Technology in school, OECD: it is too much, worsens learning – BBC

SPOTLIGHT

Milan , Sept. 15, 2015 – 11:20

     
     
 

The computer at school is not enough, and if it’s too does damage. Given the data in an OECD report on education and skills, based on data from the Pisa 2012, made public Tuesday. Now that the “digital divide” has been filled and 96% of fifteen of the world has access to a computer at home, and 72 percent use it on a PC, a tablet or a laptop in class, it was understood that it would be better that the guys do not they used too. The principle is well designed by a curve – the researchers said -: the guys who use “moderate” of the computer, to do research on the Internet and as a support for homework, get better results than those who do not use it at all. The threshold (which the OECD calculates that “once or twice a week”) learning is much worse.

The investments are not enough

The proof? Countries that have invested more in ICT over the last decade, did not get the best results from tests that measure skills olds in reading, mathematics and science: the case of Australia, Britain and the Nordic countries; while in Spain the results are even worse. And there’s more: the largest investments in technologies are not served to reduce the social gap; that there is still; not quantitative, but qualitative. It is much more important, the researchers said in the huge study, that students achieve solid skills in reading and mathematics.

The Human Factor

“To get to a deep conceptual understanding and a high level of thinking serves an intense relationship teacher-taught,” explains the OECD researchers, underlining the importance of “human engagement” in teaching. The technology, however, often distracting. It is also a matter of preparation: “there are no anchors the pedagogical practices, ie teacher training, to get the most benefit academically from technology.” Add tools of 21st century teaching practices of the 20th it dilutes the effectiveness of what is being taught to children. “If students use the smartphone to copy it is unlikely that this will help them become more” smart. ” Technologies, is the message, they can enhance the work of good teachers, not replace the bad ones.

The amount is not enough

Even for the Internet, do use more during school hours does not necessarily lead to an improvement in capacity utilization by students. “The amount is not enough, they also serve quality and experience,” he summarized the researcher Eric Charbonnier , citing the case of Asian countries such as Korea and Japan, where the time of Internet use in school is very small (respectively 11.3 and 11 minutes a day, compared with an OECD average of 41.9) but the results of fifteen students in tests of understanding of the writings on electronic media are among the best in the organization (second place for Korea and fourth for Japan). As for the Italian boys, they are dedicated surfers, but often miss the route, because it lacks the compass and the school does not help to find it. Our olds spend on average about an hour and a half a day “online” and their reading skills Digital (ability to move critically and effectively between hypertext, find relevant information, relating them) are even a bit ‘above the OECD average (504 points compared to 497 Pisa) and above those reading’ traditional ‘. But in their navigation are sometimes “confused.” Their score in the “digital navigation» is 56 (on a scale from 1 to 100), one of the highest OECD, where the average is 48. but. But it drops to 49 (OECD average 50) when it comes to surfing in a focused way towards the resolution of a specific goal.

Navigate intelligently

“Do not it is just to have the keys of access to the web, that the boys show Italians have, but also the ability to navigate intelligently and profitably, “says Francis Avvisati , OECD economist, co-author the study. “Many kids, not only Italian, says Avvisati” do not have the capacity “to manage his own reading, to make judgments about the relevance of a page, the quality of argument. They click on the one that moves and are not selective in their navigation, do not go directly to the information they seek and then should show critical consumers of information online. “

The task of the school

What is important, according to the OECD experts, is therefore especially help the very young to learn “the relevant use” of the Internet, or to build their path in a hypertext in a “targeted” to get the information they need. This requires not only putting at their disposal the tools and the time to use them, but also “a significant level of preparation of teachers’ time on how to manage this effectively. The study “Students, Computers and Learning” calls into question the school – not only the Italian one – because he can not benefit from the potential offered by technology and provide all students with the skills they need in hyper-connected world of today .

The Italian 15 year olds

In Peninsula 99% olds have at least one computer at home (data 2012, + 2% compared to 2009 against the OECD average 96%) and almost one in three has at least three (12.7%). On average each home boy goes on the internet 93 minutes per day during the week, which is less than the OECD average of 104 minutes and 97 minutes at the weekend (OECD 138). At school, in Italy, PCs are few, only one out of every four students and only 66.8% of students in Italian refers to use them against the 72% OECD average. The minutes spent online in the school are 19 (OECD average 25). But it is not a problem of quantity, but of quality, underlines the OECD. The “Internet-dependent”, ie the guys who are more than 6 hours a day in front of the computer at home, they are 5.7%, again fortunately below the OECD average, which is 7.2% and in some countries approaching 10% (Denmark, the Netherlands and Greece) or exceeds (Sweden 13.2%). It ‘a category – emphasizes the OECD – a high risk of loneliness, as well as truancy.

September 15, 2015 (modified September 15, 2015 | 13:22)

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