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The Impact of a One Laptop per Child Program on Learning: Evidence from Uruguay

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  • de Melo Gioia
  • Machado Alina
  • Miranda Alfonso

Abstract

We present evidence on the impact on students' math and reading scores of one of the largest deployments of an OLPC program and the only one implemented at a national scale: Plan Ceibal in Uruguay. We have unique data that allow us to know the exact date of laptop delivery for every student in the sample. This gives us the ability to use days of exposure as a treatment intensity measure. Given that there is some variation in the date of laptop delivery across individuals within the same school, we can identify the effect of the program net of potential heterogeneity in the rate schools gain improvements on students' achievement over time independently of the OLPC program. Our results suggest that in the first two years of its implementation the program had no effects on math and reading scores. The absence of effect could be explained by the fact that the program did not involve compulsory teacher training and that laptops in class were mainly used to search for information on the internet.

Suggested Citation

  • de Melo Gioia & Machado Alina & Miranda Alfonso, 2014. "The Impact of a One Laptop per Child Program on Learning: Evidence from Uruguay," Working Papers 2014-22, Banco de México.
  • Handle: RePEc:bdm:wpaper:2014-22
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    Cited by:

    1. Joaquin Marandino & Phanindra V. Wunnava, 2017. "The Effect of Access to Information and Communication Technology on Household Labor Income: Evidence from One Laptop Per Child in Uruguay," Economies, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-10, September.
    2. Yanguas, Maria Lucia, 2020. "Technology and educational choices: Evidence from a one-laptop-per-child program," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Eric Bettinger & Robert Fairlie & Anastasia Kapuza & Elena Kardanova & Prashant Loyalka & Andrey Zakharov, 2023. "Diminishing Marginal Returns to Computer‐Assisted Learning," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(2), pages 552-570, March.
    4. Shamrova, Daria & Lampe, Joana, 2020. "Understanding patterns of child material deprivation in five regions of the world: A children’s rights perspective," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    5. Hall, Caroline & Lundin, Martin & Sibbmark, Kristina, 2019. "A laptop for every child? The impact of ICT on educational outcomes," Working Paper Series 2019:26, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    6. Hall, Caroline & Lundin, Martin & Sibbmark, Kristina, 2021. "A laptop for every child? The impact of technology on human capital formation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    7. Fietz, Katharina & Lay, Jann, 2023. "Digitalisation and labour markets in developing countries," GIGA Working Papers 335, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    8. van Cappelle, Frank & Chopra, Vidur & Ackers, Jim & Gochyyev, Perman, 2021. "An analysis of the reach and effectiveness of distance learning in India during school closures due to COVID-19," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    9. Denis Fougère & Ghazala Azmat & Alexis Lermite & Clémence Lobut, 2022. "L’impact du numérique sur les apprentissages des élèves : évaluation d’une politique d’équipement à grande échelle. Ensemble des résultats au cycle 4," Working Papers halshs-03915750, HAL.
    10. Hall, Caroline & Lundin, Martin, 2023. "Teaching, technology and test scores. The impact of personal computers on student performance in primary school," Working Paper Series 2023:3, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    11. Daniel Feliciano & Laura López-Torres & Daniel Santín, 2021. "One Laptop per Child? Using Production Frontiers for Evaluating the Escuela 2.0 Program in Spain," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(20), pages 1-17, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    technology; education; impact evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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