Els Kuiper

The Web as an Information Resource in K–12 Education: Strategies for Supporting Students in Searching and Processing Information:

The use of the Web in K–12 education has increased substantially in recent years. The Web, however, does not support the learning processes of students as a matter of course. In this review, the authors analyze what research says about the demands that the use of the Web as an information resource in education makes on the support and supervision of students’ learning processes. They discuss empirical research focusing on the limitations of the actual search strategies of children, as well as theoretical literature that analyzes specific characteristics of the Web and their implications for the organization of education. The authors conclude that students need support in searching on the Web as well as in developing “information literacy.” Future research should focus on how the use of the Web in education can contribute to the development of deep and meaningful knowledge.

Accuracy and bias of ICT self-efficacy: An empirical study into students’ over- and underestimation of their ICT competences

Most studies on the assessment of ICT competences use measures of ICT self-efficacy. These studies are often accused that they suffer from self-reported bias, i.e. students can over- and/or underestimate their ICT competences. As such, taking bias and accuracy of ICT self-efficacy into account, would improve the validity of these studies and the predictive power of the ICT self-efficacy measures used. Consequently, the general aim of this study is twofold. First, to explore the degree to which primary school students are under- and/or overestimating their ability in digital information processing and communication. Second, to identify student characteristics that are possibly related to the accuracy of ICT self-efficacy. Information on accuracy and bias of ICT self-efficacy was gathered by comparing students results on an ICT self-efficacy scale and a performance based ICT competence test. Both instruments were administered to 378 sixth grade students from 58 primary schools in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium). Information on the explanatory student characteristics was gathered through a questionnaire that was administered to the same students. The results indicate that primary school students make relatively accurate and positively biased judgments about their ability in digital information processing and communication. Further, the results indicate that primary school students actual ICT competences and previous ICT experience are related to their accuracy of ICT self-efficacy. As this study is one of the first to investigate primary school students accuracy and bias of ICT self-efficacy and to identify potential explanatory variables, it provides new insights into the nature of ICT self-efficacy. Differences in students accuracy and bias of ICT self-efficacy are investigated.Student characteristics related to accuracy of ICT self-efficacy are investigated.Judgments about ICT competences are relatively accurate and positively biased.Previous ICT experience is negatively correlated with accuracy of ICT self-efficacy.Accuracy of ICT self-efficacy is mainly explained by actual ICT competence.