U.S. Students' Computer Literacy Performance Drops
美国学生的计算机素养表现下降
U.S. 8th graders’ digital literacy skills declined between 2018 and 2023 on the International Computer and Information Literacy Study, a global assessment of students’ preparedness for the digital world.
根据国际计算机和信息素养研究（ICILS）的评估，2018年至2023年间，美国八年级学生的数字素养技能在全球范围内评估的学生数字世界准备度中有所下降。
U.S. scores were on par with the international average for computer and information literacy, but they were below the international average for computational thinking, according to the National Center for Education Statistics analysis of the study, which included more than 2,300 students from 118 schools in the United States.
根据美国国家教育统计中心对这项研究的分析，美国学生的计算机和信息素养成绩与国际平均水平相当，但在计算思维方面则低于国际平均水平。该研究涵盖了美国118所学校中的2,300多名学生。
The study comes as young people are spending more time online and as the media landscape is becoming more complex. Generative artificial intelligence is making it even harder to tell what’s real and what’s not, and that’s why experts say it’s important for kids to learn how to think critically about all the information they’re being inundated with every day.
这项研究出炉之际，正值年轻人上网时间越来越多，媒体环境也变得愈加复杂。生成性人工智能使得辨别信息真伪变得更加困难，因此专家们强调，孩子们学习如何批判性地思考每天接收到的大量信息非常重要。
The average computer and information literacy score for U.S. students in 2023 was 482—a 37-point decline from 2018, when the average U.S. score was 519, according to the NCES. The international average in 2023 was 476. The assessment defines computer and information literacy as the ability “to use computers to investigate, create, and communicate in order to participate effectively at home, at school, in the workplace, and in society.”
根据美国国家教育统计中心（NCES）的数据，2023年美国学生的计算机和信息素养平均得分是482分，相比2018年的平均分519分下降了37分。2023年的国际平均分是476分。该评估将计算机和信息素养定义为“使用计算机进行调查、创作和沟通的能力，以有效参与家庭、学校、职场和社会生活。”
For computational thinking, the average U.S. score in 2023 was 461, which is also a 37-point decline from the 2018 U.S average of 498, according to NCES. The international average in 2023 was 483. Computational thinking is defined as the ability “to evaluate and develop algorithmic solutions to [real-world] problems so that the solutions could be operationalized with a computer.”
根据美国国家教育统计中心（NCES）的数据，2023年美国学生的计算思维平均得分是461分，相比2018年的平均分498分下降了37分。2023年的国际平均分是483分。计算思维被定义为“评估并开发算法解决方案以解决实际问题的能力，使这些解决方案能够通过计算机实现。”
The highest proficiency level starts at a score of 661 and can go up from there based on the difficulty level of the questions.
最高熟练等级的起始分数为661分，根据题目的难易程度，这一分数还可以更高。
The results are “disappointing,” said NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr in a statement. “The results highlight the need for further inquiry and concentrated efforts to address the computer and informational literacy skills of our students—these skills are as fundamental as the 3 R’s [reading, writing, and arithmetic].”
“这些结果令人失望，”美国国家教育统计中心（NCES）主任佩吉·G·卡尔（Peggy G. Carr）在一份声明中表示。“这些结果凸显了进一步探究和集中努力提升学生计算机与信息素养技能的必要性——这些技能如同读、写和算术一样基础。”
The decline in scores in the assessments didn’t just happen in the United States. Average computer and information literacy scores were also lower in three other education systems: Denmark, Finland, and Germany. Average computational thinking scores also declined in Denmark and Germany.
评估分数的下降不仅仅发生在美国。计算机和信息素养的平均得分在其他三个教育体系中也有所降低：丹麦、芬兰和德国。此外，丹麦和德国的计算思维平均得分也同样下降。
Building digital literacy skills requires explicit teaching, not just tech time
培养数字素养技能需要明确的教学指导，而不仅仅是技术使用时间。
While the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in students and educators using digital tools for teaching and learning, it did not translate to an increase in students’ digital literacy-related skills, according to the report.
