EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DIGITAL COMPETENCES, PARTICIPATION IN WEB 2.0 COMMUNITIES, THE USE OF LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND FAMILY BACKGROUND

Since 2003 a biennial national survey has been carried out to gather information (from students, teachers and school leaders) about the use of ICT in Norwegian schools. In 2009, students (in 7th grade, 9th grade and in Upper secondary school, level 2) were given an assessment to measure digital competence in addition to questions about when and how often they use ICT in school. The aim of this paper is to examine what kind of relationship digital competence has with participation in web 2.0 activities, use of Learning Management System, academic performance (grades) and family background. The sample consists of 200 students from Upper secondary school, level 2, Program for Specialization in General Studies. The results show that digital competence is positive related with grades, family background, access to computers when needed and the use of LMS. Further, the participation in Web 2.0 communities is strongly related with how much time students spend by the computers at school, but it is not related with digital competence or with grades.