Digital Divide and Educational Inequality in Asia: A Cross-Country Secondary Data Analysis of Connectivity, Access, and Student Achievement

Mhel Cedric D. Bendo; Domar C.  Alviar

doi:10.70148/rise.v3i4.9

Pengarang

Mhel Cedric D. Bendo Polytechnic University of the Philippines–Maragondon Campus Author
Domar C. Alviar National University–Manila Author https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9078-2867

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.70148/rise.v3i4.9

Kata kunci:

Digital Divide, Educational Inequality, Student Achievement, Digital Connectivity, Rural Population

Abstrak

The increasing reliance on digital technologies in education has intensified concerns regarding unequal access to digital resources across countries, particularly in developing regions. While digital connectivity has the potential to enhance learning opportunities, disparities in internet access and technological infrastructure may contribute to unequal educational outcomes. This study examines the relationship between the digital divide and educational inequality in Asia through a cross-country secondary data analysis of connectivity, access, and student achievement. Using publicly available datasets from the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the study analyzes key indicators of internet access, digital infrastructure, student achievement, and educational inequality across selected Asian countries. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression models were employed to examine structural associations among variables. The results indicate that internet access is positively associated with student achievement and negatively associated with educational inequality. Digital infrastructure also demonstrates positive associations with educational performance and lower levels of inequality. In contrast, rural population is negatively associated with student achievement and positively associated with educational inequality. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of digital connectivity and technological capacity in shaping both the quality and equity dimensions of education systems across diverse national contexts.

Biografi Pengarang

Mhel Cedric D. Bendo, Polytechnic University of the Philippines–Maragondon Campus

BIOGRAFI
Mhel Cedric D. Bendo merupakan seorang penyelidik pelajar dan penulis pandangan. Bidang penyelidikannya tertumpu kepada Psikologi Pendidikan, Kurikulum dan Pengajaran, Pengukuran dan Penilaian Pendidikan, serta Teknologi Pendidikan. Dalam kajiannya, beliau menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif, psikometrik dan kaedah campuran untuk meneliti pelbagai aspek keberkesanan pengajaran dan pembelajaran berasaskan teknologi, termasuk pengesanan berasaskan kecerdasan buatan (AI) serta pentafsiran konstruk pendidikan dalam pelbagai persekitaran pembelajaran.

Beliau kini sedang mengikuti pengajian Ijazah Sarjana Muda Sains dalam Keusahawanan di Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). Di samping pengajian formal, beliau turut membangunkan minat penyelidikan yang lebih tertumpu dalam bidang pengukuran pendidikan, serta mengasah kemahiran strategiknya melalui analisis kajian kes berkaitan rundingan gaji dan strategi leverage pasaran menerusi Harvard Business School Online.

Sehingga Januari 2026, Bendo berkhidmat sebagai Ahli Lembaga Editorial bagi SIAR-Global Journal of Humanities, Management & Educational Review serta bahagian pendidikan dalam SIAR-Global Journal of Literatures & Educational Review. Dalam peranan ini, beliau menyumbang kepada proses semakan rakan sebaya serta memberikan maklum balas kepakaran bidang terhadap manuskrip yang dihantar dalam bidang pendidikan dan kajian antara disiplin.

Sehingga Februari 2026, beliau turut berkhidmat sebagai Ahli Lembaga Editorial bagi International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Exploration (IJMRE) dengan membantu dalam penilaian manuskrip serta memberikan maklum balas metodologi berkaitan reka bentuk kajian dan kejelasan pelaporan penyelidikan. Beliau juga merupakan Ahli Lembaga Editorial serta anggota Jawatankuasa Semakan dan Teknikal bagi International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Application (IJAMA), di mana beliau terlibat dalam semakan manuskrip dan penilaian teknikal terhadap penyelidikan yang dihantar.

Selain itu, beliau turut berperanan sebagai penilai rakan sebaya jemputan bagi pelbagai jurnal antarabangsa yang disemak rakan sebaya dalam bidang pendidikan, sains pembelajaran, penyelidikan multidisiplin, teknologi pendidikan, psikologi serta sains sosial antara disiplin.
AKTIVITI SEMAKAN RAKAN SEBAYA
Bendo merupakan Penilai Rakan Sebaya Jemputan bagi Cogent Education (Taylor & Francis), sebuah jurnal antarabangsa yang diiktiraf dan diterbitkan oleh Taylor & Francis Group, yang menyumbang kepada penilaian manuskrip akademik dalam bidang pendidikan dan pembelajaran antara disiplin. Beliau juga berkhidmat sebagai penilai bagi Online Learning Journal (OLJ), sebuah jurnal antarabangsa akses terbuka yang diterbitkan oleh Online Learning Consortium dan diindeks dalam pangkalan data utama seperti Web of Science (ESCI), Scopus (Q1, SCImago), ERIC dan DOAJ.

