Exploring the Digital Divide in Open Education: A Comparative Analysis of Undergraduate Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v25i1.7236Keywords:
open learning, distance learning, digital divide, digital competence, open education, TurkeyAbstract
In the 21st century, the widespread use of information technologies has made access to technology, technology usage skills, and the quality of technology services increasingly important. However, the digital divide—defined as a lack of access to telecommunications—remains a significant issue that separates developed countries from developing countries. This study aimed to explore the digital divide in open education by comparing the digital divide levels of first term and last term or graduate students enrolled in the Anadolu University Open Education System. The study also examined how factors such as gender, age, income level, and employment status impact digital competency by comparing the digital divide scores of participants in these groups. The findings of the study suggest that first-term students have higher levels of digital competency than final-term students. The study also found that males, people aged 30–40, those with high incomes, and those working in the private sector had the highest digital competency scores. These results can be used to inform the development and implementation of open and distance learning programs to reduce the digital divide, as well as to identify specific groups that may be at a disadvantage in terms of digital competency.
References
Akkoyunlu, B., Yilmaz Soylu, M., & Çağlar, M. (2010). A study on developing “digital empowerment scale” for university students. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 39, 10–19. http://www.efdergi.hacettepe.edu.tr/yonetim/icerik/makaleler/455-published.pdf
Ally, M., & Samaka, M. (2013). Open education resources and mobile technology to narrow the learning divide. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 14(2), 14–27. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v14i2.1530
Antonio, A., & Tuffley, D. (2014). The gender digital divide in developing countries. Future Internet, 6(4), 673–687. https://doi.org/10.3390/fi6040673
Arslan, S. (2022). Digital divide vs. inclusive thinking: The educational television in Turkey. In J. K. H. Pun, S. Curle, & D. Yuksel (Eds.), The use of technology in English medium education (pp. 91–108). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99622-2_7
Bagchi, K. (2005). Factors contributing to global digital divide: Some empirical results. Journal of Global Information Technology Management, 8(3), 47–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/1097198X.2005.10856402
Baker, P. M. A., & Panagopoulos, C. (2004). Political implications of digital (e-) government. In A. Pavlichev & G. D. Garson (Eds.), Digital government: Principles and best practices (pp. 97–115). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59140-122-3.ch007
Blank, G., & Groselj, D. (2014). Dimensions of Internet use: Amount, variety, and types. Information, Communication & Society, 17(4), 417–435. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2014.889189
Block, J. (2010). Distance education and the digital divide: An Academic Perspective. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 13(1). https://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring131/block131.html
Bozkurt, A., & Sharma, R. C. (2020). Emergency remote teaching in a time of global crisis due to Coronavirus pandemic. Asian Journal of Distance Education, 15(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3778083
Chaklader, S., Alam, J., Islam, M., & Sabbir, A. S. (2013). Bridging digital divide:‘Village wireless LAN’, a low cost network infrastructure solution for digital communication, information dissemination and education in rural Bangladesh. In 2013 2nd International Conference on Advances in Electrical Engineering (ICAEE) (pp. 277–281). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICAEE.2013.6750347
Cruz-Jesus, F., Vicente, M. R., Bação, F., & Oliveira, T. (2016). The education-related digital divide: An analysis for the EU-28. Computers in Human Behavior, 56, 72–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CHB.2015.11.027
Dasgupta, S., Lall, S., & Wheeler, D. (2001). Policy reform, economic growth, and the digital divide: An econometric analysis (Policy Research Working Paper No. 2567). World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19692
Dewey, J. (1903). Democracy in education. The elementary school teacher, 4(4), 193–204.
Dimaggio, P., Hargittai, E., Celeste, C., & Shafer, S. (2004). Digital inequality: From unequal access to differential use. In D. B. Grusky & S. Szelényi (Eds.), The ınequality reader: Contemporary and foundational readings in race, class and gender (pp. 355-400). Westview Press. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84902901376&partnerID=8YFLogxK
Fırat, M. & Güney, Y. (2020). Açıköğretim’in toplumda dijital dönüşüm işlevi [Digital Transformation in Society through Open Education]. Açıköğretim Uygulamaları ve Araştırmaları Dergisi , 6(1) , 53-62. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/auad/issue/55639/761303
Gencer, T.E. ve Aktan, M.C. (2021). Dijitalleşen çağda ve toplumda değişen ihtiyaçlar ve sorunlar: Esosyal hizmet (sosyal hizmet 2.0) gereksinimi [Changing Needs and Problems in the Digitalized Era and the Digital Society: The Need for e-Social Work (Social Work 2.0]. Toplum ve Sosyal Hizmet, 32(3), 1143-1175. https://doi.org/10.33417/tsh.875908
Giebel, M. (2013). Digital divide, knowledge and innovations. Journal of Information, Information Technology, and Organizations, 8, 1–24. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2091123
Gil-Garcia, J.R., Helbig, N. C., & Ferro, E. (2006). Is it only about Internet Access? An empirical test of a multidimensional digital divide. In M.A. Wimmer, H.J. Scholl, Å. Grönlund, K.V. Andersen (Eds.) Electronic Government. EGOV 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (vol 4084). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/11823100_13
Hawkins, B. L., & Oblinge, D. G. (2006). The myth about the digital divide. EDUCAUSE Review, 41(4) ,12–13. https://www.learntechlib.org/p/99159/
Helbig, N., Gil-García, J. R., & Ferro, E. (2009). Understanding the complexity of electronic government: Implications from the digital divide literature. Government Information Quarterly, 26(1), 89-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2008.05.004
Helsper, E. J. (2010). Gendered Internet use across generations and life stages. Communication Research, 37(3), 352–374. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650209356439
