Teachers’ Views on the Digital Divide in Greece: A Qualitative Approach

Souzanna-Maria Nikolaou,Panagiotis Efstratios Giavrimis

doi:10.5296/ijssr.v8i2.16579

Souzanna-Maria Nikolaou, Panagiotis Efstratios Giavrimis

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5296/ijssr.v8i2.16579

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate teachers’ views on the digital divide and its implications in the field of Primary education in Greece. The research questions were related to the conceptualization of the digital divide by teachers, its consequences and the role of teachers. A total of 22 elementary school teachers were selected out of which 8 were male and 14 were female. The semi-structured interview was used as a research tool and an interview guide was developed that had four themes. The first theme concerned teachers' conceptualizations on the digital divide, the second theme was related to the use of ICT in education, The third theme was about the consequences of the digital divide and the fourth theme included questions about how to deal with the digital divide. The results conclude that the teachers: a) signify the digital divide in a comprehensible way, distinguishing its forms, the factors that influence it, and their implications in their daily social life and educational practice, b) refer to the social inequalities being created in the social environment and c) education policy in Greece is often not supportive of teachers’ work.

Highlights

information and communication technologies (ICT) have shaped a new social reality in recent years
The results conclude that the teachers: a) signify the digital divide in a comprehensible way, distinguishing its forms, the factors that influence it, and their implications in their daily social life and educational practice, b) refer to the social inequalities being created in the social environment and c) education policy in Greece is often not supportive of teachers’ work
The digital divide relates to the accessibility of ICTs and the use of the information they provide (OECD, 2001), shaping a post-modern era of "digital inequalities" in a dynamically changing field (McGrew, 2010)

Summary

Introduction

ICTs have shaped a new social reality in recent years. The rapid development of technology, especially after the 1960s, has made a decisive contribution to the creation of a flexible and dynamically changing social environment (McGrew, 2010). Does not integrate all groups of the society at the same pace, bringing out new forms of social discrimination (Cuervo & Menendez, 2006; Dasgupta et al, 2001; Papadopoulos & Dagdilelis, 2009). Access to and use of ICT or digital illiteracy (Tzimogiannis & Gravani, 2008) and the resulting difficulties and struggles arising in the interaction of social subjects create a new form of inequality (Di Maggio et al, 2001; Lytras, 2000). Theoretical approaches generally cite a digital divide as “[...] the gap (gap) between individuals, households, businesses and geographical areas of different socio-economic levels regarding their opportunity to access information and communication technologies (ICT) and Internet use for a wide variety of activities [...] ”(OECD, 2001: 5)

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