Does the Way in which Students Use Computers Matter for their Performance?

In this paper we investigate possible differences in student performance depending on the frequency and the type of computer usage both at home and at school of 15-years-old Italian students. Using the PISA 2006 dataset and controlling for a wide range of individual and school characteristics, our results suggest that students using the computer at home very often obtain higher test scores than those who never use it. More importantly, we find a significant positive correlation between student achievement and the use of computer at home as educational/learning device. Focusing on the frequency of computer usage at school, it emerges that student achievement increases with the intensity of computer use but the effect becomes smaller the more often they use the computer and even negative when students use the computer at school almost every day