#6187. Digital higher education: a divider or bridge builder? Leadership perspectives on edtech in a COVID-19 reality

August 2026publication date
Proposal available till 13-05-2025
4 total number of authors per manuscript0 $

The title of the journal is available only for the authors who have already paid for
Journal’s subject area:
Education;
Computer Science Applications;
Places in the authors’ list:
place 1place 2place 3place 4
FreeFreeFreeFree
2510 $1340 $1170 $1000 $
Contract №6187.1 Contract №6187.2 Contract №6187.3 Contract №6187.4
1 place - free (for sale)
2 place - free (for sale)
3 place - free (for sale)
4 place - free (for sale)

Abstract:
The edtech community has promoted claims that digital education enhances access, learning, and collaboration. The COVID-19 pandemic tested these claims like never before, as higher education systems seemingly overnight had to move teaching online. Through a sequential mixed-method approach, we investigated how 85 higher education leaders in 24 countries experienced this rapid digital transformation. Through their experiences, we identified the multiple and overlapping factors that contribute to an institution’s ability to realize the potential of digital education, in terms of access, learning and collaboration, whilst highlighting deeply rooted inequalities at the individual, institutional and system level. Drawing on these empirics, we put forth recommendations for closing the digital divides and pathways forward. Higher education leaders are uniquely positioned to move beyond the emergency adoption of online learning towards inclusive, long-term visions for digital education, which emphasize collaboration over individual gain.
Keywords:
Access; Collaboration; COVID-19; Digital learning; Digital transformation; Edtech; Governance; Higher education; Inequalities; Leadership; Mixed methods

Contacts :
0