BITKOM study: Pupils want more teaching about digital topics

Picture by Lars Plougmann
25.02.2015 - The current BITKOM study report of "Digital School - Networked Learning" states: Pupils asked most for legal principles and behaviour tips on the Internet.
The vast majority of pupils wish that there is increasing talk in class about the legal aspects of the Internet. Two-thirds (68 percent) want to learn more about topics such as copyright issues and image rights. Every second person (51 percent) would like to hear more from their teachers about proper behaviour in social networks and chatrooms, 45 percent search help about Privacy Policy, personal settings on social networks, and the protection of privacy.
This is the result of a representative survey commissioned by the Digital Association called BITKOM. Only one percent of the students do not want additional digital issues as curriculum. "There is a great interest from students to deal with issues of the digital world in the classroom. The school needs to know about the Internet and in particular to social networks and their interdisciplinary conveyance," says BITKOM Vice President Achim Berg. "This knowledge is only sustainable if even a basic understanding of technology is available. This can only be acquired through compulsory computer science classes. Our young generation is better off learning a programming language such as Java or PHP, instead of Latin."
Study Background
On the occasion of the Education Trade Fair Didacta (24th to 28th February in Hannover, Germany) BITKOM published their results of two representative surveys on the topic of "Digital School - Networked Learning" in a study report. 502 secondary school teachers and 512 students 14 years of age were interviewed.
The main results of the study are:
- 99 percent of PCs, 89 percent of notebooks and 98 percent of Projectors belong to the basic digital equipment of schools. Whiteboards are available in six out of ten schools. In contrast, tablet computers and e-book readers are much less frequently available (18 and 4 percent).
- Only one in three students indicate that whiteboards or PCs are used daily in the classroom (35 and 28 percent respectively). In comparison, the learning material in paper form is distributed in 85 percent of cases every school day.
- One in five students think the IT equipment of their school is inadequate (20 percent). Teachers find the conditions a little better: only 6 percent of the technical requirements are found to be insufficient.
- Many teachers (66 percent) and students (58 percent) use personal equipment for teaching in the school.
- An overwhelming majority of teachers indicate that they value electronic media (73 percent). One in six characterize theirself as a technology fan (17 percent). It is noteworthy that students also expect their teachers to be technologically inclined.
- The vast majority of students wish a compulsory school subject such as computer science in grades 5 through 10 (75 percent). Many teachers (73 percent) are also in favor of the compulsory computer science classes.
Further information and contact
For the full report (german language) and the possibility to download the study click here. In addition you will find a contact for your questions there.
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