Teachers who took part in the computer tablet pilot project in Malta last year reported very positive results. Photos: Matthew Mirabelli

Countries that have invested heavily in information and communication technologies for education have seen no noticeable improvement in student performance in reading, mathematics or science, a new report has claimed.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in a report on students and ICT use, said that students who make frequent use of computers for educational purposes do worse than those who make more moderate use of them.

The OECD report, called Students, Computers and Learning: Making the Connection, said schools are still not taking full advantage of the potential of technology in the classroom.

The results appear to contrast with feedback derived in Malta so far. Malta Union of Teachers president Kevin Bonello said teachers who had taken part in the computer tablet pilot project launched last year reported very positive results.

In the project, tablets were distributed in some primary schools in an attempt to learn about the impact of the device before its implementation on a nationwide basis. The focus was on improving literacy, numeracy and digital literacy skills.

Commenting on the results, Mr Bonello insisted that every country’s education system is different and what works in one may not work in another. “It’s all a matter of understanding what the tablet or computer will be used for.

“These devices should not replace other ways of educating children but should serve to enhance the systems already in place,” Mr Bonello said. “If you have students who are not even capable of handling a pencil, introducing a tablet would only serve to hinder their learning process.”

Teachers should have the flexibility to incorporate these devices into the curriculum based on the children’s needs, he said. “Every group of students is unique. While some methods may work well with one group, others might not benefit from the same methods.

Velislava Hillman, who is reading for a PhD in media technologies and children at the University of Westminster, believes the mainstream educational system is not yet accommodating to take on technology. “We need to find ways to make the two work together, and by that I don’t mean we use Google in class to ‘research’ and assume that our children are equipped with digital skills.”

The curriculum teachers follow has not been designed with a tablet in mind which has long created the necessity for revision of the educational system and for developing adequate measures to incorporate such tools into the educational structure. “The question is how mainstream education can be shaped to benefit from the affordances of technologies and when,” Ms Hillman said.

At this point, it will be important to start learning about the politics behind the method and practice of teaching in these newly-introduced smart technologies coming to the classroom, and to sift through and select those tools that will support and improve learning, she said.

“I think it is dangerous to look at such reports as cause-and-effect evidence. To state that bringing in computers or smart technologies into the classroom and making children use them more frequently may lead to their poor performance in a maths test makes us remove a lot of other crucial factors conditioning this equation.

“We cannot expect wonders from technologies, and at the same time we cannot point and bluntly blame them for the bad grades either.”

While the time spent using the devices is relevant, content and quality of the activity during that time is an even more important aspect when analysing the impact of technology on children.

“If the child spends three, four hours doing something repetitive on a tablet, like swiping things and popping colourful balloons, that is one thing.

“If the child spends long hours creating videos, building games, or editing photographs taken earlier in the park, that is another,” Ms Hillman said.