COVID-19 and online education: Digital inequality and other dilemmas of rural students in accessing online education during the pandemic

Abstract

It is widely assumed among academicians that the COVID-19 pandemic has negative implications for the education of school students. However, institutions tried to balance that limitation by using online education, and there exist some inequalities among students. Most of the studies conducted during COVID-19 on online education focused on urban school students and their access to online education. In particular, rural school students and their online education remain an open question. Twenty in-depth interviews with rural student respondents determine the fundamental problems and challenge the rural school students’ face in online education during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The study identifies six major problems of rural students: inadequate technology, unacquainted academic atmosphere, digital disconnect, physical well-being, the distractions inherent with the medium, and digital illiteracy. The identified constraints draw inferences to a critical concept in online learning that is digital inequality. Digital inequality refers to the disparity in the access, distribution of technology, information because of various socio-economic and cultural factors. The study also discusses the suggestions of rural students regarding the betterment of online education. The recommendations from the rural students include providing appropriate technological infrastructure, facilitating technical assistance and providing a convenient academic atmosphere. The suggestions are pointing towards the idea of digital inclusion that is vital in online education. Digital inclusion is defined as the ability of individuals or groups of people to access and use information and communication technologies. It is not only about access in a broader sense the opportunities of using innovative hardware and software technology, content and services, getting proper digital literacy pieces of training and the effective use of these services. The findings of the study will help to bridge the disparities in online education. These findings will help the academic community to identify the needs of rural children. It will help build infrastructure for online learning and give extensive support to the school children of rural communities. These findings are also vital for the communication scholars as the disparity in the distribution of information and knowledge is a prime concern for them.