Ireland fairs just above average in a new OECD PISA (Programme for International Assessment) survey which tests how 15-year olds from 16 OECD countries use computers and the Internet to learn.
The study, entitled ‘Students On Line: Digital Technologies and Performance’ showed that Ireland scored 509 on the scale of Digital Reading Performance, for which the OECD average is 499.
In total 92.3 percent of the students within the countries studied has computer access at home. 93.2 percent of students in Ireland use computers at home whereas 62.9 percent use a computer at school in Ireland.
Korea topped the survey followed by New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Hong-Kong China and Iceland.
The OECD’s Programme for International Assessment (PISA) evaluates the quality, equity and efficiency of school systems in some 70 countries that, together, make up nine-tenths of the world economy.
The most recent PISA study, which focused on reading and also assessed mathematics and science performance, was released in December 2010. In the most recent issue of the PAI Journal, Ciaran Sugrue analyses the ‘Draft National Plan to Improve Literacy and Numeracy in Schools’ in the context of the latest PISA results. To view this article please click here.