The research evidence over the last forty years about the impact of digital technologies on learning consistently

identifies
positive benefits.

Studies linking the provision and use of technology with attainment tend to find consistent but small positive associations
with educational outcomes.

There is no doubt that technology engages and motivates young people this benefit is only an advantage for learning if
the activity is effectively aligned with what is to be learned.

Careful thought is needed to use technology to best effect.

The challenge is to ensure that technology is used to enable, or make more efficient, effective teaching and learning
practices.

Collaborative use of technology is usually more effective than individual use

Technology can be as powerful as a short but focused intervention to improve learning, Sustained use over a longer
period is usually less effective at improving this kind of boost to attainment.

Remedial and tutorial use of technology can be particularly practical for lower attaining pupils technology is best used as a
supplement to normal teaching rather than as a replacement for it.

Tested gains in attainment tend to be greater in mathematics and science. In literacy the impact tends to be greater in
writing interventions compared with reading or spelling.

The question is how can technology can bring about improvement and make teaching and learning practices more
efficient or effective. Focusing on the change in terms of learning is essential in supporting effective use.

The role of technology in education has been an important question since the potential of computer technology to
transform Skinner’s teaching machines was recognised in the 1960s.

The main approach used to evaluate the impact of technology on teaching and learning in schools has been where pupils’
attainment across a range of tested curriculum outcomes has been correlated with the quantity or quality of technology
which was available or which they experienced in their institutions

This connection between technology and learning is found fairly consistently however, and other studies have indicated a
stronger association.

The initial positive pattern on computer availability at school simply reflects that schools with better computer availability
also feature other positive school characteristics. Once these are controlled for, computer availability at school is not
related to pupil performance in math and reading.

When compared to ‘no computers’, ‘computers’ produces a nice effect size. However, when compared with typical effect
of innovation on educational achievement, computer innovations are not that different from the average innovation. That
ICT and digital technologies do have an impact on learning or that it is particularly beneficial for certain groups or
learners. It is therefore important to identify more precisely and articulate more clearly where and the use of digital
technologies is beneficial.
More micro-studies are needed within countries to explore the extent to which for individual pupils, certain kinds of
computer usage raise performance, and which kinds are most effective.

The proliferation of technologies also makes this question hard to answer. General level tend to put all of the different
kinds of technologies into a single category of ‘technology’ or ‘ICT’ and whether some technologies or some educational
approaches using technology are more effective than others

There appears to be a pattern of impact of ICT or digital technologies where in the early stages there is a high level of
enthusiasm, supported by either anecdotal or qualitative accounts of the benefits of the introduction of a new or
emerging technology in an educational setting, such as with integrated learning systems or interactive whiteboards,that it
is difficult to scale-up innovation without a dilution of effect with expansion then the focus may shift to the adoption of
the particular technology itself, without it being chosen as a solution to a specific teaching and learning issue. At this point
the technology may be the same, but the pedagogical aims and intentions are different.

Where this makes a further difference may also be in what the technology replaces as schools and teachers introduce
technology they stop doing something else. When teachers choose to adopt technology themselves they often do it as
part of a process of inquiry and it replaces or displaces some problematic practice; when it is adopted for its own sake, its
displaces or replaces other teaching and learning activities which may have been as effective.

It should replace less effective practices, and be effectively integrated into the resources available to a learner to support
their learning as part of a more effective or more efficient learning context

The rise in technologies and the range of ways that they can be used in diverse educational settings across the spectrum
of learners, coupled with the pace of change of technology make the task ever more demanding. The focus must shift
from the technologies to the pedagogies of use, and the analysis of general impact to the specific differences that digital
technologies make to teaching and learning contexts and interactions with regard to different learners.

One feature of the international research which is not reflected in the studies is the role of ICT and digital technologies in
assessment.

A considerable proportion of the published research in the field looks at computer-based testing and computer-adaptive
testing.

The challenge will be to link work on pupils’ involvement in formative assessment, with effective diagnostic feedback for
teachers, as well as the summative purposes and accountability issues involved in schools.

