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Process Post 2 – Free Inquiry Assignment

sainihal23

https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/digital-divide-in-education.html

What I Worked on This Week

This week, I started reading more about how socioeconomic factors affect online learning. My goal was to understand whether digital inequality comes more from students themselves or from the schools they go to. One of the papers I read was “The digital divide in online education: Inequality in digital readiness of students and schools” by van de Werfhorst, Kessenich, and Geven (2022). This study helped me see how the idea of “digital readiness” is actually measured.

What the Paper Said

The authors looked at data from many countries to see how ready students and schools were for digital education before COVID-19. They found that:

  • Students from wealthier families had much better computer skills.
  • Students from poorer families or those with migration backgrounds were less prepared.
  • Girls usually had slightly better digital skills than boys.
  • Surprisingly, schools themselves didn’t differ much, poorer students didn’t always attend schools with worse technology.

In simple terms, the main problem was not the schools’ computers or internet, but the students’ digital skills. This means that even if a school gives out laptops, some students might still struggle if they don’t know how to use technology well.

My Learning Process

After reading the paper, I took notes in my own words so I could really understand the difference between access and skills. I realized that having a device doesn’t mean much if you don’t know how to use it for learning. I also thought about how this connects to real life, during COVID, I remember hearing about students who couldn’t join classes properly because of poor Wi-Fi or not knowing how to upload assignments. That’s when I understood how big this issue really is. I plan to find more recent studies to see if these gaps have changed since the pandemic. I’m also curious about how teacher training and government policies affect digital equality.

Reflection

Reading this paper made me think deeply about fairness in education. I used to believe that giving every student a laptop would solve the problem, but now I see it’s not that simple. Digital skills training is just as important as access. I feel my understanding of “equity in online education” is becoming clearer. In the next step, I’ll explore what solutions or policies are actually working to close this gap.

References

van de Werfhorst, H. G., Kessenich, E., & Geven, S. (2022). The digital divide in online education: Inequality in digital readiness of students and schools. Computers and Education Open, 3, 100100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeo.2022.100100