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Harini Nambiar
Independent Researcher
Karnataka, India
Abstract
Digital textbooks offer transformative potential for enhancing educational equity, especially among marginalized communities, by delivering interactive multimedia content, real‑time updates, and customizable learning pathways. However, tribal schoolchildren in India often face unique barriers to accessing these digital learning resources due to infrastructural deficits (unstable electricity, limited broadband), socio‑economic constraints (low household incomes, shared or nonexistent devices), and cultural‑linguistic mismatches between mainstream content and indigenous knowledge systems. This manuscript investigates the extent of digital textbook access among tribal learners, combining quantitative surveys of 500 students across five representative tribal districts and qualitative interviews with 25 teachers and 10 community leaders. We examine critical factors such as device ownership patterns, frequency and context of e‑textbook use, levels of digital literacy self‑efficacy, and the quality of pedagogical support. Our analysis reveals that while government schemes (e.g., One Tablet per School) and NGO partnerships have successfully deployed hardware and basic training modules, persistent challenges—such as intermittent connectivity, lack of offline functionality for multimedia, and absence of tribal‑language versions—undermine sustained usage. Notably, students who received blended offline‑online instruction and culturally adapted materials demonstrated higher engagement and comprehension scores. Educational implications underscore the necessity for a holistic strategy: robust infrastructure investments (solar charging stations, offline content caching), community‑driven content co‑creation to ensure linguistic and cultural relevance, sustained teacher professional development in digital pedagogy, and active engagement of tribal elders and parents in program design. By illuminating these multifaceted barriers and enablers, the study offers evidence‑based recommendations for policymakers, educators, and stakeholders to bridge the digital divide and foster inclusive, resilient learning ecosystems tailored to the needs of tribal communities.
Keywords
Digital textbooks; tribal education; digital divide; equity; digital literacy; India
References
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