Digital Divide, Local and Global? Surveying Augmented Reality Educational Usage in Europe and South America

Abstract

Augmented Reality (AR) has the potential to enhance students’ learning experiences. To deploy AR as educational tool, access to the requisite infrastructure and readiness of teachers are basic conditions to be met. The lack thereof is the digital divide that can undermine the opportunity and ability to use AR educational applications (AREAs) for students and teachers. Such issues were identified in a survey with a sample of European teachers on their educational usage of AR. We aimed to study the digital divide more globally by running the same survey with teachers in South America. We collected 123 valid responses from ten South American countries. Comparing the results of the two datasets showed that the teachers sampled from both continents were facing the challenges of the digital divide to utilise AREAs. We discussed how these challenges could be addressed to allow both, teachers and students, to benefit from AR as educational tool.