Confronting the First-Level Digital Divide in the Digital Age: A Comparison Between Public and Private University Students in Turkiye

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Digitalization, First-level digital divide, undergraduate students, digital inequality, educational inequality

Confronting the First-Level Digital Divide in the Digital Age: A Comparison Between Public and Private University Students in Turkiye

Although access to ICT tools is improving worldwide, the first-level digital divide is still one of the major problems for university students. The inequality that can be seen in the level of access to ICT tools among university students shows that there is more to be said about this problem in the field of higher education. This paper discusses the problem through the example of university students in Turkey. The variables are fixed broadband subscription, ownership of smart TV and paid smart TV applications, a personal computer, and paid mobile applications for ICT access. As a result of the survey given to 2,206 respondents, it showed that private university students have more access to ICTs than public university students, - this difference does not depend only on income level. Additionally, it was determined that there is a significant relationship between income level, parents' education level, where a student lives and ICT ownership. This is significant because as higher education opportunities in Turkey are spread all over the country many students do not have equal access to ICT tools. This study analyzed the effects of the first-level digital divide in Turkey by using a quantitative method.

Keywords:

Digitalization, First-level digital divide, undergraduate students, digital inequality, educational inequality,

PDF

___

Akkan, B., & Buğra, A. (2021). Education and “categorical inequalities’’: manifestation of segregation in six country contexts in Europe. SocialInclusion, 9(3), 313-323. https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v9i3.4289 google scholar
Azionya, C. M., & Nhedzi, A. (2021). The digital divide and higher education challenge with emergency online learning: analysis of tweets in the wake of the covid-19 lockdown. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 22(4), 164-182. https://doi.org/10.17718/tojde.1002822. google scholar
Baran, A. G. & Erdem, M. T. (2017). Bilgi toplumunda dijital bölünme: bilişim ve iletişim yetenekleri üzerinden bir tartışma. Suleyman Demirel University The Journal of Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Special Issue on Kayfor, 15(22), 1505-1518. google scholar
Calderon Gomez, D. (2020). The third digital divide and Bourdieu: bidirectional conversion of economic, cultural, and social capital to (and from) digital capital among young people in Madrid. New Media & Society, 23(9), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820933252. google scholar
Castells, M. (1999). The rise of the network society volume 1 (2nd ed.). West Sussex, UK: Wiley Blackwell Publishing. google scholar
Demir, H. İ. & Bodur, A. (2017). Üniversite öğrencileri arasında bilişim teknolojileri eşitsizlikleri: Burdur örneği. Academic Journal of History and Idea, 4(11), 119-135. google scholar
Dimaggio, P., Hargittai, E., Celeste, C., & Shafer, S. (2004). Digital inequality: from unequal access to differentiated use. Social Inequality (pp. 355-400). New York, USA: Russell Sage Foundation. google scholar
Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS. 3rd Edition, London, UK: Sage Publications. google scholar
Fuchs, C. (2015). The digital labour theory of value and Karl Marx in the age of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Weibo. Reconsidering Value and Labour in the Digital Age, (Postone 1993), 26-41. https://doi. org/10.1057/9781137478573_2. google scholar
Fuchs, C. (2017). The information economy and the labor theory of value. International Journal of Political Economy, 46(1), 65-89. https://doi.org/10.1080/08911916.2017.1310475. google scholar
Gonzales, A. L., Calarco, J. M., & Lynch, T. K. (2018). Technology problems and student achievement gaps: a validation and extension of the technology maintenance construct. Communication Research, 47(5), 750-770. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650218796366. google scholar
Gürcan, F. 2015. Türkiye’ de ve dünyada sayısal bölünme. Kalkınma Bakanlığı, Bilgi Toplumu Dairesi Başkanlığı, Uzmanlık Tezi. Ankara. google scholar
