ICT Motivation in Sixth-Grade Students in Pandemic Times—The Influence of Gender and Age

Abstract

Information and communication technology (ICT) is being immersed in people’s daily lives at an increasingly younger age. It has been key for adolescents to pursue distance education, and their use and mastery of technological means and tools with Internet access has increased. In this study, the motivation, specifically in the interest, digital competence, autonomy, and social interaction, generated by ICTs in the daily lives of adolescents during the pandemic caused by COVID-19 was analyzed. In the study, the objective was to study the motivation, use and commitment generated by ICTs in these students in relation to their gender and age after their confinement to the classroom caused by the first wave of incoming students. An experimental method of descriptive and correlative design was used along with a quantitative method to analyze the data. The data were obtained in the year 2020 through a validated questionnaire committed to the ICT scale used by PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment). A total of 924 students from the sixth grade of primary education in the autonomous city of Ceuta (Spain), aged between 10 and 13, participated in the sample. The results reveal that the motivation and commitment to ICT in these age groups were medium in relation to the total mean of results on a Likert-5 scale. Boys scored higher in all the variables analyzed, and both age and gender show correlations, in addition to the factor of prediction. In conclusion, students in the sixth year of primary education, after the confinement period, were medium-high in their use and engagement of ICT. In addition, gender and age affected ICT use and engagement.