A Comparison of the Digital Divide Across Faculties in Synchronous Online Distance Education

Öz

This study aimed to examine first- and second-level digital inequalities experienced by higher education students participating in synchronous distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic and to compare these experiences across different faculties. Additionally, the study explored students’ preferences regarding types of distance education, including asynchronous, synchronous, and blended learning. Conducted with a cross-sectional research design, the study included 766 students from seven faculties and vocational schools. Participants were selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected online via a survey developed based on digital inequality indicators, specifically within the context of remote education during the pandemic. The findings revealed that most students had access to at least one technological device for educational purposes during the second academic year of the pandemic. However, approximately one-third of the participants followed their courses solely through smartphones. Smartphone use was more prevalent among students from low-income backgrounds or rural areas. These students typically had limited access to high-speed internet and restricted online connectivity. Participants reported a moderate level of perceived information and communication technology (ICT) proficiency. Male students perceived themselves as significantly more proficient in ICT use than female students. Similarly, students from the Faculties of Education and Engineering reported significantly higher levels of perceived ICT proficiency compared to students from other faculties. Regarding preferences for distance education, the average scores for asynchronous, synchronous, and blended methods were close to the moderate level. A significant difference was found between male and female students: while female students preferred synchronous education, male students favored asynchronous and blended approaches. No significant differences were observed in distance education preferences across faculties.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Digital divide
• Synchronous online distance education
• Higher education

Eşzamanlı Çevrimiçi Uzaktan Eğitimde Fakülteler Arası Dijital Bölünmelerin Karşılaştırmalı İncelenmesi

Öz

Bu araştırmada, COVID-19 pandemisi sürecinde senkron uzaktan eğitim alan yükseköğretim öğrencilerinin birinci ve ikinci düzey dijital eşitsizliklere maruz kalma durumlarının incelenmesi ve bu deneyimlerin fakültelere göre karşılaştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Ayrıca, katılımcıların tercih ettikleri uzaktan eğitim türleri (asenkron, senkron ve harmanlanmış) de araştırılmıştır. Kesitsel araştırma yöntemine göre yürütülen çalışmaya, yedi farklı fakülte ve meslek yüksekokulundan toplam 766 yükseköğretim öğrencisi katılmıştır. Katılımcılar, kolayda örnekleme yöntemiyle belirlenmiştir. Veriler, dijital eşitsizlik göstergeleri temel alınarak geliştirilen bir anket formu aracılığıyla çevrimiçi toplanmıştır. Bulgular, katılımcıların salgının ikinci eğitim-öğretim yılında öğrenim amacıyla en az bir teknolojik cihaza erişebildiğini; ancak yaklaşık üçte birinin yalnızca akıllı telefonla derslerini takip ettiğini ortaya koymuştur. Düşük gelir grubunda bulunan veya kırsal bölgelerde yaşayan öğrenciler arasında akıllı telefon kullanımının daha yaygın olduğu belirlenmiştir. Bu öğrencilerin genellikle düşük hızlı internet bağlantısına sahip oldukları ve sınırlı çevrim içi erişim imkânlarına sahip oldukları görülmüştür. Katılımcıların algılanan bilgi ve iletişim teknolojileri (BİT) becerilerinin orta düzeyde olduğu saptanmıştır. Erkek öğrenciler, kadın öğrencilere kıyasla anlamlı düzeyde daha yüksek BİT becerisi algısına sahiptir. Benzer şekilde, Eğitim Fakültesi ve Mühendislik Fakültesi öğrencilerinin, diğer fakültelere kıyasla daha yüksek düzeyde algılanan BİT becerisine sahip oldukları bulunmuştur. Uzaktan eğitim tercihlerine ilişkin analizde, asenkron, senkron ve harmanlanmış yöntemleri tercih eden öğrencilerin puan ortalamalarının orta düzeye yakın olduğu görülmüştür. Cinsiyete göre tercihlerde anlamlı bir farklılık saptanmış; kadın öğrenciler senkron eğitimi, erkek öğrenciler ise asenkron ve harmanlanmış eğitimi daha fazla tercih etmiştir. Fakültelere göre uzaktan eğitim tercihlerinde ise anlamlı bir farklılık gözlenmemiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Dijital bölünme
• Senkron çevrimiçi uzaktan eğitim
• yükseköğretim

Kaynakça

1. Aissaoui, N. (2022). The digital divide: a literature review and some directions for future research in light of COVID-19. Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, Vol. 71 No. 8/9, pp. 686-708. https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-06-2020-0075
2. Atske, S., & Perrin, A. (2021). Home broadband adoption, computer ownership vary by race, ethnicity in the U.S. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/07/16/home-broadband-adoption-computer-ownership-vary-by-race-ethnicity-in-the-u-s/
3. DiMaggio, P., & Hargittai, E. (2001). From the ‘digital divide’ to ‘digital inequality’: Studying Internet use as penetration increases. Princeton: Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, 4(1). https:// pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4843/610b79d670136e3cdd12311f91f5cc98d2ee.pdf .
4. Duroisin, N., Beauset, R., & Tanghe, C. (2021). Education and digital inequalities during COVID‐19 confinement: From the perspective of teachers in the french speaking community of belgium. European Journal of Education, 56(4), 515–535. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12475
5. Engzell, P., Frey, A., & Verhagen, M. D. (2021). Learning loss due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(17). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2022376118
6. Esteban, A. C., & Cruz, M. J. (2021). Digital divide in times of pandemic among teacher education students. Open Access Library Journal, 08(04), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1107323
7. Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2012). How to design and evaluate research in education (8th ed.). Mc Graw Hill.
8. Hargittai, E. (2001). Second-level digital divide: mapping differences in people's online skills. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/cs/0109068.

