Digital Inclusion Struggles: Virtual Learning Experiences of English Education Students at Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

The widespread adoption of digital pedagogy has brought the issueof digital inclusion to the forefront. Many the learners struggle with limiteddigital skills amidst vast digitalization of education, often find themselves lost inthe process. Such challenges become more vocal when the conventional classesare suspended and online mode only becomes the way out to teaching andlearning This study explores the lived experiences of university English educationstudents on their experiences of online education especially at the time whenconventional classes were suspended and digital inequalities exposed to thesurface. The paper explores their struggle to cope with basic digital skills forlearning the curricula set for face-to-face classes. I used Heideggerianphenomenology to explore lived experiences, viewing meaning as co-constructedthrough existence and context. Data collection began with informal Facebookchats with three teachers and eight students, leading to in-depth interviews withthree Master‘s students in English education and reflective essays from two others. From the study, I found that the shift to virtual classes brought stress tothe students, and they struggled not only to achieve their curricular goals but alsoto the emancipation from the digital divide. Digital inequality, which emergesfrom the students‘ attitudinal factors, their economic background, andgeographical location, was a key determining factor for their academicachievement during the time of concern and drew a clear demarcation betweenhaves and have-nots in terms of digital access.