How computers in schools impact on children's learning has been studied through research that explores student achievement at one point in time or by comparing different classroom contexts with differing results. The introduction of an optional netbook purchasing scheme for children in a low socio-economic community provided an opportunity to…

Computers are an important part of modern education, yet large segments of the population--especially low-income and minority children--lack access to a computer at home. Does this impede educational achievement? We test this hypothesis by conducting the largest-ever field experiment involving the random provision of free computers for home use to…