Digital divide in primary education students in Tamaulipas, Mexico: an overview of the State's future human capital

In the last years, the digital divide has received special attention of investigators and international organizations, since it generates digital inequality that impacts social development and education. The model of accessibility in stages to the Technology (AET), proposed by Van Dijk, has been consolidated as an evolutionary theoretical framework, which aims to explain the social penetration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). In addition, it defines an important part of the segment of the theory of resources and the appropriation of technology (ART). The objective of this work was to employ the accessibility model in stages to Technology (AET) to assess three aspects of the digital divide in primary schools of Tamaulipas: the level of digital infrastructure, the degree of knowledge, and the use given to ICT by students at this level. This research was empirical and descriptive, with a non-experimental design. The analyzed information was obtained from a sample of 213 students of 167 institutions in the State, who were administered a questionnaire used by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the Organization of the United Nations (ECLA-CUN). Regression analysis tests showed significant causal links (P < 0.05) between the variable motivation, access to ICT infrastructure, level of skills and level of use of ICT. The level of capacities was a significant influence on the level of use of these technologies, the causal relation Motivation x Access revealed a negative Beta that affects the appropriation of these technologies by students due to two main factors: a lack of access to ICT infrastructure, or lack of its effective use; and a discontinuous or non-existent training process.