The Use of ICT in Primary Schools - Analysis of the Digital Divide in the Republic of Croatia

ICT has changed the way we live, work, learn and communicate. However, the recent uneven expansion of technology use has led to the emergence of differences between countries, regions, groups of people and individuals. In addition, another difference known as the digital divide resurfaced. In this paper the authors have outlined the results of their research, which took place in April and June of 2011 among e grade pupils. The aim of the research was to determine whether the digital divide among e grade primary school pupils in certain rural and urban regions exists. Our sample consisted of 286 pupils in 9 primary schools. Four primary schools have been taken as representatives of the urban regions (the town of Zagreb) and 5 of the rural (the region of Nova Gradiska). The results show that the digital divide does not manifest itself when compared against the access of infrastructure. However, the results imply that a digital divide might exist between the pupils of these two regions with regard to the knowledge of technology use, but also to the opportunity of buying new technologies.