The Role of ICT for Supporting Relationships between Students. Evidence for Spain

At present, the use of ICT (Information Communication Technology) is integrated in everyday teaching. Apart from developing new knowledge, it is convenient to test if computer enhances communication and solidarity among students. The implementation of the Program School 2.0 in Spain in conjunction with PISA survey for 2012 provides a unique opportunity for analyzing this issue. We estimate a bivariate ordered probit model for the frequency of support provided to other students and Mathematics performance. We posit the potential endogeneity of the variable Mathematics performance given that support received from others could have a significant effect over the resulting Mathematics achievement. We highlight two main results. First, the probability of helping other classmates with Mathematics increases notoriously in participant Communities in School 2.0 for “strong performers” and “top performers”. Second, for repeater and immigrant students (and specifically those with different mother tongue), the probability of providing support “always/almost always” or “often” increases significantly in participant Communities with respect to non-participant Communities for all Mathematics performance levels. ICT provide an incentive for exchanging mathematical problems and discussing different solutions. And what is even more valuable, ICT may foster togetherness and ease the integration of different profiles of students.