The association between having access to computers and Internet and educational achievement for primary students in Brazil

This study tests the association between having home access to a computer and to the Internet and the educational achievement of primary students on a standardized test in Brazil for the years 2007-2011. The results show a significant (both practical and statistical) benefit of owning a computer for 5th and 9th graders. The effect sizes range from 0.2 to 0.4 and are similar across different socioeconomic status. On the other hand, the correlation between having access to the Internet with higher test scores is generally smaller and highly dependent on the socioeconomic status of the student's family, varying from 0.2 to −0.2. This study also points out to a weaker evidence that there is an increase of the positive effects of owning a computer and access to Internet over time, which may explain some of the divergent results in the literature.