Study reveals decline in students' IT literacy and skills

The ICILS 2023 study, presented at a joint press conference by the Education Ministry and the Educational Research Institute, assessed students' abilities to use information and communication technology (ICT) productively.

Conducted under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), the study evaluated students from 34 countries and one region, measuring computer and information literacy as well as computer thinking skills.

Slovenia's results in computer and information literacy were above the international average, but only marginally so, commented Slovenia's national ICILS coordinator Eva Mirazchiyski Klemenčič of the Educational Research Institute. South Korean, Czech, Danish, and Taiwanese students scored highest, while Oman, Kosovo, and Azerbaijan ranked at the bottom.

The average score for Slovenian eighth-graders in computer and information literacy has dropped by 27 points since the 2013 study. Similar declines were recorded in five more countries - Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, and Slovakia - of the seven that participated in both the 2013 and 2023 studies. South Korean students' scores remained level.

The study showed significant gaps among students, but virtually no differences among schools, which Mirazchiyski Klemenčič sees as a positive thing. Students from well-off families did better, as did students without immigrant background.

Similar to the majority of the countries included in the study, girls in Slovenia did better than boys, the study shows.

The study found that Slovenian schools are rather well equipped, but most students acquired the knowledge outside of school. And even though they are quite confident about their skill level, they do not see themselves in ICT professions.

Researchers also measured computer thinking skills, a first for Slovenia. Here, Slovenian students scored 448.2 points, below the average of 483.1 points across participating countries. Eighth-graders in Taiwan, South Korea, and the Czech Republic scored highest. Malta, Croatia, and jointly ranked Serbia and Uruguay in last place followed Slovenia in the rankings.

"The results clearly indicate that we cannot simply leave digital skills development to families and students alone," noted Mirazchiyski Klemenčič.

"Students live and will continue to live in a digital environment. The question is whether we leave them to navigate it alone or educate them to use ICT more for constructive purposes rather than just entertainment," she added.

Education Minister Vinko Logaj also commented on the findings. He noted that the decline in digital literacy over the past decade contradicts common perceptions of a generation raised in a digital world.

Efforts to develop students' digital competencies and teachers' digital literacy have so far been promoted through various projects. The minister said that curriculum revisions for primary and secondary schools were currently under way to embed digital skills across all subjects.

Also updated will be didactic guidelines and curricula for computer science and ICT, which have not been revised in over twenty years.

The Educational Research Institute carried out most of the study in Slovenia between 3 May and 22 June last year, collecting data from 3,318 eighth-graders across 169 primary schools.