Simulating the Impact of Digital Technologies on the Education Quality Metrics

Introduction. Digital technologies have become an integral part of the educational process in the modern world. The coronavirus pandemic accelerated their spread, allowed their new features to be tested, their advantages to be assessed and bottlenecks identified. It is thus relevant to develop regulatory measures to timely address the negative effects of global distance education and to take advantage of all its positive aspects. Methods. The study was conducted using regression analysis techniques. The monitoring data of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for 2009, 2012 and 2018 were used as a source of information (The PISA 2018 survey is currently the most recent one). These data were used to investigate the impact of the spread of digital technologies on the education quality metrics (reading literacy and numeracy) of students aged 15–16. To assess the spread of digital technologies, the following metrics were applied: the time spent by students on the Internet in an educational institution (2012 and 2018), the number of personal computers per student (2009 and 2012) and the share of students having a PC or a laptop at home (2009, 2012 and 2018). The share of spending per student in total public expenditure (2009 and 2012) and the share of teachers who have completed professional development courses in the last 3 months (2018) were also used for the analysis. Results and Discussion. The regression models constructed reflected the dual impact of digital technology on the quality of education. On the one hand, the use of PCs and laptops contributed to the higher levels of literacy and numeracy of students; on the other hand, the time spent on the Internet in school and at home during the school week had a negative impact on these indicators. In addition, a significant positive impact of the share of government spending per student in GDP per capita and teacher qualifications on testing results was established. Conclusion. Digital technologies and new devices have radically changed modern education. They help students develop technological skills, use their learning gains and share their knowledge. However, it is important to take into account that the quality of education may deteriorate due to the impact of digital technologies and to take timely governmental regulatory measures to prevent this.