The safe and competent use of digital media has become even more important in recent years. In order for the upcoming generation to benefit from these dynamic changes, the school education sector has a responsibility to provide the necessary pedagogical and technological framework conditions. The central challenge is to teach pupils how to use digital media in a competent, reflective, productive, and communicative way. The international comparative study "International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2023" (ICILS 2023) shows the state of these skills and competences. For the third time – after ICILS 2013 and ICILS 2018 – the digital skills of eighth-graders and the framework conditions of the skills competition in Germany are being analysed in an international comparison and information on teaching and learning with digital media in schools is being collected. The national research centre for the 2023 study is located at Paderborn University, as it was for ICILS 2018. The study is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with four million euros and co-financed by the European Commission. In Germany, 230 randomly and representatively selected lower secondary schools from all 16 federal states took part in the study. In each of these schools, an eighth-grade class and, as a rule, 15 teachers, the respective school management, and the person responsible for IT coordination at the school were randomly surveyed according to an international sampling plan.

New findings on computer and information-related skills

The study focuses on pupils' digital skills, which are recorded in two test domains. Prof. Dr. Birgit Eickelmann, Scientific Director of ICILS 2023 for Germany and Head of the School Pedagogy Group at the Institute of Educational Science at Paderborn University, explains: "Thanks to the latest results, the computer and information-related skills of pupils in Germany can be presented for the first time as a trend over ten years. The results show that Germany, with 502 points in the field of computer and information-related skills, is above the international average (476 points) in a comparatively weak field of countries; however, the average skills have declined significantly compared to ICILS 2013 and ICILS 2018. Eickelmann explains: "When we look at the distribution across the five competence levels recorded, we see that more than 40 per cent of eighth-graders now only achieve the lower two competence levels. At non-grammar school types, this proportion is even higher at more than 55 per cent. Overall, it is primarily the non-grammar school types that need to be supported much more in the coming years. In addition to measures at system and school level, more targeted, continuous and up-to-date teacher training and the strengthening of school leaders as 'digital learning leaders' play a particularly important role."

Study shows need for development and action in Germany

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