Organizers of this symposium are Birgit Eickelmann, Julia Gerick, Wilfried Bos and John Ainley.

The occasion and scope of this symposium is the IEA study ICILS 2013 (International Computer and Information Literacy Study, 2010-2014). This international study investigated the Computer and Information Literacy (CIL) of secondary school students in 21 educational systems, including 12 European countries, for the first time (Fraillon et al., 2014). This symposium has a focus on school and teacher characteristics in the context of teaching and learning with ICT, and taking their importance for the acquisition of students’ computer and information literacy (CIL) into account.

The need for students to develop digital literacy or computer and information literacy has constantly gained in importance (i.e. European Commission, 2006; Voogt, Erstad, Dede & Mishra, 2013). It has led to an emergence of new challenges for schools and school systems (i.e. Eickelmann, 2011). The promotion of students’ skills and their preparation for life through computer-assisted teaching and learning in schools, however, also presents an ambitious task and an extensive challenge for teachers (Voogt & Knezek, 2008).

The contextual framework of ICILS 2013 (Fraillon, Schulz & Ainley, 2013) serves as the theoretical background for the papers within this symposium. This framework provides a model which categorizes relevant factors that are in agreement with the multilevel structure inherent in the process of student CIL acquisition. The framework of the study differentiates between antecedents and processes following the assumption that antecedents influence processes and that processes are closely linked to the outcome, the latter being understood as the level of competence in CIL. It is assumed that both antecedents and processes, e.g. on the school level but also on the individual level, need to be taken into account to explain students’ competencies in dealing with new technologies and digital information. All contributions in this symposium present in-depth analyses based on teaching and learning with ICT using the international ICILS 2013 data with either a national focus embedded in a European context or an explicit European perspective.

In part 2 of this symposium, Lorenz, Kahnert & Endberg compares teachers’ technological pedagogical knowledge in all twelve European countries. Gerick focusses on school characteristics and profiles and relations to students’ computer and information literacy in Europe. Schaumburg et al. analyze on the process level the role of teachers’ instructional practice in a European comparison. Finally Fraillon, international research coordinator of the whole study from ACER (Melbourne, Australia) discusses the contributions from a holistic view and points to perspectives for teaching and learning as well as for further research.

This symposium aims to reveal similarities and differences in a European comparison to create knowledge about computer and information literacy and conditions for its acquisition to support cross-fertilization in research cross-nationally in Europe.

Eickelmann, B. (2011). Supportive and hindering factors to a sustainable implementation of ICT in schools. Journal for Educational Research Online, 3(1), 75–103. European Commission (2006). Recommendation Of The European Parliament And Of The Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning. Brussels: European Commission. European Commission (2014). The International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS). Main findings and implications for education policies in Europe. Brussels: European Commission. Fraillon, J., Ainley, J., Schulz, W., Friedman, T. & Gebhardt, E. (2014). Preparing for life in a digital age. The IEA International Computer and Information Literacy Study international report. Springer. Fraillon, J., Schulz, W. & Ainley, J. (2013). International Computer and Information Literacy Study: Assessment framework. Amsterdam: IEA. Voogt, J., Erstad, O., Dede, C., & Mishra, P. (2013). Challenges to learning and schooling in the digital networked world of the 21st century. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 29(5), 403–413. Voogt, J., & Knezek, G. (Eds.) (2008). International handbook of information technology in primary and secondary education. New York: Springer.