Selain itu, beliau turut menjadi Penilai Rakan Sebaya Jemputan bagi International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE), sebuah jurnal antarabangsa yang diindeks Scopus (Q2) dan diterbitkan oleh IAES, serta Journal of Learning for Development (JL4D), sebuah jurnal antarabangsa yang diindeks Scopus (Q3, SCImago) dan diterbitkan oleh Commonwealth of Learning.

Beliau juga berkhidmat sebagai penilai bagi Communications in Information Literacy (CIL), sebuah jurnal antarabangsa yang diindeks Scopus (Q1, SCImago) yang menerbitkan penyelidikan berkaitan literasi maklumat, pedagogi kritikal dan komunikasi ilmiah. Di samping itu, beliau dijemput sebagai Penilai Rakan Sebaya bagi Journal of Research, Innovation, and Strategies for Education (RISE), Journal of Educational Technology and Learning Creativity (JETLC) dan Integrated Science Education Journal (ISEJ), yang menumpukan kepada kemajuan penyelidikan pendidikan, inovasi dan pembelajaran bersepadu teknologi dalam pelbagai konteks. Beliau juga merupakan Penilai Rakan Sebaya Jemputan bagi World Journal on Educational Technology: Current Issues (WJET), sebuah jurnal antarabangsa yang memberi tumpuan kepada teknologi baharu, persekitaran pembelajaran digital serta inovasi dalam pendidikan berasaskan teknologi.

Selain bidang pendidikan, Bendo turut berkhidmat sebagai Penilai Rakan Sebaya Jemputan bagi Circuit: Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan Teknik Elektro, yang menilai penyelidikan pendidikan dalam bidang kejuruteraan dan teknologi. Beliau juga menjadi penilai bagi Jurnal Inovasi Teknologi Pendidikan (JITP), sebuah jurnal yang menerbitkan penyelidikan serta inovasi dalam teknologi pendidikan, khususnya dalam pembangunan multimedia pendidikan dan e-pembelajaran yang menghubungkan penyelidikan akademik dengan aplikasi praktikal di sekolah dan institusi pendidikan.

Di samping itu, beliau turut menjadi Penilai Rakan Sebaya Jemputan bagi International Journal of Management and Human Sciences (IJMHS), sebuah jurnal yang menerbitkan penyelidikan dalam bidang pengurusan, pentadbiran perniagaan, sains kemanusiaan serta kajian sosial antara disiplin. Dalam peranan ini, beliau menyumbang kepada penilaian reka bentuk kajian, kejelasan metodologi serta ketelitian analisis kuantitatif dalam penyelidikan yang dihantar.

Beliau juga merupakan Penilai Rakan Sebaya Jemputan bagi DIKSI, sebuah jurnal yang diasaskan pada tahun 1993 yang menerbitkan penyelidikan dalam bidang bahasa, kesusasteraan dan pendidikan bahasa serta memiliki akreditasi nasional SINTA-2. Selain itu, beliau turut menjadi penilai bagi Jurnal Pendidikan Teknologi dan Kejuruan (JPTK), sebuah jurnal akses terbuka yang menumpukan kepada pendidikan teknikal dan latihan vokasional (TVET), termasuk aspek pedagogi, kurikulum, penilaian dan dasar pendidikan.

Bendo turut berkhidmat sebagai Penilai Rakan Sebaya Jemputan bagi jurnal penyelidikan prasiswazah antarabangsa, termasuk Spectrum: Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research, sebuah jurnal akademik yang disokong oleh Undergraduate Research Initiative di University of Alberta, serta Reinvention: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research. Dalam peranan ini, beliau menilai kajian empirikal, ulasan literatur sistematik serta analisis bibliometrik dengan penekanan kepada ketelitian metodologi, kepentingan pendidikan serta integriti akademik dalam konteks penyelidikan prasiswazah dan antarabangsa.

