The Use and Misuse of Computers in Education : Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Colombia

43 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Felipe Barrera-Osorio

Felipe Barrera-Osorio

Harvard University - Harvard Graduate School of Education

Leigh L. Linden

The University of Texas at Austin; National Bureau of Economic Research; Jameel Poverty Action Lab; Innovations for Poverty Action; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD)

Date Written: February 1, 2009

Abstract

This paper presents the evaluation of the program Computers for Education. The program aims to integrate computers, donated by the private sector, into the teaching of language in public schools. The authors conduct a two-year randomized evaluation of the program using a sample of 97 schools and 5,201 children. Overall, the program seems to have had little effect on students'test scores and other outcomes. These results are consistent across grade levels, subjects, and gender. The main reason for these results seems to be the failure to incorporate the computers into the educational process. Although the program increased the number of computers in the treatment schools and provided training to the teachers on how to use the computers in their classrooms, surveys of both teachers and students suggest that teachers did not incorporate the computers into their curriculum.

Keywords: Tertiary Education, Primary Education, Secondary Education, Teaching and Learning, Education For All

Suggested Citation

Barrera-Osorio, Felipe and Linden, Leigh L., The Use and Misuse of Computers in Education : Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Colombia (February 1, 2009). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4836, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1344721

Felipe Barrera-Osorio (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Harvard Graduate School of Education ( email )

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Leigh L. Linden

The University of Texas at Austin ( email )

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Innovations for Poverty Action ( email )

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Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) ( email )

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Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD) ( email )

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