International Computer And Information Literacy Study Research Articles

Digital gender gaps in Students’ knowledge, attitudes and skills: an integrative data analysis across 32 Countries

The digital gender divide is one of the most critical issues in education today. Digital gender gaps can exist in students’ access to and use of ICT, attitudes toward technology, and digital knowledge and skills. However, previous research has primarily examined these divides in isolation and largely ignored their interdependencies. Using student data from the 2013 and 2018 International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS), this study examines how these gaps are related. Specifically, we synthesize evidence on gender gaps in digital knowledge and skills, controlling for differences in ICT access and technology attitudes. In addition, we examine the role that technology attitudes play in the gender gap in digital knowledge and skills. Our findings suggest that (a) girls outperform boys in digital knowledge and skills (upbeta = -0.11 to -0.29); (b) gender differences in attitudes toward technology partially explain gender differences in digital knowledge and skills; (c) the variability within and between countries in the gender gap in students' digital skills is partly explained by the type of digital skill and the country's socio-economic development and gender inequality. Overall, this research shows a relationship between the gender gaps in students’ digital knowledge and skills and the gender gaps in students’ attitudes toward technology. We conclude that the first- and second-level gender digital divides are connected.

Finnish teachers’ and students’ programming motivation and their role in teaching and learning computational thinking

IntroductionDespite the growing importance of teaching and learning computational thinking (CT) through programming in schools, research has shown major individual differences in teachers’ instruction emphasis and students’ skills in these topics.ObjectiveThis study aims to shed further light on the role that teachers’ and students’ programming motivation plays in CT.MethodsThe topic is approached from the viewpoint of the self-determination theory, which can help to understand teachers’ instruction and students’ learning. Our sample consisted of Finnish Grade 8 teachers (N = 1,853) and students (N = 2,546) who participated in the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) in 2018. Focusing on teachers’ CT instruction emphasis, students’ CT test scores, and the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory, we investigate (1) distributions of teachers’ and students’ responses to intrinsic and extrinsic programming motivation questions, (2) associations between teachers’ and students’ programming motivation and their background factors, and (3) associations between programming motivation and teachers’ CT instruction emphasis and students’ CT test scores. The data was analyzed by examining descriptive statistics, computing mean differences and correlation coefficients and by performing (multiple) linear regression models.ResultsThe results showed that teachers had high extrinsic programming motivation, but the extent of their intrinsic programming motivation varied widely based on their prior programming teaching experience, subject taught, and gender. Students, in turn, reported both high intrinsic and extrinsic motivation toward programming, but boys were generally more motivated for programming than girls. High programming motivation was moderately related to teachers’ higher CT instruction emphasis and students’ higher CT test scores.ConclusionThe findings give a strong incentive to pay attention to increasing especially girls’ programming motivation and providing teachers with positive CT experiences relevant to their subject and with a particular objective to increase intrinsic motivation especially among teachers who lack prior programming teaching experience and interest in the topic.

우리나라 중학생의 ICT에 대한 인식 분석

Objectives In this study, affective factors such as self-efficacy, perception, and career expectations for Information and Communication Technology (ICT), which were surveyed in the ‘International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2018’, were analyzed. In particular, we focused on the effects of student characteristics such as Computer and Information Literacy(CIL) level, gender, and computer/software learning experience. Furthermore, these data were used to identify the ICT-related characteristics of middle school students in South Korea by identifying the similarities and differences with other participating countries through international comparison. Methods A total of 2,875 students (1,497 male (52.1%) and 1,378 female (47.9%)) enrolled in the second year of 150 middle schools nationwide participated in the computer-based assessment. Computer and Information Literacy was measured through self-report data. The information of educational use of ICT and student characteristics (gender, age), and student attitudes and perceptions were collected and analyzed. Results The percentage of students who responded that they were able to perform well on ICT-based learning tasks was lower than the ICILS 2018 average. In particular, ‘database creation’ showed the lowest rate. Also, students' self-efficacy for general and specialized applications was lower than the ICILS 2018 average. The perceptions of the positive and negative effects of ICT on society were higher than other participating countries. In terms of expectations for ICT-related careers, male students showed higher expectations than female students, indicating a gender difference. Conclusions Implications for effective approaches for nurturing future digital talents that can maximize the effect of education by improving the quality of computer and information education and reducing the gap between learners were proposed.

