Digitalization in Swiss schools

Digitalisierung in Schweizer Schulen

DigiPrim ("Digitalization in Swiss schools and its impact on educational trajectories: extent, opportunities and risks") was a research project at the University of Bern from 01.01.2022 to 31.12.2024.

We analyzed the state of digitalization in Swiss primary schools, among children and their parents. In addition, DigiPrim analyzed post-compulsory educational trajectories.

DigiPrim collected countrywide data, published its own analyses and influences educational practice.

News

New publication

Gendered self-perceptions and ICT career choices

A new study, conducted as part of the collaboration between the ICER project DigiPrim and the TREE study, examines how gendered self-perceptions of adolescents in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT) influence their career choices in vocational education and training (VET). The results show that ICT interest among girls increases the likelihood of choosing more ICT-intensive occupations, while a strong ICT self-concept is associated with selection into ICT specialist occupations for boys. The gender gap in ICT interest contributes to occupational segregation but does not explain the continued underrepresentation of women in ICT-specific occupations. The paper received the second prize of the Best Paper Award at the VET Congress 2025.et.

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New publication

Time displacement effects of mobile phone use

In a new study published in the journal “Social Science Research”, our doctoral student Leo Röhlke investigates whether adolescents' mobile phone use comes at the expense of time spent on developmentally beneficial activities such as reading, homework, sport, music or sleeping. This “displacement hypothesis” is frequently discussed in the literature, but until now there has been little robust empirical evidence to support it. The results of the new study clearly indicate that the displacement effects of mobile phones are limited to other electronic media such as television.

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SHP conference

Presentation at the TREE

At the conference “Celebrating 25 Years of Longitudinal Surveys in Switzerland” on June 4 and 5, 2025 in Lausanne, Leo Röhlke presented the results of our collaboration with TREE. Based on the data from the second TREE cohort, we were able to show that adolescents' interest and self-concept with regard to ICT is associated with the choice of certain training occupations. However, the correlations differ strikingly according to gender (link to working paper).

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Final DigiPrim Report

Drivers and Barriers

The fourth and final DigiPrim report examines the most important drivers and barriers of ICT integration in primary schools from a practice-oriented school development perspective. The results show that, in addition to committed teachers, teaching and learning resources also serve as a key driver of ICT integration in primary schools. Moreover, the report highlights five typical combinations of barriers that explain why some Swiss primary schools have not (yet) reached an advanced state of digitalization and presents proposals for targeted measures to support these schools.

To the rapport

Contact

University of Bern
Interfaculty Centre for Educational Research (ICER), Projekt DigiPrim

Fabrikstrasse 8
3012 Bern

Phone: +41 31 684 38 06