报告称，尽管新冠疫情期间学生和教育工作者使用数字工具进行教学和学习的频率增加，但这并未转化为学生数字素养相关技能的提升。
“These are skills that likely require explicit teaching rather than passive exposure to technology in order to develop productively in most students,” the report said.
报告指出，“这些技能的发展大多需要明确的教学，而不仅仅是被动接触技术，才能在大多数学生中得到有效的培养。”
In the United States, there isn’t a national mandate to teach media/digital literacy skills to K-12 students, but more state legislatures are asking state boards of education to adopt or consider adopting media literacy education standards. As of December 2023, at least 18 governors had signed bills concerning K-12 media literacy or digital citizenship education, according to nonprofit advocacy group Media Literacy Now’s policy report.
在美国，并没有全国性的规定要求对K-12学生进行媒体/数字素养技能的教学，但越来越多的州立法机构正在要求州教育委员会采纳或考虑采纳媒体素养教育标准。根据非营利倡导组织“现在媒体素养”（Media Literacy Now）的政策报告，截至2023年12月，至少有18位州长签署了有关K-12阶段媒体素养或数字公民教育的法案。
Daniela DiGiacomo, an associate professor at the University of Kentucky’s School of Information Science, said she’s “not surprised” about the results.
肯塔基大学信息科学学院副教授Daniela DiGiacomo说，她对这一结果“并不感到惊讶”。
“Until we make it a policy priority from a top-down perspective, as well as provide on-the-ground support for teachers, it won’t become ubiquitous or routine that students are getting these experiences,” DiGiacomo said.
“除非我们从自上而下的角度将其作为政策重点，并且为教师提供实地支持，否则学生获得这些体验，不会变得无处不在或司空见惯”迪贾科莫说。
U.S. students lag behind other countries in computational thinking
美国学生在计算思维方面落后于其他国家
The same could be said for computational thinking—one of the pillars of computer science education, according to experts.
专家认为，计算思维同样如此，它是计算机科学教育的支柱之一。
Teachers have a lot of pressure to teach the content that is tested, experts say, and because there’s often no mandate and no resources to teach media literacy and computer science, those topics get pushed aside, even if teachers think they’re important.
专家表示，教师面临着教授测试内容的巨大压力，因此，由于通常没有要求也没有资源来教授媒体素养和计算机科学，即使教师认为这些主题很重要，它们也往往被搁置一旁。
Comparing the United States with countries that have higher average computational thinking scores—such as South Korea, where the average score was 537 in 2023 and 536 in 2018—“it shows the difference between having a clear national mandate,” said Jake Baskin, the executive director of the Computer Science Teachers Association. There’s a “clear need to invest in rolling out computer science education across the K-12 grade span to keep up with our peers in other nations.”
“将美国与那些平均计算思维得分更高的国家相比——例如韩国，2023年的平均得分是537分，而2018年为536分——这显示了拥有明确国家指令的差异”，计算机科学教师协会的执行董事Jake Baskin说道。他指出，“明显需要投资于在全国K-12教育阶段推广计算机科学教育，以跟上其他国同行的步伐。”
More states are requiring students to take a foundational computer science class to graduate, according to Code.org’s annual report. In 2017, one state, Nevada, had enacted a requirement. Now, 10 more states are in the process of implementing new requirements.
根据Code.org的年度报告，越来越多的州要求学生修读基础计算机科学课程才能毕业。2017年时，只有内华达州实施了这一要求。如今，又有10个州正在推进新的实施要求。
“We’ve seen really tremendous growth in the number of schools that are offering computer science and an outstanding surge of teachers that have raised their hand and said, ‘I know this is important for my students and I want to learn with them and figure out how to bring this content into my classroom,’” Baskin said. But we “have a long ways to go.”
“我们已经看到提供计算机科学教育的学校数量有了真正巨大的增长，以及众多教师积极响应，他们表示‘我知道这对我的学生很重要，我希望能够与他们一起学习，并找出如何将这些内容引入我的课堂的方法’”，Baskin说道。但他也指出，“我们还有很长的路要走。”
