[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-585216-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-585216-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","digital-nativesreality-or-myth-evidence-from-ieas-international-computer-and-information-literacy-study-summary-and-implications","DIGITAL NATIVES—REALITY OR MYTH? - Evidence from IEA’s International Computer and Information Literacy Study - Summary and Implications","","Examining whether young people are truly “digital natives,” this brief analyzes International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) data across 2013, 2018, and 2023. Results show that students’ computer and information literacy (CIL) declined despite increased ICT use in schools and explicit curriculum attention to digital literacy competencies. While most students can perform basic computer commands, far fewer can complete core tasks for evaluating digital information. Students also tend to overestimate their ability to judge source trustworthiness, highlighting gaps between curricular expectations and demonstrated skills.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/digital-nativesreality-or-myth-evidence-from-ieas-international-computer-and-information-literacy-study-summary-and-implications/585216/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/digital-nativesreality-or-myth-evidence-from-ieas-international-computer-and-information-literacy-study-summary-and-implications/585216.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Maya Linwood","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-05","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",8,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What does ICILS evidence say about whether young people are “digital natives”?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"ICILS results indicate a mismatch: students’ CIL declined even as ICT use in schools increased, suggesting everyday technology exposure does not automatically build the critical evaluation skills measured by ICILS.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How did students’ abilities change between 2013 and 2023?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Between 2013 and 2023, students’ CIL achievement declined, even though most students could handle basic computer commands. The biggest gap was completing tasks related to evaluating digital information.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Why do the findings matter for education systems today?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Because curriculum expectations for digital evaluation skills are not reflected in student performance, education systems should provide explicit instruction, targeted teaching, and regular assessment to strengthen critical evaluation and help students understand how to improve.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},585216,1792191694,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":55,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":55,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":117,"preview_page_count":4},962084928432,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","Number 29  \nDIGITAL NATIVES—REALITY OR MYTH?  \nEvidence from IEA’s International Computer and Information Literacy Study  \nSUMMARY  \nAre young people truly digital natives, or simply frequent users of technology? International data collected across three cycles of ICILS (2013, 2018, and 2023) show that against a backdrop of explicit representation of digital literacy competencies in curriculums across countries and increasing ICT (information and communications technologies) use by students in schools, students’ CIL (computer and information literacy) has declined. Most students can execute basic functional commands on a computer, yet relatively few can complete fundamental tasks related to evaluating digital information. In contrast to this reality, large majorities of students believe they can judge the trustworthiness of internet-based information at least moderately well. These findings demonstrate that everyday exposure to technology does not automatically build the critical digital literacy skills measured by ICILS. As the use of GenAI (generative artificial intelligence) expands and the scale of online misinformation grows, education systems must do more to develop students’ capacity to critically evaluate the digital information they encounter.  \nIMPLICATIONS  \n▶ Given that students’ use of ICT in schools increased while their CIL achievement declined between 2013 and 2023, the effectiveness of digital literacy education endeavors should be assessed on more than access to ICT resources or frequency of use. Instead, careful attention must be given to evaluating students’ actual CIL learning outcomes.  \n▶ Although students’ capacities to evaluate digital information are extensively embedded in national curricula, these expectations are not reflected in their demonstrated capabilities. A core set of digital evaluation skills must be developed through explicit instruction; mere exposure to digital information sources is insufficient to foster critical evaluation.  \n▶ Many students overestimate their ability to evaluate digital information. Targeted teaching, and regular assessment and reporting of students’ digital skills could help to both strengthen students’ evaluative skills, and support students to develop better understanding of their own capabilities and how to improve them.  \nAuthor  \nJulian Fraillon, IEA  \nINTRODUCTION  \nIn a world where digital information has become the currency of communication, the importance of individuals’ capacity to independently, purposefully, and critically engage with digital information continues to increase (Vuorikari et al. , 2022) . The importance of ICT and digital literacy-related competencies is formalized for example, as the “proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills” in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN, 2017 – SDG 4.4. 1), and in the European Commission’s target that the “share of lowachieving eight-graders in computer and information literacy should be less than 15 percent, by 2030”(European Commission, 2021) . Further, the emergence of GenAI, is rapidly changing the ways in which people access and create digital information, creating greater urgency in the need for people to develop critical digital literacy skills. In ICILS 2023, countries consistently reported placing strong emphasis on the core aspects of CIL, with 10 of 11 listed aspects of CIL each reported to be explicitly stated in curriculum in at least 25 of 34 countries. Students’ capacity to evaluate the reliability of information sources was of particular importance, having been reported to be explicitly emphasized in the curriculums of 30 of 34 countries. The remaining four countries reported that this capacity was implicitly stated in the curriculum (Fraillon, 2025) .  \nGiven the essential value of the capacity to engage with digital information, and the corresponding rise in internet use during the 2000s, one might assume that there would be a correspondi","cbCailzFm5PySSlA","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailzFm5PySSlA","pdf",694052,"English","# Summary\n# Implications\n# Author\n# Introduction\n# Data & Analysis","[{\"question\":\"What does ICILS evidence say about whether young people are “digital natives”?\",\"answer\":\"ICILS results indicate a mismatch: students’ CIL declined even as ICT use in schools increased, suggesting everyday technology exposure does not automatically build the critical evaluation skills measured by ICILS.\"},{\"question\":\"How did students’ abilities change between 2013 and 2023?\",\"answer\":\"Between 2013 and 2023, students’ CIL achievement declined, even though most students could handle basic computer commands. The biggest gap was completing tasks related to evaluating digital information.\"},{\"question\":\"Why do the findings matter for education systems today?\",\"answer\":\"Because curriculum expectations for digital evaluation skills are not reflected in student performance, education systems should provide explicit instruction, targeted teaching, and regular assessment to strengthen critical evaluation and help students understand how to improve.\"}]","DIGITAL NATIVES—REALITY OR MYTH? - Evidence from IEA’s International Computer and Information Literacy Study - Summary and Implications | PDF",1792054075]