Quality beats frequency? Investigating students' effort in learning when introducing technology in classrooms

Effort students put forth when learning (EFF) is paramount to high achievement in an academic context. However, EFF has been shown to decrease over the course of a student's school career. Using technology (i.e., computer-based technologies including digital [smart] devices like tablet computers) in classroom teaching might be a powerful way to cushion this effect as technology has the potential to promote effort-related learning processes. However, it is yet unclear how technology should be integrated into classroom teaching to promote sustainable effects because long-term studies in natural classroom scenarios are scarce. In this study, we analyzed both short-term (across 4 months) and long-term (across 16 months) changes in students' EFF in mathematics and German as a language in a context in which teachers had begun to integrate technology (i.e., tablet computers) into their teaching. We used data from N = 1,363 seventh-to eighth-grade students in 28 schools. The schools were randomly assigned to either a tablet condition (teachers and students were given the opportunity to use tablet computers for one-to-one computing for teaching and learning) or a non-tablet condition. Changes in students' EFF, assessed as cognitive engagement and academic effort, were analyzed with baseline latent change and multiple, multivariate linear regression models. In mathematics, short-term changes in EFF were more positive in the tablet than in the non-tablet condition and the higher the quality of technology integration in classrooms the more positive were long-term changes. In German, the more often tablet computers were used the more positive were short-term changes. The results underscore the importance of high-quality integration of technology in complex classroom environments but also demonstrate the need to examine domain-specific integration of technologies more intensively.

Automated summary

This study analyzed the short-term and long-term changes in students' effort in mathematics and German after teachers integrated technology (tablet computers) into their teaching. The results showed that in mathematics, short-term changes in effort were more positive under the tablet condition, and the higher the quality of technology integration in classrooms, the more positive were long-term changes. In German, the more often tablet computers were used, the more positive were the short-term changes. These findings highlight the importance of high-quality and domain-specific integration of technology in promoting students' effort-related learning processes.