This article aims to summarize the main findings from the literature and provide two complementary explanations.
The first focuses on the indirect effects of ICT on standard explanatory factors. In this case, student performance is primarily explained by individual characteristics, the educational environment, and teacher attributes. ICT can influence these determinants and, consequently, educational outcomes. Thus, observed differences in student performance are more related to the differentiated impact of ICT on standard explanatory factors.
Proponents of the second thesis argue that ICT highlights the need for changes in the organization of higher education. Although the rate of ICT use and diffusion is rapidly increasing in the European Union, the adoption of complementary organizational designs is very slow and varies from one institution to another. This may explain the observed differences in student performance.