Digital Access Gaps and Participation Barriers in Hybrid Arts Education Programs

Abstract

This study investigates how the digital divide shapes student participation barriers in hybrid arts education programs. The study is designed to collect data from approximately 720 students enrolled in 30 hybrid arts-related programs across urban, suburban, and community learning centers. Data sources include student questionnaires, platform login records, online attendance data, assignment submission logs, teacher feedback records, and interview transcripts. The study measures device availability, internet stability, home learning space, digital literacy, platform familiarity, online attendance rate, login frequency, assignment completion rate, feedback reception frequency, peer interaction frequency, learning satisfaction, and dropout intention. Quantitative analysis applies logistic regression, multiple regression, mediation analysis, latent class analysis, and group comparison to identify different types of participation barriers and learner profiles. The study further examines whether digital literacy and teacher support mediate the relationship between technological access and learning continuity. Based on latent class analysis, students can be classified into groups such as high-access active learners, digitally constrained persistent learners, low-support inactive learners and high-risk disengaged learners. Interview data from approximately 50 students are used to explain why some learners remain formally enrolled but become inactive in online learning tasks. The innovation of this study lies in moving beyond a simple access-based view of the digital divide and building a multidimensional model that connects technology access, platform behavior, teacher support, and sustained participation in hybrid arts education.