Title: Comparing ICT use in education across countries
Author: Michael Trucano
Source: EduTech
Publisher: # The World Bank Group
Date (published): 04/12/2009
Date (accessed): 10/12/2009
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
At a fundamental level, attempts to answer many of the pressing policy questions we have about the use of ICTs in educational settings around the world -- and the impact of such use -- are complicated by the fact that we still do not have reliable, globally comparable data in this area. As hard as it may be to believe -- especially given the large investments being made in this area and the increasing strategic importance of this topic in many countries -- basic answers to many basic questions about the use of technology in schools around the world remain largely unanswered. Such questions include:

* How many schools are connected to the Internet (and what is the quality of that connection)?
* How many teachers have been trained to use ICTs?
* How many schools have access to sufficient reliable power?
* How many computers are being used for learning purposes in schools?
* In what subjects are computers meant to be used, and to what extent?

This is about to change.

In Montevideo (Uruguay) this week, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) convened representatives from statistical bodies from around the world to review results of a 25-country pilot project exploring just what types of national-level data related to ICT use in education can be reliably collected.