When Digital Access Becomes Educational Participation: Teacher Competence, Pedagogical Sequencing, Accessibility, and School Governance
Keywords:
digital learning, educational inclusion, teacher digital competence, educational technology, accessibility, pedagogical sequencing, school governanceAbstract
The educational value of digital technology depends on more than the presence of devices, connectivity, or online platforms. This study examines how teacher digital competence, pedagogical sequencing, accessibility, institutional support, and platform choice shape meaningful participation in digitally mediated learning. A two-phase mixed-methods study involved 2,140 teachers from 96 schools across three jurisdictions and 12 institutional case studies incorporating teacher interviews, classroom observations, and aggregated, de-identified platform-interaction records. Access and usability measures demonstrated strong internal consistency, with Cronbach’s α values ranging from 0.87 to 0.91. Distinct differences emerged across teacher digital-competence groups. Sequenced pedagogical integration was reported by 71% of the 612 teachers in the high-competence group, 44% of the 1,043 teachers in the medium-competence group, and 22% of the 485 teachers in the low-competence group. The difference between the high- and low-competence groups was 49 percentage points. Standalone technology use showed the reverse pattern, accounting for 29%, 56%, and 78% of use in the high-, medium-, and low-competence groups, respectively. Institutional cases further showed that schools combining technology provision with funded professional development and clear data responsibilities demonstrated more equitable digital participation than schools concentrating predominantly on device provision. Teachers combined locally aligned systems with wider digital services according to curricular purpose, communication needs, content access, production, and collaboration. The findings show that digital inclusion depends on the interaction of reliable access, teacher capability, instructional organisation, accessible design, and institutional responsibility. Educational technology contributes most effectively when these conditions enable learners to convert technological access into sustained participation in purposeful learning.
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