Math and Science Software Being Studied
By Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 5/1/2007
Prominent educational technology groups are fighting against a recent U.S. Department of Education study that showed reading and mathematics software products have no discernible effect on student learning. The study focused “exclusively on older approaches that do not take advantage of current technologies and leading educational methods,” says Chris Dede, Wirth professor in Learning Technologies at Harvard University in a joint release by the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA). The study, “Effectiveness of Reading and Mathematics Software Products,” involved 132 schools over one year, testing 16 software products on 9,424 students in first-, fourth-, and sixth grade, and algebra classes, comparing their reading and math skills with students who did not use the software. The “products did not increase or decrease test scores by amounts that were statistically different from zero,” concluded the report. The findings were what many early childhood educators have long warned—that technology alone cannot take the place of teaching. Still, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings told members of the Arizona Business & Education Coalition in March that students are actually getting too little exposure to technology in schools. “A lot of the technology discussion has been a black hole,” she said. “This cannot continue if we are going to continue to be the lead innovators in the world.” The federal software study will run for a second year, to see if more experience with technology increases student comprehension.
