Has anyone taken the PIAAC? Is it actually meaningful?
No, but I might. The sample questions hurt. "How much would you pay if you bought both pairs of shoes at right?" "Which employer is looking for night work?" They're the kind of thing you'd see on Idiocracy.
I started it to see what it was like, then didn't have the patience to finish. I wonder how many people they tested did the same. Are there any stakes associated with this test? Are there HR departments making people take it? Wikipedia calls it a survey, implying that you're meant to take it just because. That's a lot of bullshit to plow through just because.
When you do it for realsies it appears they're a lot more stringent.
We are a people that has to get permission to "unlock" our own possessions. I don't think that type of policy would imbue a sense of discovery and experimentation in most folks. It would create an environment of fear and resentment because of the ubiquity and necessity that a working, 24/7-available, gps enable, bluetooth enabled, 3G/4G computer-internet-connected-telephone has become (or so we are sold it). You want people to be more interested? Don't make it a felony to use one.
The testing method aside. U.S. citizens general lack of understanding in technology should surprise no one. So many people in this millennial peer group don't know how to use the internet beyond popular websites, email, and smartphones with a few shortcuts thrown. Since making a deliberate effort to actually understand how a lot of technology works/things get made, I realize how absolutely ignorant we are, but feel really good about it. That's quintessential American. What I think a lot of this peer group does understand is how important the internet is in general, so we have that going for us.
Did you look at the sample questions? Familiarity with email, a first-grade proficiency with a smart phone and the ability to use a web browser ought to be more than enough. I read the results as indicating that most Americans don't have those skills. EDIT: if kb is to be believed, perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe the real test is different from the samples (though -- what's the point?).