Before your school district gets the bright idea of giving away laptops and getting all of the children online, have a look at this study from researchers at Duke:
Hundreds of efforts to reduce the so-called “digital divide” could be in trouble today, as new research has revealed that giving children universal home computers and internet access actually widens achievement gaps in maths and reading between rich and poor – and causes an overall skills decline across society to boot…
The profs suggest that this is because a kid in a disadvantaged home given a computer and internet access will tend to be poorly supervised and use it mainly for gaming, social networking or other timewasting online/computer activities rather than buckling down and doing homework. Thus computered-up poor children actually become dumber than they would have been without the tech.
The profs suggest that this is because a kid in a disadvantaged home given a computer and internet access will tend to be poorly supervised and use it mainly for gaming, social networking or other timewasting online/computer activities rather than buckling down and doing homework. Thus computered-up poor children actually become dumber than they would have been without the tech.
What, you think kids might just use the Internet to goof around? What ever gave you that idea?
