Do computers really motivate children to learn faster and better?
Children must start learning on computers as early as possible, we are told, to get a jump-start on success. But 30 years of research on educational technology has produced just one clear link between computers and children’s learning. Drill-and-practice programs appear to improve scores modestly–though not as much or as cheaply as one-on-one tutoring–on some standardized tests, in narrow skill areas, notes Larry Cuban of Stanford University. “Other than that,” says Cuban, former president of the American Educational Research Association, “there is no clear, commanding body of evidence that students’ sustained use of multimedia machines, the Internet, word processing, spreadsheets, and other popular applications has any impact on academic achievement.” The sheer power of information technologies may actually hamper young children’s intellectual growth. What is good for adults and older students is often inappropriate for youngsters. Face-to-face conversation with more competent langu
