Abstract:

The teaching-learning goals of the "National Curriculum", the main document of the general education level in Georgia, are to develop the skills of using information and communication technologies along with other cross cultural skills and values, which means the appropriate level (determined according to age, level, class of students) of the network search, information dissemination, finding and using electronic resources in the educational process[1].
The best way to use information and communication technologies among students is “complex assignment”. It allows the student to choose the teaching-learning style they find the most comfortable from the ones offered, to overcome the learning outcomes. How equal the digital competences of school age peers (age, level, class) are among students in schools in the city/center, peripheral areas and mountainous regions, what motivates them and what role the school and teacher play in the development of these skills -the present work deals with the research of the mentioned issues. The paper offers a description of the digital skills of the basic level school students, grades VII-IX while fulfilling the same task under different conditions, what challenges the students of the city and regions (girls and boys) face, what types of activities/tasks contribute to the development of school students’ digital skills, and what influences their motivation.

The target group for the research:
The target group for the research was selected as follows: 124 students of 3 public schools and 3 private schools in the city, 124 students of 8 public schools in peripheral areas, and 124 students of 11 schools in mountainous regions (equal number of girls and boys).The difference in the number of schools was caused by the number of students in the classes (i.e. the schools in the mountainous regions generally have a small contingent and the number of students in the class is significantly smaller compared to the city schools). After conducting the research, the final number of students involved in the research was 315.

The research methods:
The research methods used are questionnaire and experiment (for students), focus group - for teachers, observation and task analysis.

Hypothesis:
If the educational process and the types of tasks contribute to the correct and purposeful use of computer programs by students, Then the active use of digital technologies in the teaching-learning process will lead to students being equally equipted by the digital skills despite of georgraphical location (and vice versa).

Scientific novelty of the research:
Although several studies have been conducted to investigate the importance of mobile applications, the difficulties of using them in the teaching/learning process, the variety of computer programs used at the school level, and other similar issues. However, to date, there is little research on how equally school students in the city, peripheral areas and mountainous regions possess these skills. Also, the skills of girls and boys in this context are less researched.
According to the research, it was reasoned that if the educational process and the types of tasks support the correct and purposeful use of computer programs by students, the active use of digital technologies in the teaching-learning process will lead to equipping students equally with digital skills, regardless of the school’s geographical location (and vice versa).

Keywords:

CCS concepts, digital skills, computer programs, mobile applications, curriculum, digital education, complex assignment.