Hargittai, E. (2001). Second-level digital divide : mapping differences. ArXiv Preprint Cs/0109068 2001, 1-19. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/ftp/cs/papers/0109/0109068.pdf google scholar
Hargittai, E., & Hinnant A. (2008). Digital inequality: differences in young adults’ use of the internet. Communication Research, 35(5), 602-621. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650208321782. google scholar
Helsper, E., & Reisdorf, B. (2017). The emergence of a “digital underclass” in Great Britain and Sweden: changing reasons for digital exclusion. New Media & Society, 19(8), 1253-1270. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816634676 google scholar
Hsieh, J.J.P., Rai, A., & Keil, M. (2008). Understanding digital inequality: comparing continued use behavioral models of the socio-economically advantaged and sisadvantaged. MIS Quarterly, 32(1), 97-126. google scholar
Jaggars, S. S., Motz, B. A. Rivera M. D., Heckler A., Quick, J. D., Hance, E. A., & Karwisch, C. (2021). The digital divide among college students: lessons learned from the Covid-19 emergency transition. Midwestern Higher Education Compact, (January), 1-18. google scholar
Kaya, İ. (2017). Anne babaların çocuklarının bilgi/iletişim teknolojileri (BİT) kullanımına yönelik yaklaşımları ile çocukların bu teknolojileri kullanım alışkanlıkları arasındaki ilişki. Journal of Turkish Studies, 12(23), 173186. https://doi.org/10.7827/turkishstudies.12228. google scholar
Lee, E. L., & Forthofer, R. N. (2005). Analyzing complex survey data. London, UK: Sage Publication. google scholar
Mcnaught, C., Lam P., & Ho, A. (2009). The digital divide between university students and teachers in Hong Kong. ASCILITE 2009 - The Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (pp. 654-664). Auckland, AUSTRALIA: University of Auckland google scholar
Nerse, S. (2020). Inequalities in digital education rural-urban and socioeconomic differences. The Journal of Humanity and Society, 10(4), 413-444. google scholar
Nikolaos, K., Tzafea, O., & Theodoros T. (2019). University students’ skills in using the internet for educational purposes and the digital divide. European Journal of Open Education and E-Learning Studies, 4(1), 60-72. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2613531. google scholar
Nishijima, M., Ivanauskas, T.M., & Sarti, F.M. (2017), Evolution and determinants of digital divide in Brazil (2005-2013), Telecommunications Policy, 41(1), 12-24. google scholar
Park, S. (2017). Digital inequalities in rural Australia: a double jeopardy of remoteness and social exclusion. Journal of Rural Studies, (54), 399–407. google scholar
Ragnedda, M. (2020). Enhancing digital equity: connecting the digital underclass. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. google scholar
Ragnedda, M., & Muschert G. W. (2013). Introduction. The Digital Divide The Internet and Social Inequality in International Perspective. London, UK: Routledge. google scholar
Reisdorf, B. C., Triwibowo, W., & Yankelevich A. (2020). Laptop or bust: how lack of technology affects student achievement. American Behavioral Scientist, 64(7), 927-949. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764220919145. google scholar
Ricoy, C., Feliz, T., & Couto, M. J. (2013). The digital divide among university freshmen. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 12(2), 262-268. google scholar
Ruiu, M. L., & Ragnedda, M. (2020). Digital capital and online activities: an empirical analysis of the second level of digital divide. First Monday, 25(7). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v25i7.10855 google scholar
Selwyn, N. (2004). Reconsidering political and popular understandings of the digital divide. New Media & Society, 6(3), 341-362. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444804042519 google scholar
Soomro, K. A., Kale, U., Curtis, R., Akcaoglu, M., & Bernstein, M. (2020). Digital divide among higher education faculty. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 17(21), 2-16. https://doi. org/10.1186/s41239-020-00191-5 google scholar
Sorj, B. (2013). The digital divide in Brazil: conceptual, research and policy challenges. M. Ragnedda & G. W. Muschert (Eds) The Digital Divide The Internet and Social Inequality in International Perspective (pp. 107117). London, UK: Routledge. google scholar