The digital divide in online education: Inequality in digital readiness of students and schools

The COVID-19 pandemic has disordered the educational process across the globe, as schools suddenly had to provide their teaching in an online environment. One question that raised immediate concern is the potential impact of this forced and rapid digitalization on inequalities in the learning process by social class, migration background and gender. Elaborating on the literature on the digital divide, we study inequalities in multi-level digital readiness of students and schools before the pandemic took place. Using data from the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) on seven countries, and the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) on 45 countries, both from 2018, we demonstrate that schools and students vary in their readiness for digital education. However, school variation in digital readiness is not systematically related to student composition by SES and migration background. We thus find little evidence for a hypothesized ‘multi-level’ digital divide, which would result from systematic gradients in the readiness of school environments for digital education by student composition. More important drivers for a digital divide during the COVID-19 pandemic are the ICT skills students have, which are strongly related to students’ socioeconomic background. For digital education to be effective for every student, it is important that schools focus on improving students’ digital skills.

The role of ICT for school leadership and management activities: an international comparison

PurposeInformation and communication technologies (ICT) has an increasing impact on schools. School leaders play a key role in this context as drivers of innovation including those related to ICT. Against this background, the study presented in this article focuses on school leadership and management activities with ICT and related challenges. It sought to analyze how frequently German school principals use ICT compared to principals in other countries, what distinct clusters of German principals could be identified in terms of ICT usage and how principals viewed ICT in schools and related challenges.Design/methodology/approachA mixed-methods approach was chosen, using quantitative data from both the international comparative large-scale assessment study ICILS 2018 and the explorative qualitative data from Germany. For the international comparison, the school principal data sets of the 12 international participants of the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2018 were taken into account: Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Portugal, Uruguay and the United States. To look beyond averaged frequencies, a latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted to identify possible clusters of school leaders with distinct usage patterns of ICT for leadership and management activities.FindingsThe results indicate that, in general, German principals use ICT for leadership and management activities on a similar level as their international colleagues. However, they seem to communicate with education authorities significantly more often than their international colleagues, whereas representative activities (presentations, home page) are rather infrequent. The qualitative data point to significant barriers to fully harnessing the potential of using ICT for leadership, management and school improvement such as lack of competencies and lack of adequate support.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that focuses on school leadership and management activities using ICT with such a data set. The results provide insights into how German principals use ICT to lead and manage their schools compared to their international counterparts. The qualitative data offers additional insights into possible reasons hindering a more effective use of ICT.

Latent Class Cluster Analysis: Selecting the number of clusters

Latent Class Cluster Analysis (LCCA) is an advanced model-based clustering method, which is increasingly used in social, psychological, and educational research. Selecting the number of clusters in LCCA is a challenging task involving inevitable subjectivity of analytical choices. Researchers often rely excessively on fit indices, as model fit is the main selection criterion in model-based clustering; it was shown, however, that a wider spectrum of criteria needs to be taken into account. In this paper, we suggest an extended analytical strategy for selecting the number of clusters in LCCA based on model fit, cluster separation, and stability of partitions. The suggested procedure is illustrated on simulated data and a real world dataset from the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2018. For the latter, we provide an example of end-to-end LCCA including data preprocessing. The researcher can use our R script to conduct LCCA in a few easily reproducible steps, or implement the strategy with any other software suitable for clustering. We show that the extended strategy, in comparison to fit indices-based strategy, facilitates the selection of more stable and well-separated clusters in the data.• The suggested strategy aids researchers to select the number of clusters in LCCA• It is based on model fit, cluster separation, and stability of partitions• The strategy is useful for finding separable generalizable clusters in the data

Teaching with technology: A large-scale, international, and multilevel study of the roles of teacher and school characteristics

Providing high-quality instruction with technology has become more important than ever before. However, the instructional practices and the degree to which key skills, such as digital literacy and computational thinking, are emphasized in classrooms vary considerably between teachers, schools, and countries. The present study was aimed at explaining this variation in the frequency of teaching practices with technology and teachers' emphasis on developing students' computer and information literacy and computational thinking by key aspects of teacher motivation and expertise, school conditions and priorities, and countries' economy and innovation. Utilizing large-scale, representative data from the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2018 (15,015 teachers in 1195 schools in eight countries), we performed multilevel structural equation modeling and regression trees and found that teacher motivation and collaboration were positively and consistently linked to teaching practices across countries. Besides, principals' expectations concerning the teaching with technology explained variation in Finnish and German schools. In three countries, teachers' professional development was related to their teaching practices. Finally, countries’ economic development and innovation explained variation in the teacher-level effects. Our study sheds new light on the possible factors related to teaching with technology and advances the field by taking a multilevel and international perspective on these factors.

