THE vast sums governments spend buying computers for schools might be better spent on hiring more teachers and buying more books.
That’s the conclusion of Thomas Fuchs and his team at the Ifo Institute for Economic Affairs in Munich, Germany, who looked at the academic results of 100,000 15-year-olds in 32 countries. Frequent use of computers makes “no discernable difference” to students’ academic performance, Fuchs told a meeting of the Royal Economic Society in Nottingham, UK, this week. The team suggests that computers may be displacing more effective chalk-and-talk teaching methods, and using up cash better spent on books or teacher training.…
