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THEY’VE been dubbed digital natives but nearly half the students tested across Australia are performing below expected standards in computer literacy – and students in regional and rural are doing worse than their big city counterparts.
A national report by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) released today reveals that 45 per cent of grade six students and 48 per cent of year 10 students are performing below expected standards ICT standards.
And in regional areas, less than half the students tested scored a passing grade.
Inner-city grade six kids did the best, with 58 per cent attaining proficiency, compared to students in provincial areas (48 per cent) and those in remote areas (36 per cent). For year 10 students, 54 per cent of metropolitan children scored a passing grade compared to 47 per cent 32 and per cent in provincial and remote areas, respectively.
It was the first time results of ACARA's National Assessment Program ICT Literacy report dropped. It has been taken by more than 10,000 students every three years since 2005.
Bendigo South East College ICT manager and year 7 coordinator Jill Fitzgerald said she was “very surprised” by the results but agreed school curricula needed to be updated to meet the changing times.
“Students are accustomed to being consumers of the technology but the emphasis on creation and productivity at the higher end is the challenge for kids,” she said.
“And that requires a different level of commitment and different ways of thinking.”
Mrs Fitzgerald said BSE had introduced a policy of providing a portable computer to all its students, but said other regional schools were not so fortunate.
“It’s certainly not uniform across regional schools and a lot are struggling get computers into the hands of kids on one-to-one basis,” she said.
The ICT manager said schools should be enabled to focus more on skills such as computer coding and using technology to connect with people outside the school grounds.
“We should also be looking at using technology to link in with professionals... not only in ICT, but also scientists, historians and other professionals working in industry,” she said.
“When students blog, publish and share opinions online it becomes extremely valuable to their thought processes and in developing young people as citizens who can and want to contribute to the community.”