Previous studies have shown that the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in leisure time, and also at school, is related to lower level of school performance (Biagi & Loi, 2013; Gubbels, Swart, & Groen, 2020). Furthermore, data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) studies have indicated that higher levels of ICT use is related to lower scores in reading literacy both internationally and in Finland (OECD, 2011; Saarinen, 2020). Analyses of the PISA data from 2012 have also shown no significant improvements in student achievement in reading, mathematics or science in the countries that had invested heavily in ICT for education (OECD, 2015). These findings have sometimes been interpreted as an indication of the harmful effects of digitalisation of education.

PISA results have shown a declining trend in many countries (OECD, 2023). The most recent decrease in PISA 2022 scores have been explained, at least in Finland, for example, by the excess use of ICT. On the other hand, mixed results have also been reported, and it is difficult to draw clear conclusions about the relationship between the use of digital technologies and learning (Harju, Koskinen, & Pehkonen, 2019). PISA studies have found that students who use computers moderately and for a variety of purposes have the highest levels of literacy (Leino et al. 2019, p. 94; OECD, 2011).​

The use of ICT in schools can be seen as a target of learning but also as a learning tool, which means that ICT can also be used as a mean to support students (Jaakkola, 2022). Based on previous research, there are some indications that the digital technology is used to differentiate teaching (Biagi & Loi 2013; Lintuvuori & Rämä, 2022; OECD 2011, pp. 20-21). This study will test the hypothesis that the use of ICT could be targeted especially to lower performing students.

The research questions investigated in this study are:

1. How the use of ICT at school is related to students’ reading literacy scores in PISA? Do the levels of proficiency in reading literacy explain the relationship between ICT use and reading performance?

2. Does the student’s special educational needs (SEN) status explain the relationship between the ICT use and reading performance scores?

In this study, we will use data from all eight PISA cycles, collected every three years between 2000–2022. We used the plausible values of reading literacy and the questions from ICT questionnaire related to the use of digital technology at school. In the first three cycles, it was simply asked how often the students used computers for schoolwork. We created dichotomously coded variables, comparing students selecting more seldom than once a month, 1–4 times a month, a few times every week, or almost every day to those who reported they never used computers at schools. From 2009 on, the questionnaires had longer scales measuring the different ways of using digital technology in schools, and indices of use of computers and digital devices for schoolwork were created based on them. We analysed the data using Mplus 8.0. Regression models were run for each data set separately, using the categories for computer use (years 2000–2006), the index for computer use (years 2009–2012) and the index for the use of digital devices (years 2015–2022) at school as predictors for reading literacy performance. The stratified two-stage sample design was acknowledged by taking into account school-level clustering and by using house weights that scale the final student weights to sum up to the sample size. First, we ran the analyses for the whole sample, then as multiple group analysis comparing the students at different reading proficiency levels 1–6. For the 2018 data, we performed multiple group analyses also using the information about students support needs according to the Finnish support model (no support, intensified support, special support). For comparing the coefficients between groups, we bootstrapped confidence intervals for the coefficients using 1000 replicates.

The results from the cycles 2009–2018 showed that ICT use was negatively related to the reading literacy scores, and the effects were statistically significant. However, the ICT use explained only from one to three percent of the variation in reading literacy scores. By using the reading literacy proficiency levels, we examined whether these different levels of student performance explained negative effects of ICT use on reading literacy scores. On average, students at the lowest proficiency levels used ICT at school more than students at higher levels. However, when examined by performance level, the majority of the relationships between ICT use and reading scores remained statistically non-significant. Students with SEN used more ICT at school than other students and students’ SEN status explained the relationship between ICT use and reading literacy scores, and the relationship was negative and statistically significant. The results of this study suggest that the previous PISA results of the negative relationship between the use of ICT and student performance have often been interpreted as causal effect and thus, in a wrong way: instead of digitalisation causing the decline of performance, schools might use digital technology as a means of support for lower performing students and students with SEN. This, in turn, may at least partly explain the negative correlations between ICT use and student performance. So far, the analyses have been conducted with PISA 2000-2018 data. For this presentation, the same analyses will also be conducted with the most recent PISA 2022 data. The latest PISA results also reflect the impact of Covid-19. Furthermore, the pandemic might also have increased the use of ICT. It is important to explore the PISA 2022 results and the effect the effect of ICT use on reading performance.

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