Classroom Technology:The Effect of Technology on a Student' s Motivation and Knowledge Retention

Does more classroom technology lead to higher student motivation? It depends on who you ask. In most cases, I think the assumption by many teachers is that more technology = more engagement, and therefore, higher student motivation. I was surprised at the results of this study from 2012. 

The study was conducted and published by Mark Granito and Ellina Chernobilsky, and then presented at the Northeastern Educational Research Association Conference. 

The question that guided this study was "To what extent does technology help student motivation and retention of information in a 7th grade Social Studies classroom."  I like the fact that they chose a subject area that traditionally uses very little technology within the classroom. I know there are currently social studies classrooms in my school that utilize very little technology. 

Here are the results:

Based on the data, using technology doesn't reveal much change in test scores or knowledge retention. 

From the student's survey responses, it is clear that students prefer to have the choice to use the technology, rather than being forced to. I was a little surprised that half the class chose the traditional paper based assignment. 
          "It was discovered in this research, that students who chose to complete projects using available technology scored significantly better than students who were forced to use available technology. Much to the researcher's surprise, when given the choice between completing a paper-based project or completing a computer-based project, the class was virtually split down the middle. Previous assumptions would have led this researcher to believe that more seventh grade students would have chosen to work on the computer over traditional methods of learning."

The results of this study definitely got me thinking. I think many of my colleagues do a great job of incorporating technology for the right reasons. However, I also think there are some that do not. I really like the concluding paragraph from this study. 
      "The researcher concludes that technology has the potential to be a powerful educational tool for those that have interest in it. For students with no interest in using technology, they will still benefit educationally from traditional methods. This research alludes to the fact that assigning a computerbased project haphazardly to a group of students will not necessarily generate high test scores. There needs to be interest and motivation with using technology in the first place for students to succeed. As with any instructional topic, technology needs to be taught and embraced at an early age. If students are taught to hate technology at an early age, then their disdain for technology may follow them into their later years."