Digital divide and educational equity: implications for institutional management and teaching practice

Abstract

The study analyzes the relationship between the digital divide and educational equity in upper basic education (EGB Superior) schools in Loja, Ecuador, focusing on implications for institutional management and teaching practice. A quantitative, non‑experimental, descriptive‑correlational, cross‑sectional design is employed, combining the analysis of open public datasets from the Ministry of Education with structured questionnaires administered to principals and teachers from 30 schools selected through stratified sampling. Findings show that although most schools have computer labs and some form of internet access, high student‑to‑device ratios, connectivity limitations, and predominantly expository uses of ICT persist, shaping first‑, second‑, and third‑order digital divides that undermine equity. Schools with better technological endowment and stronger pedagogical support report more frequent and diversified uses of ICT, as well as more favorable perceptions of equity, confirming the mediating role of teachers’ digital pedagogical competencies and institutional management. The study concludes that closing the digital divide in upper basic education requires integrating investment in infrastructure, teacher training, strengthened school‑level planning, and systematic data use for decision‑making, in line with recent literature on digital equity in education.