Tamim,+R+2011

=What Forty Years of Research Says About the Impact of Technology on Learning: A Second-Order Meta-Analysis and Validation Study=

Rana M. Tamim, Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University Robert M. Bernard, Eugene Borokhovski, Philip C. Abrami, and Richard F. Schmid, Concordia University

Review of Educational Research. © 2011 AERA. http://rer.aera.net == This research study employs a second-order meta-analysis procedure to summarize 40 years of research activity addressing the question, does computer technology use affect student achievement in formal face-to-face classrooms as compared to classrooms that do not use technology? A study-level meta-analytic validation was also conducted for purposes of comparison. An extensive literature search and a systematic review process resulted in the inclusion of 25 meta-analyses with minimal overlap in primary literature, encompassing 1,055 primary studies. The random effects mean effect size of 0.35 was significantly different from zero. The distribution was heterogeneous neous under the fixed effects model. To validate the second-order meta-analysis, 574 individual independent effect sizes were extracted from 13 out of the 25 meta-analyses. The mean effect size was 0.33 under the random effects model, and the distribution was heterogeneous. Insights about the state of the field, implications for technology use, and prospects for future research are discussed.
 * Abstract**

Summary of the Findings The current second-order meta-analysis summarized evidence regarding the impact of technology on student achievement in formal academic contexts based on an extensive body of literature. The synthesis of the extracted effect sizes, with the support of the validation process, revealed a significant positive small to moderate effect size favoring the utilization of technology in the experimental condition over more traditional instruction (i.e., technology free) in the control group.The analysis of two substantive moderator variables revealed that computer technology that supports instruction has a marginally but significantly higher average effect size compared to technology applications that provide direct instruction. Also, it was found that the average effect size for K–12 applications of computer technology was higher than computer applications introduced in postsecondary classrooms