OECD (2017). OECD digital economy outlook 2017. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264276284-en google scholar
OECD (2021a). Access to computers from home (indicator). https://doi.org/10.1787/a70b8a9f-en (Accessed on 03 September 2021) google scholar
OECD (2021b). Fixed broadband subscriptions (indicator). https://doi.org/10.1787/902e48ee-en (Accessed on 08 September 2021) google scholar
TURKSTAT (2020a). Distribution of household consumption expenditures, Turkey, 2002-2019. Retrieved from https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Kategori/GetKategori?p=Gelir,-Yasam,-Tuketim-ve-Yoksulluk-107 google scholar
TURKSTAT (2020b). Distribution of household consumption expenditure by quintiles ordered by income, Turkey, 2002-2019. Retrieved from https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Kategori/GetKategori?p=Gelir,-Yasam,-Tuketim-ve-Yoksulluk-107. google scholar
TURKSTAT (2021a). Income and living conditions survey, 2020. google scholar
TURKSTAT (2021b). Income and living conditions survey, 2020. Retrieved from https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Bulten/ Index?p=Gelir-ve-Yasam-Kosullari-Arastirmasi-2020-37404 google scholar
TURKSTAT (2022a) Survey on information and communication technology (ICT) usage in households and by individuals. Retrieved from https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Bulten/Index?p=Hanehalki-Bilisim-Teknolojileri-(BT)-Kullanim-Arastirmasi-2022-45587 google scholar
TURKSTAT (2022b). Proportion of households with an information and communication technnologies product, 2004-2022. Retrieved from https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Bulten/Index?p=Hanehalki-Bilisim-Teknolojileri-(BT)-Kullanim-arastirmasi-2022-45587 google scholar
TURKSTAT (2022c). Distribution of annual equivalised household disposable income by quintiles ordered by equivalised household disposable income, 2014-2021. Retrieved from https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Kategori/ GetKategori?p=Gelir,-Yasam,-Tuketim-ve-Yoksulluk-107 google scholar
TURKSTAT (2022d). Proportion of households accessing internet by statistical regions level 1, 2021, 2022. Retrieved from https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Bulten/Index?p=Hanehalki-Bilisim-Teknolojileri-(BT)-Kullanim-Aras tirmasi-2022-45587. google scholar
Van Deursen, A., & Van Dijk, J. (2011). Internet skills and the digital divide. New Media & Society, 13(6), 893-911. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444810386774. google scholar
Van Deursen, A., & Van Dijk J. (2019). The first-level digital divide shifts from inequalities in physical access to inequalities in material access. New Media & Society, 21(2), 354-375. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818797082 google scholar
Van Dijk, J. (2006). Digital divide research, achievements and shortcomings. Poetics, 34(4-5), 221-235. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.poetic.2006.05.004. google scholar
Van Dijk, J., & Hacker K. (2003). The digital divide as a complex and dynamic phenomenon. Information Society, 19(4), 315-326. https://doi.org/10.1080/01972240309487. google scholar
Wejnert, C., & Heckathorn, D. D. (2008). Web-based network sampling efficiency and efficacy of respondent-driven sampling for online research. Sociological Methods & Research, 37(1), 105-134. google scholar
Wessels, B. (2013). The reproduction and reconfiguration of inequality: differentiation and class, status and power in the dynamics of digital divides. In M. Ragnedda & G. W. Muschert (Eds) The Digital Divide The internet and Social Inequality in International Perspective (pp. 17-28). London, UK: Routledge. google scholar
Winker, G., & Degele, N. (2011). Intersectionality as multi-level analysis: dealing with social inequality. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 18(1), 51-66. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506810386084 google scholar
Yurdakul, D. (2023). Yeni dünyanın sorunu: dijital eşitsizlik. PolitikYol. Retrieved from https://www.politikyol. com/yeni-dunyanin-sorunu-dijital-esitsizlik/ google scholar
Zillien, N., and Hargittai, E. (2009). Digital distinction: status-specific types of internet usage. Social Science Quarterly, 90(2), 274-291. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2009.00617.x. google scholar
Zizek, S. (2010) Living in the end times. Brooklyn, USA: Verso. google scholar