Almost half (48%) of 15-year-old Portuguese students use Artificial Intelligence tools to study and do homework, a figure slightly above the OECD average of 46%. This is one of the findings of the new edition of PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), the largest international education study, which involved more than 760,000 students from 91 countries, including nearly seven thousand Portuguese students.
The study also reveals that 31% of Portuguese students say that classmates frequently get distracted by digital devices in Science classes, above the OECD average of 28%. Students spend on average one hour and 24 minutes per day at school using devices for learning, below the OECD average of one hour and 42 minutes, but more time in front of screens for leisure (1.2 hours versus the OECD's 1.1 hours).
Researchers warn that students who get distracted by screens have worse academic performance and that AI should be used in a targeted way for feedback and personalized practice, complementing active learning. However, 57% of Portuguese students say they evaluate the quality of AI-produced information, more than the OECD average of 53%.
The study shows that Portuguese students had the worst performance in the last 20 years in PISA, with Reading registering the worst result since Portugal began participating in 2000. Secretary of State Alexandre Homem Cristo ruled out, for now, extending the ban on mobile phone use in schools to secondary education, but said he was open to reviewing the framework if evidence justifies it.