DIGITAL COMPETENCY DISPARITIES AND THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN SECONDARY EDUCATION IN KENYA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
Abstract
The digital divide in secondary education extends beyond access to technology and increasingly reflects disparities in digital competencies among key stakeholders. This study sought to examine whether differences in digital competency levels between students and teachers influence the digital divide within a secondary school context. Grounded in the Knowledge-Based View, which conceptualizes digital skills as strategic organizational resources, the study adopted a quantitative case study design. Study data was collected through structured questionnaires administered to 78 students and 19 teachers. Descriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to compare competency levels between teachers and students at a 5% level of significance. The findings showed teachers reporting significantly higher digital competency levels than students, F (1, 95) = 3.979, p = .049. Both teachers and students showed confidence in the use of digital devices and also agreed that access to ICT infrastructure is a major drawback with the lowest mean of (Students: M = 1.68; Teachers: M = 1.74). Both groups also agreed in the perception that improving digital skills improves participation in digitally enabled learning (Students: M = 4.35; Teachers: M = 4.68) but teachers demonstrated a stronger self-reported competency. The findings seem to be consistent with other empirical studies that shows differences in digital skills cause inequalities in learning outcomes. Students showed moderate competencies but were found to have weaker confidence in academic applications suggesting that digital familiarity is not equal to productive use. The study’s conclusion is that access to infrastructure is not enough but targeted skills development programmes ought to be introduced to build teachers digital literacy capacity which in turn translates to more students embracing and participating in technology enabled learning environments.
Keywords: Digital Competency, Disparities, Digital Divide, Secondary Education, Comparative Analysis, Students and Teachers
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