Higher education in Chiapas from the perspective of digital inequality in times of the covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

This article presents the results of a research conducted in 2020 on technological inequality in "online education" during Covid-19 pandemic among students of the Autonomous University of Chiapas. Questions of this research: Does the modality of "online education" widen the educational inequalities of university students? What were the strategies of teachers and students to give continuity to pedagogical communication, and what were the strategies of teachers and students to give continuity to pedagogical communication? Methodology used was socio-anthropological with a qualitative approach, the methodological strategy contemplated the following stages: a) choosing of students and teachers, b) interviews with students, through “Google Meet” application and chat, c) interviews with teachers through Zoom application and chat d) transcription of the interviews and systematization of the information in Microsoft Access. Results show the deepening of inequality among students as a result of "online education" and "virtualization". Most used technology by university teachers in this modality were social networks and WhatsApp, but not the university educational platform.