The Finnish Line: Students’ ICT Use, Reading Attitudes and Reading Performance in Three Nordic Countries

Abstract

The expanding access and use of digital devices among young students led to ongoing debates about the advantages and disadvantages of such use. Educational organizations in particular were concerned about the impact of ICT use on students’ academic performance. This study sheds light on this complex relationship by investigating the impact of ICT use on a) students reading literacy achievement and b) students; attitudes towards reading in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. Employing Structural Equation Modeling on data from PISA 2018 cycle, this study found that a) the relationship between ICT use and reading performance follow non-linear relationship; b) attitudes towards reading can partially mediate this relationship and c) the three countries showed different results with Finland being distinct from the other two in implementing what seems to be the optimal ICT integration in education system.