Issues/
Reports/e_learning.pdf
Davis, S. (1997, November) How mastering technology can
transform math class. Educational Journal, 49–51. Oppenheimer, T. (1997, July). The computer delusion. Atlantic
Monthly. Retrieved January 20, 2005, from http://www2.
theAtlantic.com/issues/97jul/computer.htm

REFERENCES (continued)
Papert, S. (1980). Teaching children thinking. In Taylor, R., (Ed.), Schank, R., & Cleary, C. (1995). Engines for education. Hillsdale,
The computer in school: Tutor, tool, tutee (pp. 161–176). New NJ: Erlbaum.
York: Teachers College Press. .
Schank, R. (2001). The computer isn’t the medium, it’s the
Papert, S. (1996). The connected family: Bridging the digital message. Communications of the ACM, 44(3), 142–143.
generation gap. Marietta, GA: Longstreet Press.
Software and Information Industry Association. (2000). 2000
Polin, L. (1991). Research windows: School restructuring and research report on the effectiveness of technology in schools:
technology. The Computing Teacher, 18(6), 6–7. Executive summary. Washington, DC: Author.
Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful Tapscott, D. (1998). Growing up digital: The rise of the net
web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. generation. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Schacter, J. (1995). The impact of educational technology on Wenglinsky, H. (1998). Does it compute? The relationship
student achievement. The Milken Exchange on Educational between educational technology and student achievement
Technology. Retrieved January 20, 2005, from http://www.mff. in mathematics. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
org/publications/publications.taf?page=161 Retrieved March 6, 2002, from ftp://ftp.ets.org/pub/res/
technolog.pdf

ANNOTATED REFERENCES
Becker, H. (2000). Findings from the teaching, learning, and computing survey. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 8(51). Retrieved
June 2, 2006, from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8n51/
Cuban (1986, 2000) has argued that computers are largely incompatible with the requirements of teaching, and that, for the
most part, teachers will continue to reject their use as instruments of student work during class. Using data from a nationally
representative survey of fourth through twelfth grade teachers, this paper demonstrates that, although Cuban correctly
characterizes frequent use of computers in academic subject classes as a teaching practice of a small and distinct minority,
certain conditions make a big difference in the likelihood of a teacher having her students use computers frequently during
class time. In particular, academic subject area teachers who have at least five computers present in their classroom, who have
at least average levels of technical expertise in their use, and who are in the top quartile on a reliable and extensive measure of
constructivist teaching philosophy are very likely to have students make regular use of computers during class. In addition, other
factors such as an orientation toward depth rather than breadth in their teaching (perhaps caused by limited pressures to cover
large amounts of content) and block scheduling structures that provide for long class periods are also associated with greater
use of computers by students during class. Thus, despite their clear minority status as a primary resource in academic subject
classroom teaching, computers are playing a major role in at least one major direction of current instructional reform efforts.

Lemke, C., & Coughlin, E. C. (1998). Technology in American Schools: Seven Dimensions for Gauging Progress. A Policymaker’s Guide.
The Milken Exchange on Educational Technology. Retrieved June 3, 2006, from http://www.mff.org/publications/publications.
taf?page=158
This framework, The Seven Dimensions for Gauging Progress, is intended for policymakers, educators, and technology directors
to use as a road map when attempting to raise the learning levels of students through technology. It describes the conditions
that should be in place for technology to be used to its greatest educational advantage in any classroom.
This publication is unique in its focus on systems thinking and systemic change, acknowledging that the transformation process
necessary for effective integration of technology into learning is complex, requiring new ways of thinking, teaching, and
learning for all participants in the system. The Seven Dimensions also provides educators with ways to assess movement toward
their goals for learning with technology through sets of questions and stages of progress.

ANNOTATED REFERENCES (continued)
National Association of School Boards of Education Study Group on e-Learning (NASBE). (2001). Any time, any place, any path,
any pace: Taking the lead on e-learning policy. Retrieved June 3, 2006, from http://www.nasbe.org/Educational_Issues/Reports/
e_learning.pdf
The primary goal of this report of the NASBE Study Group on e-Learning is to provide a sufficient context so that education
policy leaders can ask the right policy questions and take the lead on developing sound e-learning policies. The slogan adopted
by the Florida Virtual School succinctly describes a compelling vision for a transformed education system, one in which
“any time, any place, any path, any pace” learning is delivered through modern technologies that are available today. Having
examined the emerging evidence and having considered the doubts and cautions, the NASBE Study Group on e-Learning
concluded that e-learning will improve American education in valuable ways and should be universally implemented as soon as
possible. Technology is not a solution in isolation, but rather a key component that helps make it possible for schools to address
core educational challenges.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Muir, M. (2006). Technology to improve learning: Strategies for middle level leaders. Westerville, OH: National Middle School
Association.
November, A. (2001). Empowering students with technology. Arlington Heights, IL: Skylight.
Papert, S. (1996). The connected family: Bridging the digital generation gap. Marietta, GA: Longstreet Press.
Powers, S. M., Rafferty, C. D., & Eib, B. J. (2001). The role of technology for learning in the reinvented middle school. In T. S.
Dickinson (Ed.), Reinventing the middle school. (pp. 218–246). New York: RoutledgeFalmer.

AUTHOR
Mike Muir is associate professor of middle and secondary education at The University of Maine at Farmington and director of
the Maine Center for Meaningful Engaged Learning. He is currently a member of NMSA’s Research Advisory Board and serves on
the Design Team for Curriculum and Professional Development of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative.

CITATION
Muir, M. (2007). Research summary: Technology and learning. Retrieved [date] from http://www.nmsa.org/Research/
ResearchSummaries/TechnologyandStudentLearning/tabid/275/Default.aspx

Technology learning

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