Evaluating Digital Proficiency: A Study on Online and Face-to-Face Educational Engagement Among Rural Middle School Students in Republic of Moldova

Digital inequalities in terms of access, skills, and digital technology use, generate a barrier to participating in an e-learning process, and ultimately it can be a major source of exclusion, inequality, and social isolation. This quantitative research was carried out on a sample of 1526 middle school students residing in rural areas from the Republic of Moldova. The goal of this study is to assess the digital skills of students and their perception of the online educational process. Our results indicate that the highest digital competence area is Digital content creation (DC) and the lowest is “Problem-solving” (PS). We also found a positive correlation between face-to-face discussion with the teacher and the mean scores from the digital skills level, the correlation seems to be mediated by the variable "the possibility to ask the teacher" (PAT). The discussion centers on the teacher's function as a facilitator and mediator of the learning process, with a focus on the tangible interaction between teachers and students as a key contributing factor to the cultivation and enhancement of digital skills.