Continuing enthusiasm for new and emerging technologies is unlikely to diminish as innovative technologies offer new
teaching and learning opportunities.

Identifying the impact of one-to-one provision of technology is challenging

The internet has had a relatively disappointing impact as an educational resource especially considering concerns about
its use.

The facility to search and find information in different forms about almost any subject matter you can think of is a
fantastic educational resource

However letting learners loose on the internet is a little like sending teenagers into the British Library and expecting them
to make successful forays to support their learning.
There is a lack of evidence of the beneficial impact of e-learning on pupils’ Achievement Enthusiasm for gaming and
games-based approaches may be misplaced, as there is a lack of evidence of impact in terms of attainment

There are some concerns about the detrimental impact on health and well-being of sustained used of computer
technology, particularly for younger learners

There is an increasing acknowledgement of the tension between technological and pedagogical change

Why meta-analysis?

This helps to put the impact of technology in perspective, both in terms of its relative benefit, but also to identify how
much more effective teaching and learning might be when supported with digital technologies

Meta-analysis is a method of combining the findings of similar studies to provide an overall quantitative synthesis or
‘pooled estimate of effect’. The results of separate interventions using technology can be combined so as to identify
clearer conclusions about which interventions are effective and which factors are associated with more effective
approaches.

The advantages of meta-analysis to reviewing are that it combines or ‘pools’ estimates from a range of studies and can
therefore aggregate results to identify patterns or trends in findings over time,

It can also show whether the findings from similar studies vary more that would be predicted from their samples so that
the causes of this variation can be investigated.

Another key advantage of meta-analysis is that it helps to deal with the quantity of information in research which can
overwhelm other approaches. This is particularly important when trying to draw relative inferences across different areas
of education research.

Meta-analysis also lets us identify patterns in these findings to investigate whether larger effects are found with some
kinds of technology, different approaches to using technology or their impact on different learners and in different
contexts, rather than just identifying whether technology has a positive effect on average. Looking for patterns or themes
in this way may help identify where the use of new and emerging technologies are likely to be beneficial in the future. It
may help us identify ‘best bets’ for learning.

Identifying themes in the findings from meta-analysis. A number of areas can be identified in the meta-analyses which
have been systematically explored through moderator analysis.

Collaborative use of technology is usually more effective than individual use.

Technology can be used very effectively as a short but focused intervention to improve learning.

Remedial and tutorial use of technology can be particularly effective for lower attaining pupils or those with special
educational needs.

In researched interventions, technology is best used as a supplement to normal teaching rather than as a replacement for
it.
Tested gains in attainment tend to be found across the curriculum with comparatively greater effects in mathematics and
science.

Training and professional development for teachers is an important component of successful approaches.

There is not a consistent picture about age with some meta-analyses finding inconsistent variation associated with age or
school type.

Research findings from experimental and quasi-experimental designs which have been combined in meta-analyses
indicate that overall technology-based interventions tend to produce just slightly lower levels of improvement when
compared with other researched interventions.

With computer and digital technologies there is a recurrent and specific challenge in understanding and applying the
research evidence as it takes time for robust evidence to emerge in education and the rapid pace of change of technology
makes this difficult to achieve.

After more than fifty years of digital technology use in education this argument is now wearing a bit thin the trouble is
most things improve learning in schools when they are introduced, and technology is consistently just a little bit less
effective than the average intervention.

Most young people are fluent in their use of some technologies, but none are expert at all of them.

It is important to recognise the relevance or importance of different pieces of information. Easy access to information can
help, but it is no substitute for experience, understanding and expertise. the motivation in school may be partly because
using technology is either novel in school.

It may not be the case that this motivation will be sustained over time.

The curriculum and the way in which pupils work and are assessed should reflect the society and culture they are
preparing pupils to be a part of when they leave formal education.

The challenge is knowing which technology is the best to choose for use in schools and for what purposes and learning
outcomes they should be employed.

Pupils using the internet more than four hours per day – do not show with better learning. The effect of technology and
length of interventions where more is clearly not always better.