Technology as a Tool to Reduce School Dropout Rates in Costa Rica

Abstract

This study aimed to research the factors that cause school dropout and whether technology can positively influence the reduction of this phenomenon in adolescents. The research method was conducted using a qualitative-exploratory approach. The sample was 92 students, from two schools located in two different regions in Costa Rica for the year 2021. The results show the gender distribution and the dropout rate in the selected sample indicate that the male gender has the highest dropout rate with 65.22%, this result shows the abundance of unskilled jobs for men and the value system associated with the male gender. The findings evidence that the female gender has a higher level of dropout in rural areas (53.12%), and one important reason is teenage pregnancy. In conclusion, students who drop out of the school system do so mainly because of a lack of interest in classes and economic problems in the family environment. Finally, it is concluded that for a virtual education process to be successful, it is not only enough to use technology as a tool, but the teacher must also establish a teaching model that is agile, flexible, and dynamic to maintain the student's interest. Among the recommendations, measures are proposed to reduce school dropout rates in the institutions.

Received: 15 January 2025 | Revised: 5 March 2025 | Accepted: 22 April 2025

Conflicts of Interest

The author declares that he has no conflict of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Author Contribution Statement

Gabriel Silva-Atencio: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration.