Kiwi students making most of Internet access

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Kiwi teenagers are much better at reading online than their overseas peers - possibly because they have better access to computers at home.

Research has found that 96 per cent of New Zealand students aged 15 had a computer at home in 2009.

That's up from 79 per cent in 2000 and slightly more than the OECD average of 94 per cent. Ninety-two per cent also had the internet at home compared with the OECD average of 89 per cent.

The findings come from the Programme for International Student Assessment study, which looks at how well countries are preparing their 15-year-old students to meet real-life opportunities and challenges.

Part of the study looked at how children do in reading, both in the traditional print form and on the computer.

Lynne Whitney, a senior research manager at the Ministry of Education, said Kiwi students did well in both kinds of reading but the overall average digital scores were significantly higher than the print ones.

She said digital reading has some distinct and unique features- such as being able to navigate in non-linear ways through pages of text, for example, through websites.

The study found the mean digital score of 537 for New Zealand students was much higher than the OECD average of 499.

Our students were second equal with Australian students. Only South Korean students had a better score - 568.

Ms Whitney said most of the students who took part in the programme had access to a computer and the internet at home. Students with access to the internet at home did better than those without home access.

Students were also asked during the study about how frequently they participated in certain online activities at home. The most popular activity was browsing the internet for fun, with 70 per cent of students doing this at least once a week.

Using email, chatting online and downloading music, films, games or software were also popular.

Sixty-eight per cent did homework on the computer at home more than once a week, while just over half browsed the internet at home for schoolwork frequently.

NZ COMPUTER USE COMPARED TO OECD AVERAGE
Percentage of NZ students with computer access at home compared to the OECD average.

* 2000
NZ: Computer 79%, Internet 62%
OECD: Computer 72%, Internet: 45%

* 2009
NZ: Computer 96%, Internet 92%
OECD: Computer 94%, Internet 89%

USE AT HOME
What students use the computer for at home (percentage):

* 79 - Browsing for fun at least once a week.

* 71 - Using email.

* 68 - Doing homework at home more than once a week.

* 63 - Chatting online.

* 60 - Downloading music, films, games or software.

* 52 - Browsing internet for schoolwork frequently.