Relationships Between Outside-of-School ICT Use and Reading Among American Secondary Students: A Network Perspective

• In Event: The Influence of Digital Tools on Literacy, Learning Engagement, and Student Development

Abstract

This study investigated the interplay between outside-of-school information and communications technology (ICT) usages and reading performance via a network approach. Data were drawn from U.S. portion of PISA 2018. Participants were 3983 (49.9% female) 15-year-old secondary students. The network of ICT use, demographics, and reading performance was estimated. Central nodes and bridge nodes were identified via the R packages qgraph, and networktools. Results showed that the central nodes of the network were practical, downloading, news, and fun. Further, nodes of fun, practical, email, and social networking were identified as bridge nodes connecting ICT usages to reading. Moreover, the network structure was invariant between high- vs low-achieving students. Implications for educational interventions were discussed.

Authors

• Menglin Xu, Boston Medical Center

• Michael Glassman, The Ohio State University