Preparing for Life in a Digital World: IEA International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2018 International Report
Author: Fraillon, Julian
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Barriers,Information Technology,Technological Literacy,Thinking Skills,Computation,Grade 8,Foreign Countries,Information Literacy,Access to Computers,Internet,School Policy,Cultural Differences,Family Environment,Student Characteristics,Student Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Teacher Competencies

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) has been researching the impact of information and communications technologies (ICT) on educational processes, and factors supporting or impeding the pedagogical use of ICT, since the late-1980s. More recently it has turned its attention to investigating ICT-related educational outcomes. IEA's International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) was developed in response to the increasing use of ICT in modern society and the need for people to have the capabilities necessary to participate effectively in a digital world. The first cycle of ICILS in 2013 (ICILS 2013) assessed students' computer and information literacy (CIL) which brings together technical competence with computer applications and the capacity to manage information. This places an emphasis on the use of computers as information seeking, management, and communication tools which are key to participation in the digital age. This second cycle of ICILS in 2018 (ICILS 2018) continued to investigate students' CIL but also investigated students' computational thinking (CT). This dimension involves conceptualizing problems (through algorithmic or systems thinking) and operationalizing solutions (creating, implementing, and evaluating computer-based responses to problems). Authentic computer-based assessments administered to students in their eighth year of schooling generated data that provided measures of these two domains of digital competence (CIL and CT). The inclusion of CT as an option in ICILS 2018 reflects recent interest by educators, researchers, and policymakers in the value of CT in schooling. ICILS 2018 studied how these components of digital competence related to each other and to the school and out-of-school contexts that support learning with and about computer technology. This report presents the outcomes at the international level of analyses of data collected in the ICILS main survey in 2018. The report aims to provide an international perspective on the ICILS data relating to CIL collected across countries. Twelve countries participated in ICILS 2018: Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea (hereafter referred to as Korea, for ease of reading), Luxembourg, Portugal, the United States, and Uruguay. The city of Moscow (Russian Federation) and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) participated as benchmarking participants. Eight countries completed the CT assessment: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Korea, Luxembourg, Portugal, and the United States. The CT option was also completed by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) as a benchmarking participant. This report responds to the ICILS research questions and provides observations and interpretations that may stimulate further investigation within and across countries. [This report was published by SpringerOpen. For &quot;ICILS 2013 Technical Report,&quot; see ED610534. For the accompanying report, &quot;IEA International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2018 Assessment Framework,&quot; see ED610537.]