The effect of computer-assisted learning on students’ long-term development

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the effect of computer-assisted learning on students’ long-term development. We explore the implementation of a large ed-tech intervention that connected some of China’s best teachers to more than 100 million rural students through satellite internet. By leveraging the staggered installation of computer equipment in different areas of the country, we find evidence that exposure to the program improved students’ academic achievement, labor performance, and computer usage. We observe these effects up to ten years after program implementation. These findings indicate that education technology can have long-lasting positive effects on a variety of outcomes and can be effective in reducing the rural–urban education gap.