ICT and education: Italy in the European landscape

The use of ICT in teaching is not optimal in Italy, which lags somewhat behind other European countries: a report from European Schoolnet

Mallon-_Monseur-Quittre-Wastiau_The_contribution_of_ICT_to_education_-_FGA_WP32.pdf

This report is authored by a team of European Schoolnet experts and researchers, coordinated  by Patricia Wastiau. Its aim is comparing and cross-analysing empirical findings on the use of ICT in educational practices in a number of countries to position Italy in the European landscape. The data are those coming from international surveys, mostly PISA and SITES, both in their 2006 edition.

The first part focuses on ICT and the information that can be derived from the PISA 2006 survey. Are 15-year-old Italians familiarised with ICT? Do they often use a computer at home, and at school? What kinds of use do they make of it? How do they perceive their capacity to perform various ICT-related tasks? Is there a link between frequency and types of ICT use and performances in the test? A  comprehensive answer to these questions is that the use of ICT in teaching and learning practices is still not optimal in Italy. Nor is this entirely due to the lack of equipment at school in some regions.

The second part integrates the PISA results with those from PISA 2006 and suggests that in Italy ICT use is not changing teachers’ overall pedagogic practice nor students’ overall practices, and even sometimes reinforces the traditional methods.

This paper is part of the researches commissioned by the Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli for its Rapporto sulla scuola in Italia 2010.