Information and Communication Technology among Italian Students, According to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

This paper reports selected findings from a secondary analysis of data, drawn from the 2009 edition of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted by the OECD. The focus of the analysis is Italian students’ use of information and communication technologies. PISA’s pri-mary goals concern the assessment of fifteen-year-old students’ competency levels in reading, sci-ence, mathematics; these levels are briefly summarised in paragraph 2, which also discusses Italy’s position in the international context. After a review of the role of information and communication technologies in promoting learning (paragraph 3), the paper reports and discusses findings relating to Italian youth’s digital resources and skills, as documented in PISA. More specifically, paragraph 4 deals with access to information and communication technology, i.e., computers and other "digital” devices, in the home and at school. Actual behaviour by students is examined in paragraph 5, as re-gards the use of digital technologies and the purposes for which they are used. Paragraph 6 is de-voted to Italian students’ attitudes towards computers, in terms of self-image and digital compe-tency. Findings are broken down by area, gender, type of educational institution, socio-economic status, and native/immigrant status. Some findings are drawn from school principals’ view of the problems afflicting their schools.