Sumbangan ilmiahnya juga merangkumi bidang sains kesihatan. Beliau berkhidmat sebagai penilai bagi Journal of Student-Run Clinics (JSRC), sebuah jurnal akses terbuka yang memaparkan inovasi dan penyelidikan daripada klinik percuma yang dikendalikan oleh pelajar di seluruh dunia. Selain itu, beliau juga merupakan Penilai Rakan Sebaya Jemputan bagi Malaysian Journal of Medical Research (MJMR), sebuah jurnal antarabangsa akses terbuka yang menggunakan proses semakan rakan sebaya dua hala tanpa nama dan diterbitkan oleh Lincoln University College, Malaysia. Jurnal ini memfokuskan kepada penyelidikan multidisiplin dalam sains kesihatan termasuk perubatan, fisiologi, kesihatan awam dan pendidikan perubatan. Dalam peranan ini, beliau menilai penyelidikan kesihatan empirikal dengan memberi perhatian khusus kepada pemodelan statistik, ketelitian metodologi serta standard pelaporan dalam kajian kuantitatif dan antara disiplin.
STATUS PENYELIDIKAN SEMASA
Pada masa ini, Bendo sedang memajukan beberapa manuskrip yang sedang dipertimbangkan oleh jurnal antarabangsa yang disemak rakan sebaya. Penyelidikannya memberi tumpuan kepada bidang pentadbiran perniagaan, teknologi kewangan (fintech), ketelitian psikometrik, kaedah kuantitatif lanjutan serta tingkah laku pembelajaran berasaskan teknologi.

Bidang kajiannya merangkumi isu seperti tekanan akademik, kebimbangan ujian, persekitaran pembelajaran digital serta penggunaan kecerdasan buatan (AI) dalam pendidikan. Beberapa kajian beliau kini berada pada pelbagai peringkat proses semakan. Usaha ini mencerminkan komitmennya terhadap pembangunan teknik pengukuran yang inovatif serta aplikasi praktikal dapatan penyelidikan dalam bidang psikologi pendidikan dan teknologi pendidikan.
Domar C. Alviar, National University–Manila

Domar C. Alviar is an Associate Professor at National University–Manila, where he is a 2026 Gawad Pantas awardee. He holds a Master of Development Communication and Doctor of Communication from the University of the Philippines Open University. A CHED-SIKAP scholar, his research interests include development communication, systems thinking, ethnomethodology and conversation analysis (EMCA), media ethics, law, and ethical artificial intelligence in education. He serves on the Steering Committee of the Philippine International Studies Organization (PHISO) and contributes to academic discussions on academic integrity, higher education, and ethical AI. He previously worked in Middle East and North Africa customs relations and international supply management and served as publications and communications editor at Adamson University. He writes the “Inside Academe” column for Tutubi.ph and contributes opinion articles to national broadsheets, including the Philippine Daily Inquirer and other publications.

Rujukan

Alviar, D. C. (2023, August 2). Sapat ba ang teknolohiya upang epektibong magturo? Mga aral mula sa PIDS. Philippine Institute for Development Studies. https://www.pids.gov.ph/details/news/in-the-news/sapat-ba-ang-teknolohiya-upang-epektibong-magturo-mga-aral-mula-sa-pids

Amin, C., Sigit, A. A., Saputra, A., Samson, M. G. M., & Sattar, F. (2026). Beyond access: Understanding digital platform adoption in Indonesia's informal economy. Digital Geography and Society, 10, 100162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diggeo.2026.100162

Bakhtiar, H. A., Abu, R., & Shaifuddin, N. (2024). Sustainable collaboration between public libraries and school resource centers: Advancing digital information literacy in the digital age. Journal of Information and Knowledge Management, 14(2), 50–60. https://doi.org/10.24191/jikm.v14i2.4467

Barrot, J. S., Llenares, I. I., & Del Rosario, L. S. (2021). Students' online learning challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they cope with them. Education and Information Technologies, 26, 7321–7338. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10589-x

Becker, G. S. (1993). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis (3rd ed.). University of Chicago Press. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo3684037.html

Bendo, M. C. D. (2026). Attention fragmentation in digital learning environments: Micro-procrastination, cognitive load, and deep work across educational levels. Journal of Research, Innovation, and Strategies for Education (RISE), 3(6), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.70148/rise.v3i4.1

Bulman, G., & Fairlie, R. W. (2016). Technology and education: Computers, software, and the Internet. Handbook of the Economics of Education, 5, 239–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-63459-7.00005-1

Billion, M., Crespo, J., & Lera-Lopez, F. (2021). Do educational inequalities affect Internet use? An analysis for developed and developing countries. Telematics and Informatics, 58, 101521. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2020.101521

Chen, C., & Phanumartwiwath, A. (2025). Bridging the gray digital divide: A cross-cultural qualitative study on digital inclusion and healthy aging in Germany, Japan, and Thailand. Telematics and Informatics Reports, 18, 100218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teler.2025.100218

Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage Publications. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/research-design/book235675

Dormann, C. F., Elith, J., Bacher, S., Buchmann, C., Carl, G., Carré, G., García Marquéz, J. R., Gruber, B., Lafourcade, B., Leitão, P. J., Münkemüller, T., McClean, C., Osborne, P. E., Reineking, B., Schröder, B., Skidmore, A. K., Zurell, D., & Lautenbach, S. (2013). Collinearity: A review of methods to deal with it and a simulation study evaluating their performance. Ecography, 36(1), 27–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2012.07348.x

