Cost-Effectiveness & Cost-Benefit of Educational Technology Web Search Results:
Charleen Worsham

http://ericir.syr.edu/ithome/digests/edoir9804.html
The Benefits of Information Technology
By John Kosakowski
Eric Digest August, 1998 EDO-IR-98-04

This article asks "Is there research or other evidence that indicates computers and advanced telecommunications are worthwhile investments for educators?" The author summarizes the benefits of technology implementation and points out the importance of evaluating the effects of technology on learning. His conclusions reverberate two common threads in all of the results of this search which are: 1) In addition to having a positive effect on the instructional process, technology is also changing the instructional process itself; and 2) New measures of evaluation must be developed to better define the role of technology in this wider context.

The author points out the benefits of 5 areas which have indicated successful uses of educational technology:

1. Applications of Technology to Basic Skills
   
2. Applications of Technology to Advanced Skills
   
3. Effects of Technology on Student Attitudes
   
4. On-Line Technologies
   
5. Use of Technology by Teachers and Administrators

He goes on to identify factors that help technology succeed:

• Evidence of a detailed technology plan
  
• Teacher training and continuing education
  
• Support from administration
  
• Support from the community
  
• Support from the government.

Finally, he cites Glenna & Melmed (1996) and there conclusions about educational technology evaluation processes:

• The need for new measures that will assess higher-level skills and other effects affected by technology.
  
• Assessments are currently focusing on the instructional processes, which are highly dependent on the implementation of the entire instructional process.
  
• Educational technology is dynamic, making meaningful evaluation difficult.

Salient point: "Technology is also changing the instructional process itself. To be effective, technology cannot exist in a vacuum, but must become part of the whole educational environment."

Point:
http://www.education-world.com/a_admin/admin122.shtml
Technology in the Schools: It Does Make a Difference!
Counter Point:
http://www.education-world.com/a_admin/admin.121.shtml
Technology in the Schools: Some Say It Doesn't Compute!

These were two interesting articles, one making the case for the dollars allocated for technology integration and technology training for teachers, while the other article focuses on the research that makes a strong case to the contrary and takes the position that schools have "jumped on the technology band-wagon too soon" before educational researchers can study its effectiveness. The first article cites numerous studies that indicate the positive effects that technology use has on student performance. Three factors of the most successful programs were as follows (and these echo the findings of the first article reviewed above:

1. Resources were carefully selected. Technology was one important tool among many.
   
2. Teachers received ample training and support in using the software.
   
3. Students had ready access to the necessary tools.

The second article lists the hidden price of technology in schools:

• Physiological problems resulting from overuse of technology
  
• Environmental hazards of older machines
  
• Adverse effect on development of motor and social skills
  
• Use of tools with dubious educational value
  
• Over-dependence on the "fun factor"
  
• Support (or lack of) issues.

While many of these factors do in fact indicate a hidden price of technology, following the advice found in the "pro-technology" article circumvents these issues.

http://www.ed.gov/Technology/TechConf/1999/confsum.html
Critical Issues in Evaluating the Effectiveness of Technology
By Mary McNabb, Mark Hawkes, and Ullik Rouk
From The Secretary's Conference on Educational Technology-1999

This article lists a number of critical issues identified in the conference proceedings and summarized them as follows. Each critical issue is accompanied by a quote from a conference participant.

• The effectiveness of technology is embedded in the effectiveness of other school improvement efforts. Linking technology with core instructional objectives is what makes good, effective use of technology. That's the message we need to communicate. It's a process, not a number.
  
• Current practices for evaluating the impact of technology in education need broadening. To a certain extent, we are living out the decisions reflected in previous evaluation methods, which constrain our thinking about the purpose and effectiveness of technology in education.
  
• Standardized test scores offer limited formative information with which to drive the development of a school's technology program. Who gave legislators read and math test scores to begin with? We did. We need to give them other measure, tell them how technology works, and help them see the results.
  
• Schools must document and report their evaluation finding in ways that satisfy diverse stakeholder's need to know. We cannot survive on the random story anymore.
  
• In order for evaluation efforts to provide stakeholders with answers to their questions about the effectiveness of technology in education, everyone must agree on a common language and standards of practice for measuring how schools achieve that end. You have to show people the qualitative difference in what kids can actually do.
  
• The role of teachers is crucial in evaluating the effectiveness of technology in schools, but the burden of proof is not solely theirs. Evaluation is part of a reflective process. The more reflective we are, the more likely we are to improve our practice.
  
• Implementing an innovation in schools can result in practice running before policy. Some existing policies need to be transformed to match the new needs of schools using technology. Our goal should be first, to understand the conditions of pro-social technology use and second to employ that understanding for learning improvement. Both require more penetrating analysis than has heretofore been the standard.

The final point this article makes is the importance of partnerships in the planning, implementation, and research on instructional technology.

http://www.technos.net/journal/volume7/2cuban.html
Computers Make Kids Smarter-Right?
By Heather Kirkpatrick and Larry Cuban

The need for better methods of evaluating the effect of technology on learning is also mentioned in this article. It asks four critical questions:

1. What do we want to use technology for in our classrooms?
   
2. Can we reach our goals at less cost - without additional investments in technology?
   
3. Will computers help create the type of students and citizens we seek?
   
4. Through what means can we achieve our desired ends?
   

The article evaluates the three main bodies of research: single studies, meta-analyses, and reviews criticizing both kinds of research.

The answers to each of the critical questions is then provided:

1. Researchers cannot answer questions of purpose; policymakers, practitioners, and parents must and should consider the questions for themselves and determine their aims.
   
2. Too few studies have examined the cost-effectiveness of computers to judge whether alternatives to computers can secure the same results.
   
3. Prior research is of no use in answering such questions, because what is needed is an evaluation of the fit between the existing mission of the school and how technology is used.
   
4. The answers found in the research are either inconclusive or indeterminable.