Exploring teachers’ experiences of educational digitalization in rural primary education in China

Abstract

Global education systems have attached increasing importance to adopting digital technologies, considering their great potential in creating tremendous opportunities for learning and innovation. In such context, China’s emphasis on technology integration into primary and secondary education arises with the hope of addressing educational equity agenda. However, due to regional disparities regarding investment in education, schools in rural areas are in a disadvantaged position in implementing such initiatives as they require substantial financial investment in digital infrastructure and resources. As key actors of technology integration in education, rural teachers’ voices and stories are of great value in informing relevant policies. Drawing insights upon van Dijk (2013)’s four successive kinds of access model, this study aims to unfold rural primary school teachers’ experiences of educational digitalization in relation to motivation, physical and material access, digital skills, and usage. Additionally, teachers’ perceived impacts of their experiences on teaching and learning were explored as well. Based on semi-structured interviews with eight teachers from a rural primary school in China, the findings suggest that despite structural constraints, teachers generally hold positive perceptions of integrating digital technologies in their teaching practices, and they demonstrate frequent and diversified usage of digital tools and resources. Physical access for teachers is perceived as sufficient but is undermined by internet instability and deteriorating facilities. Material access is characterized by limited subscription to tools. As for digital skills, teachers rely heavily on self-directed learning due to limited training opportunities. The impacts of such experiences include challenged teaching efficiency, increased time burden in learning digital tools, and lesson disruptions. Meanwhile, teachers also expressed concerns about students’ long-term development, such as limited opportunities for digital skills development. The findings indicate the main barriers of incorporating digital technologies into rural education still lie in physical and material access, as well as development of digital skills rather than motivation and usage. And these barriers are not individual in nature but instead are byproducts of existing structural inequalities in current Chinese society.