Digital Inclusion among Educators: An Examination of Salience in Public and Private Schools within City Centers in Metro Manila

This research explores the online and offline characteristics of educational workers and ascertains whether digital inequality is evident in their skills, use, and the outcome in online activities. This study extends the Internet skills framework of Van Deursen et al. (2017) by examining the same parameters in the local educational settings and by incorporating the use of devices and its ramifications to the digital inclusion and exclusion literature. Online skills of educators in both private and public institutions of learning in Metro Manila and other city centers are elicited during the tail end of the pandemic wherein their online presence is essential. The selection of the research locale is strategic since access to the internet is assured to represent the upper “have access” group. The model’s association and impact are validated using partial least square regression to the data obtained. The test revealed that Internet skills affect educational usage in varying degrees with the latter affecting the offline outcome positively. The results provide evidence that online skills have educational consequences contributing to digital inclusion and/or exclusion.

Keywords: Digital inequality, digital inclusion, educational technology innovation