Avaliação internacional em larga escala: a participação de Portugal no TIMSS, PIRLS e ICILS

In the last few decades, the large-scale evaluation has acquired an importance in the educational field. International studies developed from surveys are increasingly numerous and cover different domains. Portugal has been participating in several studies, allowing to obtain information about the educational system and the socioeconomic context of the families and students. These data are reflected in the definition and implementation of educational policies. In this article we present an analysis of three international studies in the field of education, in which Portugal participates: Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS), carried out by International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). In this article we present an analysis of the general results of Portugal and we use an interpretative methodology, based on the analysis of reports and databases produced by different organizations, and undertaken by IEA. Despite the different fluctuations, in the different study cycles, Portuguese students have been showing positive results.

Does the digital divide matter? Factors and conditions that promote ICT literacy

Individuals’ computer skills have long been noteworthy for both education and the labor market. Although the support provided through curricula in schools develops these skills to a certain extent, digital divide still exists for individuals with different socio-demographic characteristics. The concept of digital divide, used to define individuals who do not have equal access to digital technologies, has started to be seen as a determining factor for digital competencies with its expanding scope. The current study aims to take a perspective to investigate the effect of socio-demographic variables, which may cause digital divide, on students' ICT literacy. With this study, it is sought to explain the effect of current inequalities regarding digital access on students' ICT skills. To this end, the socio-demographic characteristics of the students in the sample of Korea and Chile from the participating countries of the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) were examined in the context of ICT literacy. The characteristics of the models created were compared for both countries. While parents’ level of education variable stands out for the Chilean model, the internet connection variable is remarkable for the Korean model. It is anticipated that the findings of the research will contribute to understanding the dynamics of the digital divide and its possible consequences, and can be a source for preventive policy steps to be developed.

Who needs teachers? Factors associated with learning ICT skills from teachers in a multilevel analysis of the ICILS data

While great responsibility is placed upon schoolteachers for educating children and adolescents in media and technology, the increasing access to technology offers opportunities for youngsters to develop information and computer technology (ICT) skills informally. Thus, they do not depend solely on the school to develop computer and information literacy (CIL). Conversely, studies confirm that in some countries students report that they have learned specific ICT skills mainly from their teachers. However, little is known about the conditions under which students rely on teachers to develop CIL skills. This study explores the characteristics of students, schools, and countries that are associated with the incidence of learning CIL from teachers. Based on previous studies, a model was developed and tested employing a three-level analysis with data from 14 participant countries of the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS). The model reveals significant associations with students’ socioeconomic conditions, students’ self-efficacy in advanced ICT tasks, students’ gender and countries’ ICT Development Index score. The schools’ characteristics do not contribute significantly to the model. Furthermore, implications for the involvement of both students and teachers regarding media education in schools are discussed.

DIF as a pedagogical tool: analysis of item characteristics in ICILS to understand what students are struggling with

International large-scale assessments like international computer and information literacy study (ICILS) (Fraillon et al. in International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), 2015) provide important empirically-based knowledge through the proficiency scales, of what characterizes tasks at different difficulty levels, and what that says about students at different ability levels. In international comparisons, one of the threats against validity is country differential item functioning (DIF), also called item-by-country interaction. DIF is a measure of how much harder or easier an item is for a respondent of a given group as compared to respondents from other groups of equal ability. If students from one country find a specific item much harder or easier than students from other countries, it can impair the comparison of countries. Therefore, great efforts are directed towards analyzing for DIF and removing or changing items that show DIF. From another angle, however, this phenomenon can be seen not only as a threat to validity, but also as an insight into what distinguishes students from different countries, and possibly their education, on a content level, providing even more pedagogically useful information. Therefore, in this paper, the data from ICILS 2013 is re-analyzed to address the research question: Which kinds of tasks do Danish, Norwegian, and German students find difficult and/or easy in comparison with students of equal ability from other countries participating in ICILS 2013? The analyses show that Norwegian and Danish students find items related to computer literacy easier than their peers from other countries. On the other hand, Danish and, to a certain degree, Norwegian students find items related to information literacy more difficult. Opposed to this, German students do not find computer literacy easier, but they do seem to be comparably better at designing and laying out posters, web pages etc. This paper shows that essential results can be identified by comparing the distribution of difficulties of items in international large-scale assessments. This is a more constructive approach to the challenge of DIF, but it does not eliminate the serious threat to the validity of the comparison of countries.

Development and validation of the ICT motivation scale for young adolescents. Results of the international school assessment study ICILS 2013 in Germany

Although motivational factors play an important role in the development of information and communication technologies (ICT) literacy, only few of the studies that have assessed ICT literacy have also presented a theoretically derived conceptualization of ICT motivation. To address this issue, we examined the psychometric properties of a newly developed ICT motivation scale which distinguishes between several incentives to use ICT. Using the data from the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2013, confirmatory analysis confirmed the hypothesized higher-order factor structure and at least metric measurement invariance with regard to gender and social background. The scale showed convergent and discriminant validity with ICT behavior, ICT literacy and social background variables. Furthermore, it incrementally predicted ICT literacy over and above intelligence and general interest in ICT.

