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Information and communication technology (ICT) has revolutionised virtually every aspect of our life and work. Students unable to navigate through a complex digital landscape will no longer be able to participate fully in the economic, social and cultural life around them. Those responsible for educating today’s “connected” learners are confronted with challenging issues, from information overload to plagiarism, from protecting children from online risks such as fraud, violations of privacy or online bullying to setting an adequate and appropriate media diet. We expect schools to educate our children to become critical consumers of Internet services and electronic media, helping them to make informed choices and avoid harmful behaviours. And we expect schools to raise awareness about the risks that children face on line and how to avoid them.
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In 2012, 96% of 15-year-old students in OECD countries reported that they have a computer at home, but only 72% reported that they use a desktop, laptop or tablet computer at school. Only 42% of students in Korea and 38% of students in Shanghai-China reported that they use computers at school – and Korea and Shanghai-China were among the top performers in the digital reading and computer-based mathematics tests in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2012. By contrast, in countries where it is more common for students to use the Internet at school for schoolwork, students’ performance in reading declined between 2000 and 2012, on average.
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Children access and use information and communication technology (ICT) earlier than ever before. This chapter uses data from PISA 2012 to examine how students’ access to ICT devices, and their experience in using these technologies, evolved in recent years. It explores the frequency and variety of uses of ICT at home, and the differences in students’ use of computers between countries. The chapter also discusses how students’ use of computers and the Internet at home is changing the way they engage with learning and school.
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This chapter discusses how education systems and schools are integrating information and communication technology (ICT) into students’ learning experiences, and examines trends since 2009. It provides an overview of country differences in schools’ ICT resources and how these are related to computer use; and it shows how the use of ICT in school not only depends on its availability, but on policies related to teachers and curricula.
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Computer-based tests expand the range of situations in which students’ ability to apply their knowledge can be measured. Students in 32 countries and economies that participated in the PISA 2012 pencil-and-paper assessment were invited to take a test of reading and mathematics on computers. This chapter discusses the results of those computer-based assessments.
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Not only are certain text-processing skills particularly important when reading on line, readers must also be able to navigate through and among different texts. This chapter describes students’ digital navigation abilities and examines the relationship between navigation skills and performance in digital reading.
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Digital inequality refers to differences in the material, cultural and cognitive resources required to make good use of information and communication technology (ICT). This chapter examines differences in access to and use of ICT that are related to students’ socio-economic status, gender, geographic location, and the school a child attends. It also investigates whether performance on computer-based tests is related to students’ socio-economic status and their familiarity with computers.
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Despite considerable investments in computers, Internet connections and software for educational use, there is little solid evidence that greater computer use among students leads to better scores in mathematics and reading. This chapter examines the relationship among computer access in schools, computer use in classrooms, and performance in the PISA assessment.
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In computer-based tests, machines keep track (in log files) of – and, if so instructed, could analyse – all the steps and actions students take in finding a solution to a given problem. This chapter uses three tasks from the PISA 2012 computer-based reading assessment to illustrate how process data recorded by the assessment can enhance educators’ ability to monitor students’ test-taking behaviour and measure their skills.
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For the first time, today’s parents and teachers have little, if any, experience with the tools that children are going to use every day in their adult lives. This chapter discusses the implications for education policy of the need to equip students with the fundamental skills required to participate fully in hyper-connected, digitised societies.
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