Impacts of ICT-Related Factors on Students' Digital Reading Literacy: Evidence from High-Performing Asian Countries and Regions

Digital reading literacy has emerged as a pivotal factor contributing significantly to teenagers' academic and future career successes. Few studies have focused on how ICT-related factors shape students' digital reading literacy in non-English-speaking contexts. This study explored the impacts of ICT-related home and school factors on digital reading literacy, analyzing data from four non-English-speaking Asian countries and regions participating in PISA 2018, including Hong Kong, South Korea, Macau, and Taiwan. In addition, we compared the identified influential factors between these four countries and regions, as well as with previous studies, for a comprehensive understanding of ICT-related factors of digital reading. The Random Forest model was used to rank the importance of ICT-related factors and identify the top 10 most influential factors of digital reading. The most important ICT-related home factors were parents' attitudes and participation in digital reading activities. Among ICT-related school factors, the time of ICT use in school, the subject that classes use ICT, and the number of computers were found to be negatively associated with students' digital reading literacy. However, the capacity of schools to use digital devices to improve learning and teaching was positively associated with students' digital reading literacy.