The LAPSCO in the Journal of Computer-Assisted Learning

October 2021. The LAPSCO ‘e.P3C’ study beyond the issue of distant learning. This study offers direct evidence that equally accessible computer-assisted instruction (CAI) can lead the lower socio-economic status (disadvantaged) students to perform as well as their highly privileged counterparts receiving conventional teacher-led instruction. This indicates how digital education may help compensate the difficulties of students with a disadvantaged background.

This study offers direct evidence that equally accessible computer-assisted instruction (CAI) can improve learning both in the higher and lower socio-economic status students. More importantly, disadvantaged students who received CAI performed as well as their highly privileged counterparts receiving conventional teacher-led instruction. This indicates how digital education may help compensate the difficulties of students with a disadvantaged background.

Chevalère, J., Cazenave, L., Berthon, M., Martinez, R., Mazenod, V., Borion, M.C., Pailler, D., Rocher, N., Cadet, R., Lenne, C., Maïonchi-Pino, N., & Huguet, P. (in press). Compensating the socioeconomic achievement gap with computer-assisted instruction. Journal of Computer-Assisted Learning.

The Covid-19 pandemic has led millions of students worldwide to intensify their use of digital technologies for distant learning, resulting in increased inequalities between the high and low socio-economic status students (due to unequal access to these technologies as well as unequal teaching resources at home). However, this leaves open the question of digital education efficiency per se (not limited to the issue of distant learning), especially when equal access to teaching tutorials is guaranteed. The LAPSCO e.P3C project addressed this critical issue by comparing computer-assisted instructions (CAI) to conventional teacher-led classroom instruction with more than 800 students from disadvantaged and highly privileged socioeconomic backgrounds. Both groups of students who received CAI outperformed those receiving conventional instruction, thus maintaining the socioeconomic achievement gap constant. Above all, disadvantaged students who received CAI performed as well as their highly privileged counterparts receiving conventional teacher-led instruction. Digital education through CAI may therefore help compensate the difficulties of students with a disadvantaged background, a still neglected possibility.