Digital divide: A critical context for digitally based assessments

Student learning is increasingly taking place in digital environments both within and outside schooling contexts. Educational assessments are following suit, both to take advantage of the conveniences and opportunities that digital environments provide as well as to reflect the mediums of learning increasingly taking place in societies around the world. A social context relevant to learning and assessment in the digital age is the great differences in access to and competence in technology among students from different segments of societies. Therefore, access and competency in relation to technology become critical contexts for evaluations that rely on digitally based assessments. This chapter examines the digital divide between students from different segments of the society and discusses strategies for minimizing effects of digital divide on assessments of student learning. The research focuses on two types of demographic groups—gender and socioeconomic status (SES) groups—that have been highlighted in research on the digital divide. The research utilizes data from IEA’s International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2013 for Grade 8 students administered in 21 jurisdictions around the world. It thus provides an international perspective on digital divide as an important context for international assessments as well as assessments within jurisdictions such as Mexico that are conducting assessments in digitally based environments.

Early adolescents’ use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for social communication in 20 countries: Examining the roles of ICT-related behavioral and motivational characteristics

Social interaction is integral to the healthy psychosocial development of adolescents. The rapid expansion and evolution of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector over the last two decades has opened up a new world of unlimited opportunities and possibilities for social interaction. Despite the tremendous strides that have been made in the ICT sector, there has been a dearth of research on the factors linked to adolescents’ use of ICT for social interaction. The present study, therefore, drawing on data from the 2013 International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) database and employing three-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) as an analytic strategy, examined the predictive effects of ICT-related behavioral and motivational characteristics on the frequency of use of ICT for social communication among 56209 early adolescents from 3132 schools in 20 ICLIS participating countries. The results of the three-level HLM analyses, after accounting for student-, school-, and country-level demographic characteristics, revealed that early adolescents’ ICT-related behavioral and motivational characteristics significantly and positively predicted their use of ICT for social communication. Specifically, Internet access at home, number of computers at home, learning of ICT tasks at school, use of specific ICT applications, use of ICT during lessons at school, use of ICT for recreation, ICT self-efficacy, and interest as well as enjoyment in using ICT significantly and positively predicted the use of ICT for social communication among early adolescents in 20 countries. Implications of the findings are discussed briefly for policy and practice.

Students' profiles of ICT use: Identification, determinants, and relations to achievement in a computer and information literacy test

Current debates on students' use of information and communication technology (ICT) have brought to attention profiles and purposes of ICT use in either school-related or recreational contexts. Examining these two contexts at the same time, the present study seeks to identify student profiles of ICT use on the basis of the Norwegian International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2013 data (N = 2426). In order to explore profiles of ICT use in schools and at home for different purposes such as recreation, study purposes, exchanging information, and social communication, we take a person-centered approach and apply latent profile analysis. These analyses revealed two independent user profiles and showed that background characteristics (i.e., gender, immigration status) and motivational constructs (i.e., self-efficacy, interest, and enjoyment in ICT) play a significant role in determining profile membership. Significant differences between the user profiles in students' computer and information literacy test performance did not exist. Given that the coverage of ICT at home and in schools has increased substantially over the last decades, the identification of user profiles informs teachers and parents about whether or not students exploit these opportunities to the same extent. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Gender differences in computer and information literacy: An exploration of the performances of girls and boys in ICILS 2013

IEA’s International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2013 showed that in the majority of the participating countries, 14-year-old girls outperformed boys in computer and information literacy (CIL): results that seem to contrast with the common view of boys having better computer skills. This study used the ICILS data to explore whether the achievement test used in this study addressed specific dimensions of CIL and, if so, whether the performances of girls and boys on these subscales differ. We investigated the hypothesis that gender differences in performance on computer literacy items would be slightly in favour of boys, whereas gender differences in performance on information literacy items would be slightly in favour of girls. Furthermore, it was examined whether such differences varied across European countries and if item bias was present. Data was analysed using a confirmative factor analysis model, i.e. a multidimensional item response theory model, for the identification of the subscales, the explorations of gender and national differences, and possible item bias. To a large extent the results support our postulated hypothesis and shed new light on the commonly assumed disadvantaged position of girls and women in modern information society.