Field, A. (2013). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (4th ed.). Sage Publications. https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/discovering-statistics-using-ibm-spss-statistics/book235999

Guo, C., & Wan, B. (2022). The digital divide in online learning in China during the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology in Society, 71, 102122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2022.102122

Hanushek, E. A. (1979). Conceptual and empirical issues in the estimation of educational production functions. Journal of Human Resources, 14(3), 351–388. https://doi.org/10.2307/145575

Hilbert, M. (2016). The bad news is that the digital access divide is here to stay: Domestically installed bandwidths among 172 countries for 1986–2014. Telecommunications Policy, 40(6), 567–581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2016.01.006

Heaton, J. (2008). Secondary analysis of qualitative data: An overview. Historical Social Research, 33(3), 33–45. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20762299

International Telecommunication Union. (2023a). ICT Development Index 2023. https://www.itu.int

International Telecommunication Union. (2023b). Measuring digital development: Facts and figures 2023. https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/facts/default.aspx

Jafar, K., Ananthpur, K., & Venkatachalam, L. (2023). Digital divide and access to online education: New evidence from Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Social and Economic Development, 25, 313–333. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40847-023-00236-1

Johnston, M. P. (2017). Secondary data analysis: A method of which the time has come. Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries, 3(3), 619–626. http://qqml-journal.net/index.php/qqml/article/view/169

Kawaii, D. (2023, March 7). Overcoming Japan’s uphill battle toward digital transformation. National Bureau of Asian Research. https://www.nbr.org/publication/overcoming-japans-uphill-battle-toward-digital-transformation/

Kim, J. H. (2019). Multicollinearity and misleading statistical results. Korean Journal of Anesthesiology, 72(6), 558–569. https://doi.org/10.4097/kja.19087

Lee, H., & Lee, R. (2024). Transformation of Korean higher education in the digital era: Achievements and challenges. Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education, 16(2), 47–55. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1427546.pdf

Li, M. (2025). Exploring the digital divide in primary education: A comparative study of urban and rural mathematics teachers’ TPACK and attitudes towards technology integration in post-pandemic China. Education and Information Technologies, 30, 1913–1945. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-12890-x

Lim, K., Kim, Y., Kim, M., Jang, Y., & Joo, M. (2019). The digital divide? Analyzing regional differences of tablet PC use in Korean middle schools for sustainable development. Sustainability, 11(18), 5054. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11185054

Lim, S. S., & Suhaila, Z. S. (2022). Bridging Singapore’s digital divides: Making our Smart Nation smarter. In I. A. Mokhtar & Y. Ibrahim (Eds.), Social context, policies and changes in Singapore: Beyond the first 50 years. World Scientific. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.33371.13609

Mirazchiyski, P. V. (2025). Contemporary gaps in research on digital divide in education: A literature review. Universal Access in the Information Society, 24, 991–1008. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-024-01166-3

Nguyen, T. Q., Ngoc, P. T. A., Phuong, H. A., Duy, D. P. T., Hiep, P. C., McClelland, R., & Noroozi, O. (2024). Digital competence of Vietnamese citizens: An application of DigComp framework and the role of individual factors. Education and Information Technologies, 29, 19267–19298. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-12585-3

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2023). OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) database. https://www.oecd.org/pisa/data/

Puspitasari, L., & Ishii, K. (2016). Digital divides and mobile Internet in Indonesia: Impact of smartphones. Telematics and Informatics, 33(2), 472–483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2015.11.001

Robinson, L., Cotten, S. R., Ono, H., Quan-Haase, A., Mesch, G., Chen, W., Schulz, J., Hale, T. M., & Stern, M. J. (2015). Digital inequalities and why they matter. Information, Communication & Society, 18(5), 569–582. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2015.1012532

Selwyn, N. (2016). Education and technology: Key issues and debates (2nd ed.). Bloomsbury Academic.

Osborne, J. W., & Waters, E. (2002). Four assumptions of multiple regression that researchers should always test. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 8(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.7275/r222-hv23

Tamim, R. M., Bernard, R. M., Borokhovski, E., Abrami, P. C., & Schmid, R. F. (2015). What forty years of research says about the impact of technology on learning: A second-order meta-analysis and validation study. Review of Educational Research, 85(1), 4–28. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654314540006

UNESCO. (2023). Global education monitoring report 2023: Technology in education—A tool on whose terms? UNESCO Publishing. https://www.unesco.org/gem-report

Van Dijk, J. A. G. M. (2020). The digital divide. Polity Press. https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=the-digital-divide--9781509534450

Warschauer, M. (2004). Technology and social inclusion: Rethinking the digital divide. MIT Press.

World Bank. (2024). World development indicators. https://data.worldbank.org