Empirical study of a sequence of access to Internet use in Ecuador

What is it about?

Ecuador is a country that represents the efforts that a few countries in the Latin American and the Caribbean region are making on infrastructures, regulations and policies that are favorable towards the use of the Internet. However, although the digital divide in its most basic form (physical access and use) is closing with respect to developed countries, a new, more complex digital divide is moving forward, and is related to the socio-economic advantages of the Internet. This study, which used a random sample stratified by provinces and which comprised 3754 respondents representing the secondary school students in Ecuador, had as objectives: (a) to verify the relationship and sequence among the different levels to access the Internet found on secondary school students; and (b) to verify to what degree the student’s family status influenced the different levels of Internet access. Through the empirical analysis of a structural model, the results showed a sequence between the relationships found among the different levels of Internet access, as well as the cumulative effect of the technical resources and levels of digital literacy on the academic use of the Internet. Likewise, it was observed that the influence of the student’s family status lost strength as the level of Internet access increased.

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Why is it important?

This study tested a sequence of access to Internet use. Successive phases/stages of technology appropriation were verified to some extent. Dates supported the importance of physical access on successive levels of access. It is need to develop policies that act upon the three levels of digital divide. The resources required for literacy should be oriented to specific types of use.