How proficient are adults in solving problems in digital environments?

How proficient are adults in solving

problems in digital environments?

Findings from the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC)

Ji Eun CHUNGPolicy Analyst Directorate for Education and Skills

• Motivation– Importance of both problem solving and ICT

Problem solving in technology-rich environments

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90Job tasks

Routine tasks

Solving unforesee

n problems

Source: European Working Conditions Survey (2010)

Use of problem solving skills and trends in ICT use

Source: Eurostat, Community Survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Online job search

2013

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70E-government

2008 20132005

Technology use by sectorPercentage of workers reporting frequent usage

Financial services

Education

Public administration and defence

Health

Other services

Wholesale, retail, food and accommodation

Industry

Transport

Construction

Agriculture

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

ICT ICT and machinery Machinery No technology

Source: European Working Conditions Survey (2010)

• Types of tasks:– Working with information from e-mail messages,

websites, and spreadsheets

• Differences with Literacy and Numeracy– France, Italy, Spain did not participate– Not done by many (23%) respondents – Non-participant categories

• No computer experience, fail ICT core, opt out

– Reporting proportions instead of scores– 3 vs. 5 levels of proficiency– Duration of skill development

• PS: New skill developed during last 10-20 years• Lit/Num: 1000s of hours of formal instruction

Problem solving in technology-rich environments

Click

Tasks involved in this item• Click on links on both

the results page and associated web pages;

• Navigate, using the back and forward arrows or the Home icon; and

• Bookmark web pages and view or change those bookmarks.

Level: Harder

Click

X

Level: Easier

Tasks involved in this item• Select a set of files that

meets specified criteria (genre and size).

• Download onto a portable music player.

• Use an automatic summing functionality in this programme.

No Computer Experience

Failed ICT Core

Opted Out of Computer

Below Level 1

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

8

5

10

12

29

28

6

4

6

6

15

30

29

7

Canada2 OECD average

Overall results (16-65 year-olds)- % at different proficiency levels

%

% of High performing adults (Level 2 or 3), by age

16-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-65

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

51

49

38

24

12

51

49

42

28

16

Canada

OECD Aver-age

% of adults with no computer experience, by age

16-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-65

0 5 10 15 20 25

1

2

4

11

22

0

1

2

6

12

Canada

OECD Average

% of high performing adults (Level 2 or 3), by education attainment level

Tertiary

Upper Secondary

Lower than upper Secondary

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

52

31

19

47

32

19

Canada

% of adults with no computer experience, by level of education

Tertiary

Upper Secondary

Lower than upper Secondary

0 5 10 15 20 25

1

7

21

1

4

16

Canada

OECD Average

• Age and literacy proficiency have the strongest relationships to proficiency in problem solving in technology-rich environments.

• Educational attainment and frequent email use are strongly related to proficiency.

• Gender is weakly related to proficiency and immigrant and language background do not have a significant relationship with proficiency in technology-rich environments.

Factors related to high performance in problem solving using digital devises

Age:Young minus Old

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

28

Adjusted-OECD

Adjusted-OECD

% point

Younger adults are more proficient at Levels 2 or 3

Adjustment differences take socio-demographic characteristics, literacy and numeracy proficiency, email use at home and reading/writing/numeracy use at home into account.

Literacy (or Numeracy) (Lv4/5-Lv2)

62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80

69 Adjusted-OECD

% point

Adults with high literacy are more proficient at Levels 2 or 3


Gender (Men-Women)

Email Use (More than once a month use-less than once a month)

Educ Attainment (Tertiary-lower than upper secondary)

0 1020304050607080

7

15

13

OECD Aver...

% point

Other factors related to problem solving skills


Spreadsheet

Word Processor

Internet: Conduct Transactions

Internet: Understand Issues

Email

0 20 40 60 80100

23

45

59

74

80

21

43

57

70

73

Percentage using at least monthly

OECD averageCanada

ICT use in everyday life

%

Spreadsheet

Word Processor

Internet: Conduct Transactions

Internet: Understand Issues

Email

0 20 40 60

42

50

25

56

60

35

44

20

50

57

Percentage using at least monthly

OECD averageCanada

ICT use at work

%

Japan

Australia, Canada, US

OECD Average, Estonia, Ireland, Norway, Poland, UK

Austria, Czech Rep, Denmark, Finland, Flanders, Germany, Netherlands,

Slovak Rep, Sweden

Korea

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

16.3

6.4

4.8

3.3

1.7

Lack of computer skills has affected job

Adequacy of computer skills

%

Problem solving and labour force participation (OECD Average)

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

14

-30

6

-15

Unadjusted differences Adjusted¹ differences % point

Highest minus the lowest level of proficiency

No ICT experience minus the

lowest level of proficiency

1.Adjustment differences take socio-demographic characteristics, literacy and numeracy proficiency, email use at home and reading/writing/numeracy use at home into account.

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

3

-17

Adjusted¹ differences % point


n.s

Problem solving and labour force participation (Canada)

No ICT experience minus the lowest level of proficiency


-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

26%

-18%

51%

n.s-6%

9%

Unadjusted differences Adjusted¹ differences


No ICT experience minus the lowest level of profi-

ciency

Problem solving and ICT use and wages (OECD Average)



Problem solving and ICT use and wages (Canada)



-15%

-10%

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

18%

-10%

21%

n.s n.s

13%

Socio-demographic control Adjusted¹ differences


Highest minus the lowest level of profi-

ciency

No ICT experience minus the lowest level of

proficiency

• Two-thirds of adults use e-mail and the Internet in their everyday lives, at least once a month on average. Almost half of the workforce uses e-mail daily at work and almost half use word-processing programmes at least once a month.

• Despite the widespread use of ICT, some 8% of adults have no experience with computers (the proportions range from less than 3% in the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden to around 15% or larger in Italy, Korea, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Spain).

• To encourage widespread use of such “e-government” services, governments can provide assistance to adults with low proficiency in problem solving in technology-rich environments, and ensure that websites intended for the general public are user-friendly.

Summary

• Adults who are older, have less education, have parents with less education, are immigrants with a foreign-language background, or have poor literacy or numeracy skills are all more likely to perform poorly in problem solving in technology-rich environments.

• These adults are also less likely to have computer experience. These adults are likely to find it increasingly difficult to develop the skills needed to participate fully in technology-rich societies. Governments, business and education providers can all help adults to develop proficiency in solving problems in technology-rich environments.

Summary

• Adults with the highest levels of problem solving proficiency in digital environments have greater chances of having work than those who are proficient at the lowest level.

• Adults who do not have any experience with digital devices have definite disadvantages in terms of employment and wages.

Summary

Find Out More About PIAAC at:

www.oecd.org/site/piaac All international publications

The complete micro-level database and associated documentation

Data tools

[email protected]

Thank you

http://www.oecd.org/

mailto:[email protected]