Digital Transformation in the Educational Community of the Dominican Republic: Exploring the Role of Sociodemographic Environments and Gender in Digital Competence

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to have a more general and holistic view of the basic digital competencies self-perceived by the main agents of the educational community (teachers, students and parents) of all educational stages (Early Childhood Education, Primary Education, Secondary Education and Higher education). Specifically, the incidence of sociodemographic settings (urban-rural) and gender (female-male) in the Dominican Republic was analyzed and compared, for each educational stage. To achieve these purposes, an ex post facto design was used, and with a non-probabilistic sampling of 1149 participants. Among the main findings, the digital competencies of teachers are satisfactory and high in all educational stages and sociodemographic settings environments, while the group of students and parents shows lower scores, especially in the early educational stages. Regarding gender, no significant differences were found in the group of students for any educational stage, while in the group of teachers and parents, differences were found in some educational stages, in favor of the male gender. These findings suggest the need to design specific interventions to improve students and parents’ digital competencies, especially in Primary Education and rural areas, where minimum levels are observed. In addition, the importance of considering gender differences in the digital competencies of teachers and parents is highlighted to promote equity and equal access to digital education.