The relation between teachers’ emphasis on the development of students’ digital information and communication skills and computer self-efficacy: the moderating roles of age and gender

Teachers’ integration of information and communication technology (ICT) has been widely studied, given that digital competence is considered to be a crucial outcome of twenty first century education. In this context, research highlighted teachers’ computer self-efficacy (CSE) as one of the most important determinants of their ICT integration into teaching practices. Whereas previous research mainly focused on the relation between CSE and ICT integration from a frequency-based point of view, recent research suggests to investigate this relation using more qualitative measures of ICT integration such as the degree to which teachers emphasize developing students’ digital information and communication skills (TEDDICS). Consequently, the present study investigates the relations between these two constructs: teachers’ emphasis on developing students’ digital skills and their computer self-efficacy, taking into account the moderating roles of age and gender. We used a representative sample of 1071 Norwegian secondary school teachers who participated in the international computer and information literacy study (ICILS) in 2013. Our results provide evidence on the positive relation between CSE and TEDDICS. Furthermore, age positively moderated this relation between some factors of the two constructs, indicating that computer self-efficacy plays an even more important role for teachers of higher age in the context of emphasizing ICT skills in classrooms. The unique effect of gender was present for one correlation between CSE and TEDDICS, indicating that moderation by gender was apparent to a limited extent, and related to use of computers for instructional purposes. The interaction between age and gender did not reveal significant moderation effects. We discuss these results in light of the potential consequences for teacher training.

The role of ICT self-efficacy for students' ICT use and their achievement in a computer and information literacy test

Students' self-efficacy in using information and communication technology (ICT) is among the most important motivational constructs that are related to their ICT acceptance, use, and literacy. The present study attempts to generate new knowledge about the role of ICT self-efficacy for students' ICT use and their computer and information literacy (CIL). Using the Norwegian data obtained from the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) in 2013 (N = 2410 students in grade level 9), we distinguish between self-efficacy in basic and advanced ICT skills and examine the relations to students' ICT use for different purposes (school-related task learning, study purposes, and recreation) and their achievement in a CIL test. The results show that: (1) self-efficacy in basic ICT skills is positively related to CIL achievement, whereas self-efficacy in advanced ICT skills shows a negative relation; (2) ICT use and ICT self-efficacy are positively correlated for some of the ICT use purposes; (3) there is an indirect effects of ICT use on CIL achievement via ICT self-efficacy; (4) this indirect effect holds for both female and male students. Our findings point to a potential mechanism that links ICT use, self-efficacy, and CIL. Implications for future research and educational practice are discussed.

Teachers' emphasis on developing students' digital information and communication skills (TEDDICS): A new construct in 21st century education

The main aim of this study is to validate an instrument to measure teachers' emphasis on the development of students' digital information and communication skills (TEDDICS), a construct that describes a qualitative aspect of ICT use beyond mere frequency reports. TEDDICS was conceptualized by focusing on digital skills such as accessing, evaluating, and sharing and communicating digital information. We validated TEDDICS with respect to its factorial structure, relations to further teacher-related variables (e.g., ICT self-efficacy), background characteristics (age and gender), and main subject differences. The Norwegian International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2013 teacher sample (N = 1072) showed that TEDDICS: (a) comprises three factors which can be identified by exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM); (b) is positively related to ICT self-efficacy, the frequency of ICT use, and perceived usefulness of ICT; (c) differs across main subjects but not across gender groups. In addressing our research aims, we show that ESEM represents TEDDICS more appropriately than confirmatory factor analysis. Our results provide strong evidence on the construct validity and point out to the importance of looking at the degree to which teachers emphasize digital skills in classrooms beyond the frequency of using ICT.

Revisiting teachers’ computer self-efficacy: A differentiated view on gender differences

Gender differences in computer-related constructs have been identified for teachers and students. The present study investigated such differences by focusing on teachers’ computer self-efficacy (CSE), which is conceptualized as their confidence in performing basic and advanced skills in using computers, along with the use of computers for instructional purposes. Analyzing the data from 1208 Norwegian secondary school teachers who participated in the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2013 by means of multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, we found that: (a) CSE can be described by three factors (self-efficacy in basic operational skills, advanced operational and collaborative skills, and in using computers for instructional purposes) which remain invariant across gender; (b) male teachers had higher CSE in basic (d=−1.03) and advanced operational skills (d=−0.49); (c) no significant gender differences for CSE in using computers for instructional purposes existed; (d) teachers’ CSE was differentially related to their participation in professional development courses for females and males. The differentiation into three factors of CSE provides a more detailed view on teachers’ CSE than unidimensional approaches. We discuss our findings in light of gender differences and teachers’ professional development in using information and communication technology.