COVID-19 and the digital divide in higher education: A Commonwealth perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 149-158
Author(s):  
Lucy Shackleton ◽  
Rosanna Mann
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Digital Divide

scholarly journals Student access to and skills in using technology in an open and distance learning context

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanlie Liebenberg ◽  
Yuraisha Chetty ◽  
Paul Prinsloo
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
South African ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Access To Technology ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
South African Higher Education

<p>Amidst the different challenges facing higher education, and particularly distance education (DE) and open distance learning (ODL), access to information and communication technology (ICT) and students’ abilities to use ICTs are highly contested issues in the South African higher education landscape. While there are various opinions about the scope and definition of the digital divide, increasing empirical evidence questions the uncritical use of the notion of the digital divide in South African and international higher education discourses.</p><p>In the context of the University of South Africa (Unisa) as a mega ODL institution, students’ access to technology and their functional competence are some of the critical issues to consider as Unisa prepares our graduates for an increasingly digital and networked world.</p><p>This paper discusses a descriptive study that investigated students’ access to technology and their capabilities in using technology, within the broader discourse of the “digital divide.” Results support literature that challenges a simplistic understanding of the notion of the “digital divide” and reveal that the nature of access is varied.</p>

scholarly journals Challenges for implementing open educational resources by teachers in higher education

2018 ◽  
Vol 325 ◽  
pp. 479-490
Author(s):  
Roza Dumbraveanu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Educational Philosophy ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Fair Use ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
European Universities ◽  
Teachers Training

Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are facing a number of problems during the last decades: the need to update the curricula to make it compatible with the similar ones from other national and European universities; demand to update the content and the pedagogical approach due to knowledge, technological and research development. Open Educational Resources (OER) might be a sound strategy for institutions to meet these challenges. At the same time OER are themselves one of the challenges that the teachers are faced with. OER could be implemented in courses in different ways, depending on the types of OER and the educational philosophy adopted by the teachers. The paper describes some challenges for implementing Open Educational Resources by teachers in Higher Education in Moldova: the level of awareness on availability and usage of OER; fair use matters; quality assurance of resources; pedagogical approaches for implementing OER into teaching and learning. The paper also grasps the issues of the digital divide that emerge when investigating these challenges. The judgment is based on the literature analysis and on the author’s teaching experience within courses for initial and continuous professional teachers’ training.

scholarly journals MOOCs and the claim of education for all: A disillusion by empirical data

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Rohs ◽  
Mario Ganz
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Education For All ◽  
Access To Education ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Education Data

MOOCs have shaped the discussion on learning with digital media for the last few years. One claim of MOOCs in the tradition of Open Educational Resources is to expand access to education, mainly in the field of higher education. But do MOOCs meet this claim? The empirical data in this article confirm the suspicion that, despite all the heterogeneity of the participants, MOOCs are mostly used by people with a higher level of education. Data of participants from two MOOCs from Germany, as well as, empirical data from large providers and universities are used. But due to the different forms of MOOCs there is no comprehensive proof possible. With respect to the Knowledge Gap Theory and the Digital Divide, a theoretical framework is provided to explain possible causes of a different usage. The aim of the article is to point out the risks of an increase of inequalities as a consequence of hyping MOOCs and to stimulate a discussion about possible answers to make MOOCs an instrument of education for all.

scholarly journals BYOD strategies in higher education: current knowledge, students’ perspectives, and challenges.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Siani
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Mobile Computing ◽  
Formative Assessment ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Relative Effectiveness ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Vast Number

