The IEA (the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement) decided in the late 1990s to start the Second Information Technology in Education Studies (SITES¹) consisting of a number of projects or modules. The central theme of SITES is to foster our understanding of how Information and Communication Technologies are affecting the way students learn in schools. In particular, SITES 2006 is the third international comparative study that will help to understand the way in which teachers and schools of different educational systems are using ICT in teaching and learning.

SITES2006 has been designed as a survey of schools and teachers to examine the kinds of pedagogical practices adopted in different countries and the use of ICT in them. The study administered questionnaires to thousands of principals, ICT coordinators and mathematics as well as science teachers in a probabilistic sample of, on average, 400 schools per country. The study provides: (i) international comparisons of various indicators, (ii) ICT in education policy recommendations and (iii) in depth analysis of the way in which ICT is impacting teaching and learning processes. The study started in October 2004 and the main data collection process was successfully completed towards the end of 2006. The international report was released in March 2008.

The University of Twente, the Center for Information Technology in Education (CITE) at the University of Hong Kong and the IEA Data Processing and Research Center coordinate the study.

For further information about the study, please contact the International Coordinator, Dr Willem Pelgrum:

Dr. W.J. (Hans) Pelgrum
University of Twente

Faculty of Behavioral Sciences, Department of Curriculum

P.O. Box 217
7500 AE Enschede

The Netherlands
E-mail: w.j.pelgrum@gw.utwente.nl