A ciascuna disciplina il suo risultato. Classi digitali vs. classi a didattica tradizionale: un confronto negli esiti degli apprendimenti

In recent years, Italy has embarked on a transformative journey to embrace technology in education. This article focuses on the adoption of digital technologies, with particular attention to the digital classroom initiative. The digital classroom experience aims to utilize digital tools and resources to facilitate an engaging and innovative mode of learning for students. This contribution examines the effects of student participation in digital classrooms on learning outcomes, comparing them with traditional classrooms within the three-year curriculum of a lower secondary school. Through an evaluative approach based on representative data from a sample of over 200 students, we analyze the impact of digital classrooms on INVALSI test results. The analyses encompass descriptive models and linear regression models applied to the results of tests in Italian, Mathematics, English Reading, and English Listening. The models introduce control variables related to the socio-economic and cultural status of the students’ families of origin, as well as their prior performance in INVALSI tests (grades II and V), for students continuing in the same institution through the primary cycle. The results indicate the need for distinct considerations depending on the discipline under analysis: for Mathematics, belonging to a traditionally taught class seems to yield better results. In the case of Italian, English Reading, and English Listening, the effect is neutral. Socio-economic and cultural status appears to have less influence on English-related disciplines, and the trend, though not statistically significant, demonstrates partially positive effects in digital classroom participation, particularly for students with cognitive vulnerabilities. The outcomes underscore the necessity of discipline-specific differentiation and further assessment of outputs to delve into the specifics of innovative didactics implemented in digital classrooms.