IMPACTS OF DIGITAL EXCLUSION ON THE TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS: ANALYSIS IN THE LIGHT OF CRITICAL AND TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the impacts of digital exclusion on the teaching-learning process in Brazilian basic education, in light of the principles of critical and transformative education. Digital exclusion, which has been highlighted and exacerbated in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, constitutes a structural barrier that compromises the right to education, affecting the cognitive, social, and emotional development of students, especially those from socially vulnerable backgrounds. The text addresses the pedagogical and social effects of this reality, also discussing the challenges of public policies to overcome inequalities in access to information and communication technologies (ICTs). The theoretical framework is based on Paulo Freire's emancipatory pedagogy and contemporary studies on inequality, digital inclusion, social justice, and the right to education. It concludes that overcoming digital exclusion is an indispensable condition for building a democratic, inclusive, and socially just education.