Home Information and Communication Technology Use and Student Academic Performance: Encouraging Results for Uncertain Times.

Christopher J Wilson,Linda K Byrne,Travis Harries,David Robert Skvarc,Nicki Joshua,Matthew Talbot

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.638319

Abstract

This study set out to examine the associations of certain information communication technology (ICT) factors in the home environment with academic performance. We employed existing data sets collated by Pearson Clinical Assessment in 2016 which included the WIAT-III A&NZ (Wechsler Individual Achievement Test - Australian and New Zealand Standardised, Third Edition) completed by 714 students aged between 4 and 18 years old, and the home environment questionnaire (HEQ) completed by the parents of those children. Sequential multiple regression models were used to analyze the complex interactions between home ICT factors and measures of student reading, writing, mathematical, and oral ability. The findings of this study indicate that after accounting for the known powerful predictors of household income and parental education: (a) a student’s access to an ICT rich home environment, (b) their aptitude in using home ICT, and (c) their recreational use of home ICT, are largely unrelated to academic performance. We observed some small positive correlations between academic performance and child ICT affinity, but also comparably sized negative associations with use of social media and educational TV viewing. Encouragingly, we propose that these findings suggest that increasing levels of ICT use and access in the home are unlikely to be detrimental to academic progress. These results provide important information for parents and educators given the impact of the Coronavirus global pandemic and the near world-wide adoption of ICT for home-schooling.

Highlights

The ongoing, global digital revolution of the early 21st Century has been characterized by the convergence of technology and human development, where traditional student learning has adapted to the new digital environment (Scherer et al, 2019)
Increased mathematical prowess has been routinely associated with information and communications technology (ICT) access and preference in children (Carrasco and Torrecilla, 2012; Casey et al, 2012; Skryabin et al, 2015), but we note here that our analysis suggests that child self-confidence with ICT use failed to predict academic performance of any kind, and preference was uninvolved
We emphasize that our models suggest that ICT use, aptitude, and access appear to make relatively small contributions to academic performance after adjusting socioeconomic status, even in combination

Summary

Introduction

The ongoing, global digital revolution of the early 21st Century has been characterized by the convergence of technology and human development, where traditional student learning has adapted to the new digital environment (Scherer et al, 2019). As a result of this convergence, ‘e-learning,’ the use of information and communications technology (ICT) for learning at home and in the classroom, has found a prominent role in modern education systems. Home ICT and Academics (Genlott and Grönlund, 2016). This growing prevalence of ICT has been evident over the past 20 years in Australia. In Australia, this uptake of home ICT and e-learning has invoked education policy, pedagogy, and curriculum changes. ICT literacy was introduced as a measure in the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests in 2005 (Thomson, 2015). ICT has recently been included as a general life capability in the National Curriculum (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2019)

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Discussion

Conclusion