9. Hargittai, E. (2021). Handbook of digital inequality. Edward Elgar Publishing.
10. Hass, D., Hass, A., & Joseph, M. (2022). Emergency online learning & the digital divide: an exploratory study of the effects of covıd-19 on minority students. Marketing Education Review, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/10528008.2022.2136498
11. International Telecommunication Union (ITU). (2022, November 24). Facts and figures: The gender digital divide. https://www.itu.int/itu-d/reports/statistics/2022/11/24/ff22-the-gender-digital-divide/
12. Kloza, B. (2023, January 30). Consequences of the Digital Divide in Education - Connecting the Unconnected. Connecting the Unconnected. https://ctu.ieee.org/consequences-of-the-digital-divide-in-education
13. Laufer, M., Leiser, A., Deacon, B., De Brichambaut, P. P., Fecher, B., Kobsda, C., & Hesse, F. W. (2021). Digital higher education: a divider or bridge builder? Leadership perspectives on edtech in a COVID-19 reality. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-021-00287-6
14. Longoria, I. A., Bustamante-Bello, R., Ramí¬rez-Montoya, M. S., & Molina, A. (2022). Systematic mapping of digital gap and gender, age, ethnicity, or disability. Sustainability, 14(3), 1297. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031297
15. Lythreatis, S., El-Kassar, A., & Singh, S. (2021). The digital divide: A review and future research agenda. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 175, 121359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121359
16. Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development (OECD). (2001). Understanding the digital divide. OECD. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/understanding-the-digital-divide_236405667766.html
17. Qazi, A., Hasan, N., Abayomi‐Alli, O., Hardaker, G., Scherer, R., Sarker, Y., Paul, S. K., & Maitama, J. Z. (2021). Gender differences in information and communication technology use & skills: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Education and Information Technologies, 27(3), 4225–4258. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10775-x
18. Reimers, F. M., & Schleicher, A. (2020). A framework to guide an education response to the COVID 19 pandemic of 2020 [Policy paper]. Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development & Harvard Graduate School of Education. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/a-framework-to-guide-an-education-response-to-the-covid-19-pandemic-of-2020_6ae21003-en.html
19. Saygı, H. (2021). Covid-19 pandemi uzaktan eğitim sürecinde sınıf öğretmenlerinin karşılaştığı sorunlar. Açıköğretim Uygulamaları ve Araştırmaları Dergisi, 7(2), 109–129. https://doi.org/10.51948/auad.841632
20. Scheerder, A. J., Van Deursen, A. J. a. M., & Van Dijk, J. A. (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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2017.07.007
21. Schleicher, A. (2020). The impact of COVID 19 on education: Insights from Education at a Glance 2020. OECD Publishing. https://www.redeamerica.org/Portals/0/Publicaciones/Covid/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-education-insights-education-at-a-glance-2020.pdf?ver=2020-10-26-123619-633
22. Setthasuravich, P., & Kato, H. (2020). The mediating role of the digital divide in outcomes of short-term transportation policy in Thailand. Transport Policy, 97, 161–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2020.07.008
23. Soomro, K. A., Kale, U., Curtis, R., Akcaoğlu, M., & Bernstein, M. (2020). Digital divide among higher education faculty. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-020-00191-5
24. Srinivasan, M., Jishnu D., & Shamala R. (2021). COVID-19 and online education: Digital inequality and other dilemmas of rural students in accessing online education during the pandemic. World of Media. Journal of Russian Media and Journalism Studies 4: 34-54. https://doi.org/10.30547/worldofmedia.4.2021.2
25. Tirtanawati, M. R. (2021). Virtual learning program in the midst of covid19 outbreak: EFL learners' perceptions. BRIGHT: A Journal of English Language Teaching, Linguistics and Literature, 4(1), 21-31. https://doi.org/10.29100/bright.v4i1.1845
26. UNESCO. (2020a). Education: From COVID 19 school closures to recovery. UNESCO. https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse/
27. UNESCO. (2020b). Survey on National Education Responses to COVID-19 School Closures. First Round of Data Collection; UNESCO Institute for Statistics: Paris, France, 2020. https://covid19.uis.unesco.org/school-closures-survey/
28. UNESCO. (2021). When schools shut down: Gender impacts of COVID 19 school closures. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379270
29. UNESCO. (2023, April 20). Startling digital divides in distance learning emerge. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/startling-digital-divides-distance-learning-emerge
30. UNICEF. (2020, December 8). How many children and young people have internet access at home? UNICEF DATA. https://data.unicef.org/resources/children-and-young-people-internet-access-at-home-during-covid19/
31. 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
32. van Deursen, A. J. a. M., & Helsper, E. (2015). The Third-Level Digital Divide: Who Benefits Most from Being Online? In Studies in media and communications (pp. 29–52). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/s2050-206020150000010002
33. van Deursen, A. J. a. M., & Van Dijk, J. A. (2019). The first-level digital divide shifts from inequalities in physical access to inequalities in material access. New Media & Society, 21(2), 354–375. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818797082
34. Wei, K., Teo, H., Chan, H. C., & Tan, B. C. Y. (2011). Conceptualizing and Testing a Social Cognitive Model of the Digital Divide. Information Systems Research, 22(1), 170–187. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.1090.0273
35. Yolcu, H. H. (2020). Koronavirüs (covid-19) pandemi sürecinde sınıf öğretmeni adaylarının uzaktan eğitim deneyimleri. Açıköğretim Uygulamaları ve Araştırmaları Dergisi, 6(4), 237-250. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1268229