The Advantages of Using Technology in Education: Ensuring Equal Educational Experience for All Students in Bangladesh’s Hill Tract District at Degree Colleges.

Abstract

This study investigates the extent to which educational technology can promote equitable educational experiences in degree colleges across the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh, a region marked by geographical isolation, infrastructural instability, economic disparity, and sociolinguistic diversity. The primary objective was to explore how technology influences access, utilization, and pedagogical readiness among students, teachers, and parents. Guided by four research questions and employing a Convergent Parallel Mixed- Methods design, the study collected quantitative survey data and qualitative reflections from 120 participants across six government and women’s colleges in Rangamati, Khagrachhari, and Bandarban. Quantitative analyses revealed that while basic device ownership is relatively high (81.7% smartphone access), meaningful and equitable usage remains limited. Statistically significant gaps emerged between institutional contexts and stakeholder groups, including an access inequality associated with infrastructural precarity and a notable pedagogical readiness gap among teachers. Qualitative findings highlighted persistent challenges such as unstable electricity, high data costs, limited localized digital content, and language barriers affecting comprehension and engagement. Despite students showing strong motivation to use technology, these structural constraints significantly restrict the transformative potential of digital learning tools in the CHT. The integrated results indicate that technology alone cannot close the digital divide without targeted infrastructural support, context-appropriate curriculum materials, and enhanced teacher training. The study concludes that sustainable progress toward equitable digital education in the CHT requires policy attention to localized digital solutions, investment in reliable connectivity, and capacity-building initiatives that prepare teachers to deliver lowresource digital pedagogy suited to the realities of marginalized hill communities.