Digital Barriers and Individual Coping Behaviors in Distance Education During COVID-19

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have played a pivotal role in facilitating knowledge acquisition and enabling distance education. Yet, knowledge about digital divide in distance education remains limited. This study examines digital barriers that underserved students face in distance education and their coping behaviors during the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Informed by distance education and digital divide literature, this study uses qualitative research method to analyze survey data collected from 206 college students in a four-year public university in the United States. Results revealed five major digital barriers and showed that the distribution of these digital barriers varied by student demographic background and socioeconomic status. Further analysis of respondents’ narratives revealed three coping behaviors, including improvising, building technical assets, and building social assets. Practical implications are provided to educators and policymakers to invest in ICT and implement equity-minded teaching practices to enhance digital inclusion.