Despite decades of investment in educational technology, much research on the digital divide has focused on the first level of inequality—physical access to devices and the frequency of use—while giving insufficient attention to the second and third levels, namely digital competence and learning outcomes. Using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment 2022, this study applied Multilevel Latent Profile Analyses to examine how patterns of ICT usage, competence, and academic achievement combine to shape learning outcomes across economies. Four ICT-achievement profiles were identified. The most successful group combined balanced ICT use with high competence and attained the strongest academic achievement. By contrast, students who reported heavy ICT use primarily for leisure performed below average, and students with poor competence and limited ICT engagement remained the most disadvantaged. Another group with high ICT engagement for both study and leisure achieved only average performance, suggesting that greater access and intensity of use do not automatically translate into better learning outcomes.
At the country level, economies differed systematically in the distribution of these profiles. High-performing systems such as Singapore, Japan, and Finland were characterized by a larger proportion of students in the balanced, high-competence group. In contrast, countries including Brazil and Indonesia showed higher proportions of students in low-competence or leisure-focused profiles, corresponding with weaker overall performance. Wealthy but uneven cases, such as Brunei, demonstrated that economic development does not guarantee strong educational digital capital, as high levels of access were not matched with high competence.
Anchored in Digital Capital Theory, the findings demonstrate that the decisive factor in bridging the digital divide lies not in expanding infrastructure or increasing usage, but in cultivating students' digital competence and ensuring its productive application to learning. Efforts to narrow educational inequalities in the digital era must therefore prioritize competence-building and meaningful engagement, particularly for disadvantaged groups.