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Schools are places of learning and producing the innovators of tomorrow. But did you know that in most OECD countries, schools lag behind workplaces and homes in the adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) tools?
The good news is that digital devices are becoming more commonplace in schools. In 2012, more than nine out of ten 15-year-old students in Australia and Denmark used computers at school at least on a weekly basis. So did 57% of students, on average, across the 29 OECD countries with available data, an increase by 4 percentage points since 2009.
Yet in the past, greater use of computers at school often did not translate into better learning. There is no positive association, for instance, between the extent to which computers are used at school and students' performance in mathematics, according to OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). And in Japan, Korea, Shanghai-China and Singapore, whose students' topped PISA rankings in 2012, use of computers at school is below the OECD average.
So what are the benefits of learning with digital tools?
ICT tools have the potential to improve education and teaching in several ways. The widespread presence of ICT to perform everyday productive and leisure activities creates a demand for specific skills and knowledge related to their use-and possibly reduces the importance of some...