The Impact of Technology Use on Low-Income and Minority Students' Academic Achievements: Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002

Abstract

Analyzing data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), this report examines how computer use produced generic benefit to all children and differential benefits to minority and poor children. Specifically, we examined computer use at home vis-a-vis computer use at school in relation to the academic performance of disadvantaged children and their peers. Home computer use typifies socially differentiated opportunities, whereas school computer use promises generic benefits for all children. The findings suggest that, with other relevant conditions constant: (a) disadvantaged children did not lag far behind their peers in computer use at school, but they were much less likely to use computers at home; (b) computer use at home was far more significant than computer use at school in relation to high academic performance; (c) using a computer at school seemed to have dubious effects on learning; (d) disadvantaged children benefited less than other children from computer use, including computer use at home; and (e) compared to their peers, disadvantaged children's academic performance seemed less predictable by computer use than other predictor variables.