National Income, Political Freedom, and Investments in R&D and Education: A Comparative Analysis of the Second Digital Divide Among 15-Year-Old Students

Abstract

Digital technology has become an indispensable component in education around the world. Despite its growing importance, a gap in students' digital skills and usage based on their socioeconomic status-known as the second digital divide-has been identified in a wide range of countries. Using data from the 2009 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment, we consider two aspects of the second digital divide for 15-year-olds across 55 countries: the gaps in use of educational software at home and Internet literacy. Specifically, we ask whether national income, political freedom, and national investments in research and development (R&D) and secondary education are associated with the second digital divide. We find that national income predicts the digital divide and that national investments have differential effects depending upon a country's income. R&D spending reduces the socioeconomic gap in educational software use only in low-income countries. Educational expenditures reduce the Internet literacy gap in high-income countries while exacerbating it in low-income ones. Additional analyses suggest that income inequality increases the digital divide, but like political freedom, the effects become non-significant when national income is considered. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for policymakers interested in reducing the digital divide.

The Training and Use of ICT in Teaching Perceptions of Melilla’s (Spain) Mathematics Teachers

“…The first relates mainly to technological resources, and it can be concluded that the use of technology in the teaching of mathematics is influenced by ICT resources in the classroom [5]. Along the same line, other authors have maintained that country investments on I+D were also factors to take into consideration [63].…”

“…Numerous authors have emphasized that ICT is a useful tool to motivate students [61,62] and promote learning [8]. In addition, the quantity and quality of ICT resources held by schools influence the use of technologies by teachers [5], as well as the national investment in I+D of each country [63].…”

DigiCraft: A Pedagogical Innovative Proposal for the Development of the Digital Competence in Vulnerable Children

“…In relation to ICT, though access to them is increasing, other gaps have become more obvious and are beginning to emerge in different approaches to digital competence [42][43][44][45].…”

Do pre-service teachers feel ready to teach with digital technologies? A study in two teacher training institutions in Costa Rica

“…Neither does it presuppose possessing the skills necessary to benefit from it. Although the first level digital divide (access) is less of an issue today than it was in the past-even in non-industrialized countries-thanks to the initiatives of decision makers, educational organizations, or private companies (Roumell Erichsen and Salajan 2014), the second level divide (uses) persists (Ma, Vachon, & Cheng, 2018). Within each country there might be digital inequalities related to population's socio-economic imbalances.…”