Hall, Lundin, and Sibbmark (2021, Labour Economics) - KatoPachi/LRW2020 GitHub Wiki

A laptop for every child? The impact of technology on human capital formation

Abstract

  • RQ: Does information and communication technology (ICT) enhance learning in general?
  • Methodology: DID using data of Sweden's 1:1 programs.
  • Results: No evidence suggesting that 1:1 programs impact average student performance on the standardized tests.
    • 1:1 initiatives may increase inequality in education by worsening the performance among low-SES students.

Introduction

  • Technological advances in classrooms all over the world.

    • Ultimate goal: to enhance learning in general, as well as to improve students' ICT skills　(Islam and Grönlund, 2016).
    • Covid-19 pandemic results in transitions to online schooling.

  • Panel data of Swedish municipalities for the period 2008 to 2016.

    • DID using the variation of the launch of 1:1 programs
    • How this use of ICT affects performance on standardized tests in mathematics and language: administrative data.

  • Theoretical implications are ambiguous: cost of using technology.

  • Results

    • No evidence suggesting that 1:1 programs impact average performance on
      • the standardized tests
      • probability of being admitted to upper secondary school.
      • the choice of educational track.
    • 1:1 initiatives may increase inequality in education: math skills and enrollment college-preparatory programs in upper secondary school. among students with lower educated parents.

Literature

  • Hanushek (1986): A function of individual characteristics, home environment, and earlier achievement (+ expenditures and time allocation to different teaching methods.

    • Mechanisms through which 1:1 programs enhance student achievement (Bulman and Ferlie, 2016; Haelermans, 2017)
      1. Individual-paced instruction
      2. Stimulating motivation.
      3. A better access to information.
      4. improvement of communication and coordination.
    • Costs of investment: Bulman and Ferlie, 2016; Grönlund, 2014; Chatterji 2018 etc.
      • Investment in infrastructure, the number of teachers hired, to change educational paradigm, ...
      • negative side effects:
        • Empirical Studies: Beland and Murphy, 2016; Carter et al., 2017; Sana et al., 2013
        • Experimental studies: using pen and paper for taking notes perform better than using laptops.
    • Socioeconomic Status: Many pupils in high-income countries already have reliable computer access.
      • In Sweden, 99% of children aged 13-16 had access to a home computer in 2014.

  • Mixed findings of ICT on student.

    • Haelermans (2017): *General investments in ICT without a distinct purpose and plan rarely provide positive results.
    • Notation: Studies may estimate the effects of supplemental resources earmarked for ICT

  • Researches that estimate the effects of 1:1 programs on student outcomes have been plagued with methodological shortcomings. (Hull and Duch 2018; Zheng et al. 2016)

    • RCT with a 1:1 program in poor regions in Peru (Cristia et al., 2012): positive effects on students' cognitive skills, but not on test scores.
    • Using national implementation of a 1:1 program in primary schools in Uruguay (De Melo et al., 2014).
    • Hull and Duch (2018)

  • Contribution

    • One of the first to provide credible evidence on the impact of 1:1 programs from a high-income country.
    • **Discuss if technology in education can reduce educational/social inequity: (Zheng et al., 2016).

The Swedish education system and the role of ICT in schools

  • Compulsory schooling

    • 9 years are divided into three stages, and schools are often organized 6 (primary school) + 3 (lower secondary school).
    • Many students attend the nearest public school.
      • Independent schools also use a first-come-first-served policy and are not allowed to charge a tuition fee.

  • Upper secondary education

    • consists of several different educational programs: college preparatory, vocational, ...
    • Students apply based on their 9th grade GPA.

  • The municipality

    • is the responsible administrative body for organizing compulsory education.
    • partly financed by the local income taxes.
    • have some initiatives to determine the financial allocation for the resources to invest in ICT.

  • ICT investments

    • the # of students per computer decreased from 5.9 in 2008 to 1.8 in 2015.
    • Small-scale 1:1 programs in 2007/2008.
    • In 2015 almost 30% of the students had access to a personal laptop/tablet provided by the school.
    • Almost all children aged 13-16 have access to computers at home (Swedish Media Council 2015): 1:1 programs at a school have a clear impact on how the teaching is conducted.

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Data

  • period 2008-2016

ICT implementations

  • data on 1:1 programs from lower secondary schools (grades 7-9) in 26 (out of 290) Swedish municipalities.
    • A short questionnaire by email to all schools (299).
      • 71% (219) schools responded.
      • whether and when 1:1 programs are installed.
    • containing
      • population size
      • average education level
      • geographic location.

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Educational Outcomes

  • Students' school performance measured by that on national standardized tests in Swedish, English, and mathematics.
  • Whether the students enrolled in upper secondary school, including the types (collage-preparation, vocational, or introductory program): long-term relevance.

Estimating the impact of 1:1 programs

$$y _ {isc} = \alpha _ 0 + \beta _ 1 \textit{ICT program} _ {sc} + \beta _ 2 X _ {isc} + \theta _ c + \delta _ s + e _ {isc}$$

  • $i$ indexes individual, $s$: school $year$
  • $y _ {isc}$: individuals' grade on the national standardized test in mathematics, Swedish or English at the end of 9th grade.
  • $\textit{ICT program} _ {sc}$: takes one if he/she attend school with 1:1 program at the beginning of grade 7.
    • 91% of the students stay enrolled in the same school until graduation.
    • Replaced by indicator by semester: $\textit{ICT semesters} _ {sc}$

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Results

Main Effects of 1:1 programs

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  • No indication that 1:1 programs would enhance student performance in either language or mathematics.

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Robustness Analysis

  • Placebo test

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Performance gap between low and high SES students

  • ICT programs may beneficial for certain groups of students.
    • serve low-SES students with better access to ICT.

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  • The adoption of 1:1 computer programs increases the gap in math performance by .016 of a standard deviation (10%) per semester.

Types of technology

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Impact on class size

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Teacher Sorting

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Conclusion

  • The absence of positive impacts on student performance should not necessarily be interpreted as a clear signal that it is a bad strategy for schools to invest in 1:1.
  • Warning:
    • it is unlikely that ICT programs will compensate for the performance drop that a sudden and unplanned switch to online schooling.
    • Necessity for keeping track of low-SES group.