CONDITIONS OF VIRTUAL LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC IN SECONDARY EDUCATION: ANALYSIS FROM GENDER AND ETHNICITY

The Ecuadorian educational system was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic; one of the transcendental changes was to transition from the face-to-face tuition system to the use of virtual alternatives, where ICT and student learning conditions had to be quickly adapted. The aim of this research is to describe the conditions of virtual learning in pandemic and to determine the level of relationship of these conditions with gender and ethnicity of students in the eighth, ninth and tenth years of secondary education. It is a quantitative study, of correlational and descriptive scope; the universe studied was 29344 students. The sample consisted of 1078 students, who were administered a survey with a reliability level of 0.84 (Cronbach's alpha). The study showed a statistically significant difference between gender and ethnicity with the availability of equipment, connectivity, sufficient privacy and comfortable space to carry out the studies; but there is no statistically significant difference with the availability of time. As a conclusion, the pandemic revealed large social gaps among students. In terms of virtual learning conditions, women, afro descendants, and indigenous people present the most disadvantages.