View on development of information competencies and computer literacy of Slovak secondary school graduates

The degree of including information, knowledge and technologies into all human activities is very high. New skills for new society are not only classical literacy (reading, writing, counting), but also information competencies and digital/computer literacy. According to ACM Europe Working Group in our “digital world”, information is available anywhere at any time, computer power is ubiquitous, communication of vast amounts of information is almost instantaneous, and storage capacities seem infinite. But these powerful possibilities only benefit those who have learned to use them effectively. That is why all students need to be educated in both: fluency with computer tools and the Internet and the science behind information technology, to use ICT and its devices intelligently. Educational system should be able to react appropriately to the development and trends, however, the required state and the reality do not meet. This article summarizes the results of the research of information and digital competence/literacy of secondary school graduates who entered the first grade at the Faculty of Economics, Technical University in Košice. Our research problems are as follows: What are the information competencies and students' knowledge gained during their school informatics education? How can they use this knowledge and their competencies?