This Open Access book summarizes the key findings from the second cycle of IEA's International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS), conducted in 2018. ICILS seeks to establish how well schools around the globe are responding to the need to provide young people with the necessary digital participatory competencies. Effective use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is an imperative for successful participation in an increasingly digital world.
ICILS 2018 explores international differences in students' computer and information literacy (CIL), namely their ability to use computers to investigate, create, and communicate at home, at school, in the workplace, and in the community. Participating countries also had an option to administer an assessment of students' computational thinking (CT), focused on their ability to recognize aspects of real-world problems appropriate for computational formulation, and to evaluate and develop algorithmic solutions to those problems, so that the solutions could be operationalized with a computer.
The data collected by ICILS 2018 show how digital competencies can be assessed using instruments representing authentic contexts for ICT use, and how students' CIL and CT skills relate to school learning experiences, out-of-school contexts, and student characteristics. Those data also show how learning technologies are used in classrooms around the world. Background questionnaires asked students about their use of ICT, and collected information from teachers, schools, and national education systems about the resourcing and teaching of CIL (and CT) within their countries. The results of ICILS 2018 will enable policymakers and education systems to develop a better understanding of the contexts and outcomes of CIL (and CT) education programs.
About the Author: Julian Fraillon is the Director of the Assessment and Reporting (Mathematics and Science) Research Program at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). Julian is the Study Director of the the IEA International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2018 and was the Study Director of the inaugural ICILS in 2013. He is also been Assessment Coordinator for the IEA International Civics and Citizenship Studies (2009, 2016, and 2022) and directs ACER's work on the Australian National Assessment Program studies of Civics and Citizenship and ICT Literacy. He is a member of the IEA Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) Reading Development Group.
John Ainley is Principal Research Fellow (and former Deputy CEO) at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) where he directed many large-scale assessment studies. He has contributed to the IEA Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) and the IEA Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS), as well as Australian national studies of Civics and Citizenship and ICT Literacy. He is a member of the IEA Publications and Editorial Committee.
Wolfram Schulz is a Principal Research Fellow (formerly Research Director of International Surveys) at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) where he has worked on a large number of national and international large-scale assessment studies. He is International Study Director of the IEA Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) and Assessment Coordinator for the IEA Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS). He is also a member of the IEA Technical Executive Group.
Tim Friedman is a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and works on a range of different large-scale assessments. He has been largely involved with the IEA International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) as the Operations Coordinator and is International Project Coordinator for the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS).
Daniel Duckworth is a Research Fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). As well as working on the IEA Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS), he works on the Australian national studies of ICT Literacy.
