Digital divide and emergency remote education: Reconsidering the use of educational radio during the pandemic

Abstract

In this article, the concepts of interaction and digital divide in emergency remote education practices implemented due to the Covid-19 global pandemic are discussed, and the increasing importance of radio as a traditional mass communication tool in bridging the digital divide and structuring an interactive learning process is emphasized. In this article, the concepts of interaction and digital divide in emergency remote education practices implemented due to the Covid-19 global pandemic are discussed, and the increasing importance of radio as a traditional mass communication tool in bridging the digital divide and structuring an interactive learning process is emphasized. In this exploratory study, the main aim is to see the usefulness of university radio for education during the pandemic process by looking at the experiences gained during the Covid 19 pandemic period. The study examines the program preferences of the participants and reveals better program schedules and program types/themes that will be useful during the emergency education period. When the radio listening habits of Eskisehir Technical University students and academics are evaluated within the scope of emergency distance education applications, it is seen that radio broadcasts can be used as a powerful tool against the digital divide. Research findings show that there is a significant relationship between academic and students’ radio listening time. The factor analysis showed also revealed different factor groups for academics and students. Within the framework of radio program types, six basic factors were determined for both groups. When the learner-instructor interaction is evaluated within the framework of both broadcast times and broadcast types, it is understood that the two-way interaction process can be structured within this framework. The abstract should be about 150-200 words. The abstracts of the research papers should include the purpose, methodology, and results while the abstracts of theoretical papers should provide the general framework, special contributions to the literature, and major conclusions. The abstract should not contain any undefined abbreviations or unspecified references.