October 2021. The LAPSCO ‘e.P3C’ study beyond the issue of
distant learning. This study offers direct evidence that equally
accessible computer-assisted instruction (CAI) can lead the lower
socio-economic status (disadvantaged) students to perform as well as
their highly privileged counterparts receiving conventional teacher-led
instruction. This indicates how digital education may help compensate
the difficulties of students with a disadvantaged background.
This study offers direct evidence that equally accessible
computer-assisted instruction (CAI) can improve learning both in the
higher and lower socio-economic status students. More importantly,
disadvantaged students who received CAI performed as well as their
highly privileged counterparts receiving conventional teacher-led
instruction. This indicates how digital education may help compensate
the difficulties of students with a disadvantaged background.
Chevalère, J., Cazenave, L., Berthon, M., Martinez, R., Mazenod, V., Borion, M.C., Pailler, D., Rocher, N., Cadet, R., Lenne, C., Maïonchi-Pino, N., & Huguet, P. (in press). Compensating the socioeconomic achievement gap with computer-assisted instruction. Journal of Computer-Assisted Learning.
The Covid-19 pandemic has led millions of students worldwide to
intensify their use of digital technologies for distant learning,
resulting in increased inequalities between the high and low
socio-economic status students (due to unequal access to these
technologies as well as unequal teaching resources at home). However,
this leaves open the question of digital education efficiency per se
(not limited to the issue of distant learning), especially when equal
access to teaching tutorials is guaranteed. The LAPSCO e.P3C project
addressed this critical issue by comparing computer-assisted
instructions (CAI) to conventional teacher-led classroom instruction
with more than 800 students from disadvantaged and highly privileged
socioeconomic backgrounds. Both groups of students who received CAI
outperformed those receiving conventional instruction, thus maintaining
the socioeconomic achievement gap constant. Above all, disadvantaged
students who received CAI performed as well as their highly privileged
counterparts receiving conventional teacher-led instruction. Digital
education through CAI may therefore help compensate the difficulties of
students with a disadvantaged background, a still neglected possibility.