Digital Learning Equity and Access: A Qualitative Review of UNESCO and OECD Education Reports

Abstract

This study examines how digital learning equity and access are conceptualized and operationalized in strategic education reports issued by UNESCO and the OECD through a qualitative interpretive review. Employing document analysis, thematic coding, and cross-institutional comparison, the research identifies dominant normative frames, governance mechanisms, and socio-pedagogical orientations embedded in global digital education discourse. The findings indicate that equity is framed through a dual logic of rights-based inclusion and system performance, producing conceptual tensions that influence implementation strategies. Institutional capacity, leadership, professional development, cybersecurity governance, and AI regulation emerge as central instruments for translating equity commitments into practice. At the socio-pedagogical level, learner agency, inclusive design, and lifelong learning pathways expand equity beyond infrastructural access toward meaningful participation. The review highlights persistent ambiguities in defining digital equity and underscores the need for integrated frameworks that align ethical, institutional, and experiential dimensions. The study contributes theoretically by refining digital equity as a multidimensional construct and methodologically by demonstrating the value of interpretive policy synthesis in global education research.