Hynes, M. (2021). The Social, cultural and environmental costs of hyper-connectivity: Sleeping through the revolution. Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83909-976-220211007
Ilomäki, L., Kantosalo, A., & Lakkala, M. (2011). What is digital competence? European Schoolnet. https://helda.helsinki.fi/server/api/core/bitstreams/088eb0f0-ec4a-4a73-8013-4f31538c31a2/content
Journell, W. (2007). The inequities of the digital divide: is e-learning a solution? E-Learning and Digital Media, 4(2), 138-149. https://doi.org/10.2304/elea.2007.4.2.138
Lane, A. (2009). The impact of openness on bridging educational digital divides. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 10(5). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v10i5.637
Lembani, R., Gunter, A., Breines, M., & Dalu, M. T. B. (2020). The same course, different access: The digital divide between urban and rural distance education students in South Africa. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 44(1), 70–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2019.1694876
Liebenberg, H., Chetty, Y., & Prinsloo, P. (2020). Student access to and skills in using technology in an open and distance learning context. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 13(4), 250–268. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v13i4.1303
Madhubhashini, G. T. (2022). Digital divide: Challenges faced by the university students in the context of open and distance learning (ODL) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Journal of Development Communication, 33(1), 16–23. http://jdc.journals.unisel.edu.my/index.php/jdc/article/view/222
Mathrani, A., Sarvesh, T. & Umer, R. (2022) Digital divide framework: Online learning in developing countries during the COVID-19 lockdown. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 20(5), 625-640, DOI: 10.1080/14767724.2021.1981253
National Telecommunications and Information Administration. (1999). Falling through the net: Defining the digital divide. U.S. Department of Commerce. https://www.ntia.gov/report/1999/falling-through-net-defining-digital-divide
Niehaves, B., & Plattfaut, R. (2014). Internet adoption by the elderly: Employing IS technology acceptance theories for understanding the age-related digital divide. European Journal of Information Systems, 23(6), 708–726. https://doi.org/10.1057/ejis.2013.19
Norris, P. (2001). Digital divide: Civic Engagement, Information Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide. Cambridge university press. DOI:10.1108/146366903322008287
OECD. (2001). Understanding the digital divide. OECD Digital Economy Papers No. 49. OECD. https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/understanding-the-digital-divide_236405667766#page1
OECD. (2020). Digital transformation in the age of COVID-19: Building resilience and bridging divides, digital economy outlook 2020 supplement. OECD. www.oecd.org/digital/digital-economy-outlook-covid.pdf
Öktem, M. K., Tunçer, M., Akpinar, İ. E., & Karpat, B. (2021). The e-squatter: An outlook on the dıgıtal dıvıde. Akademik Düşünce Dergisi, 2021(4), 3-29. https://doi.org/10.53507/akademikdusunce.994096
Richmond, K., & Triplett, R. E. (2017). ICT and income inequality: A cross-national perspective. International Review of Applied Economics, 32(2), 195–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/02692171.2017.1338677
Rodríguez, F., & Wilson, E. J., III. (2000). Are poor countries losing the information revolution? World Bank. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/600361468762019045/266510WP0Scode1tries0losing0Infodev.doc
Samancioglu, N., Nuere, S., de Miguel Álvarez, L., & Gómez, E. M. R. (2022). A step further in digital divide: Information and strategic skills of the academy. In L. Daniela (Ed.), Inclusive digital education (pp. 199–211). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14775-3_13
Scheerder, A., van Deursen A., & van Dijk, J. (2017). Determinants of Internet skills, uses and outcomes. A systematic review of the second- and third-level digital divide. Telematics and Informatics, 34(8), 1607–1624. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2017.07.007
Sims, J., Vidgen, R., & Powell, P. (2008) E-learning and the digital divide: Perpetuating cultural and socio-economic elitism in higher education. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 22(1), Article 23. https://doi.org/10.17705/1CAIS.02223
United Nations. (2012). E-government survey 2012. E-government for the people. https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/reports/un-e-government-survey-2012
van Dijk, J., & Hacker, K. (2003) The digital divide as a complex and dynamic phenomenon. The Information Society, 19(4), 315–326. https://doi.org/10.1080/01972240309487
van Dijk, J. A. G. M. (2006). Digital divide research, achievements and shortcomings. Poetics, 34(4–5), 221–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2006.05.004
van Dijk, J. A. G. M. (2012). The evolution of the digital divide - The digital divide turns to ınequality of skills and usage. In J. Bus, M. Crompton, M. Hildebrandt, & G. Metakides (Eds.), Digital Enlightenment Yearbook 2012 (pp. 57-78). IOS.
Victor, S. (2010). Instructional design and the digital divide: Some ethical considerations. In J. Herrington & C. Montgomerie (Eds.), Proceedings of ED-MEDIA 2010, World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications (pp. 4072–4076). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/35234/
Volungevičienė, A., Teresevičienė, M., & Ehlers, U. D. (2020). When is open and online learning relevant for curriculum change in higher education? Digital and network society perspective. Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 18(1), 88-101. https://doi.org/10.34190/EJEL.20.18.1.007
Wang, J., & Huang, Y. (2022). Analysis of the current situation and strategies of applying Ci projects to bridge the digital divide among the elderly in the new media context. In Y. T. Zheng (Ed.), 2022 5th International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences & Humanities (SOSHU 2022) (pp. 24–28). https://webofproceedings.org/proceedings_series/ESSP/SOSHU%202022/WHCCP2205007.pdf
World Bank Group. (2016). World development report 2016: Digital dividends. World Bank Publications. https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2016
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. The copyright of all content published in IRRODL is retained by the authors.
This copyright agreement and use license ensures, among other things, that an article will be as widely distributed as possible and that the article can be included in any scientific and/or scholarly archive.
You are free to
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms below:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.