The use of mobile computing devices has become an integral part of virtually every aspect of our personal and professional life, and education is no exception to this paradigm. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) strategies are becoming increasingly prevalent in teaching, learning and assessment across all age groups, however the evaluation of their relative effectiveness compared to traditional pedagogies is still a controversial matter.Despite the vast number of reports attesting the successful integration of BYOD in higher education, it has been argued that a significant proportion of the studies on the topic are highly heterogeneous from both a theoretical and methodological standpoint.While BYOD strategies have been put in place in an increasing number of educational institutions around the world, the extent of their implementation varies widely between (and in most cases within) different institutions. This observation highlights the critical importance of the development of a solid theoretical and practical framework to underpin the integration of BYOD in higher education.The first part of this paper will aim to critically evaluate the state of the art of the literature on the efficacy of BYOD strategies in higher education, highlighting potential benefits and drawbacks. As a paradigmatic example of caveats arising from the use of BYOD in higher education, it has been argued that teaching and learning strategies based on the use of personal mobile computing devices may pose a significant risk to aggravate digital divide between students who have access to (and operational mastery of) such devices, and students who do not.The critical evaluation of the advantages and pitfalls of BYOD will be used as a theoretical scaffold for the second part of the paper, which will outline the results of a recent case study to give a practical account of the implementation of BYOD in higher education. A survey was carried out within a cohort of level 4 Biology, Biochemistry, and Marine Biology students to investigate the students’ perception of the effectiveness of Nearpod as a formative assessment tool. While the majority (65%) of the participants had never used BYOD in an educational context before enrolling into university, the students’ account of its efficacy appears overwhelmingly positive. Most students expressed a clear preference for electronic formative assessment and commended its superior helpfulness compared to traditional methods. The vast majority of the participants (over 90%) did not perceive BYOD as potentially aggravating digital divide among their peers.Keywords: BYOD; higher education; electronic; interactive; formative assessment; digital divide; personal computing devices; smartphone; tablet; laptop.

scholarly journals PROBLEM FIELD OF INNOVATIVE EDUCATION

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 53-58
Author(s):  
M.V. Pashkov ◽  
◽  
S.D. Savin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Academic Integrity ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
The University ◽  
Role Of Information

A problem of the dual role of information technologies’ introduction to the educational process and its institutionalization in the higher education system are analyzed in the article. From sociological perspective the authors distinguish the factors of the influence of globalization and commercialization on structure of higher education, as well as to its implementation approaches. Such crucial social problems as social inequality and "digital divide", "managerialism" of the university structure with lack of creative selforganization, and the strengthening of ethical concerns of academic integrity standards in education are highlighted.

scholarly journals COVID-19, Distance Learning and the Digital Divide: A Case of Higher Education in the United States and Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-133
Author(s):  
Sunaina Asher
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Midwestern University ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Faculty And Administrators ◽  
K 12

This multiple case study describes the experiences of students, faculty and administrators with distance learning during this pandemic in the context of a Midwestern University in United States and an elitist University in Lahore, Pakistan. The participants were invited to talk about their experiences through a Zoom interview. Data were analyzed thematically and the findings revealed that the issue of the digital divide was as much as problem in higher education as in K-12. Digital divide in Pakistan is far greater due to lack of investment in educational technology. The paper ends with acknowledging the potential limitations and making recommendations for leadership and teaching practice.

scholarly journals Determinants of the Digital Divide among French Higher Education Teachers

2021 ◽  
pp. 10-28
Author(s):  
Mounir Dahmani
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
University Environment ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Digital Divides ◽  
Determining Factors ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time

The widespread use of technology in daily life, and particularly in education in higher education institutions has devoted growing attention to the nature of ICT usages by Higher Education Teachers which has seen as an increasingly important factor for the successful integration of these technologies. This study aims to analyze the determining factors of the various uses of ICT by teachers in the university environment and to characterize their variety and intensity. For this end, we conducted a survey of a sample of 2,079 teachers from public universities in France. Our approach consisted in measuring the intensity of use of ICT in academia in order to appreciate the resulting digital divides between different groups of teachers. Multinomial logistic regression shows that the differences in the use of ICT are linked to the differences in initial digital skills between teachers. Furthermore, the training in ICT, age, gender and social context appear to have a manifold influence on ICT use. Our results clearly confirm the existence of digital  divides, it prompts us to analyze more precisely the role of innovative users and that   of first-time adopters when they appear to be actors involved in the diffusion of ICT within universities.

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