OECD recalls that investing heavily in technology is not enough to guarantee academic success

In a recently released report, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says countries need to adopt new ways to better harness the opportunities offered by ICTs.

Entitled Students, Computers and Learning: Making the connection, the report focuses in particular on the links between access to and use of ICT at school and the performance of 15-year-olds on various tests in reading, mathematics, science and digital skills mastery. Data from 31 OECD member countries were analyzed and compared. This report is part of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which aims to assess the education systems of the organization's member countries.

It was widely discussed in the mainstream media when it appeared, which generally accepted and conveyed that ICT does not improve learning.

In fact, according to the results of this study, pupils who use ICT moderately at school have, on the whole, better academic results than those who use them rarely or, conversely, very often. This is what leads the OECD to say that the only access to ICT in education is ne guarantees no improvement in academic results.

The organization also believes that what matters to improve the education system and student learning is not necessarily the massive investment in ICT, but rather the development of so-called basic skills, such as reading and mathematics.

In summary, as cited in a Journal de Québec articleOECD analyst Francesco Avvisati believes that it is not the quantity of ICT that matters, but rather its quality. According to him, for a technology to be effective, it is necessary to start from its educational uses and the intended purposes. It is important not to favor the massive acquisition of equipment.

Simplified data from the study are presented here, by country.