The overarching aim of the dissertation is to investigate the positions and perspectives of different actors (teachers and students) and practices (assessment instruments) to portray how educational systems can monitor and support the development of students’ information, communication and technology (ICT) literacy. The dissertation is based on three individual papers. The first paper systematically reviews literature on ICT literacy assessments, and provides knowledge about the characteristics of the assessments, which facets of ICT literacy are measured, and the reported quality of the assessments. In the second paper, an instrument to measure teachers’ emphasis on the development of students’ ICT literacy is validated. This construct describes a qualitative aspect of ICT use, and is aligned with the ICT competences students are expected to attain. The third paper validates the Learning in Digital Networks—ICT literacy test, an online, performance-based assessment that measures students’ ability to handle digital information, create content, communicate, and collaboratively solve problems.
ICT literacy frameworks and Assessment emerged as two central themes across the three papers, and form the core of the dissertation. The findings of the dissertation show that the international frameworks can be aligned. Yet, in comparison, the Norwegian ICT literacy framework has some limitations; suggestions for further revisions are provided. Moreover, the importance of high-quality assessments is emphasized in the dissertation. The findings show that an adequate norm for documenting and reporting the quality of ICT literacy tests is lacking.
In conclusion, the dissertation contributes to the research by providing state of the art in the field and validating two instruments that can be used together, and can inform educational systems regarding how they can monitor and support the development of students’ ICT literacy.
The dissertation belongs to the ICT in education research field and has been conducted at the Department of Teacher Education and School Research, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Oslo.