Bridging the EdTech Divide Under Resource Constraints: How a Rural Principal Navigated Resource Scarcity to Elevate Learning Quality

Abstract

The global expansion of educational technology has highlighted a stark disparity in digital transformation between urban and rural schooling systems. In marginalized primary schools, severe infrastructure deficits and limited teacher digital literacy frequently impede meaningful EdTech integration. This qualitative single-case study investigated how a primary school principal conceptualized and enacted innovative leadership strategies to optimize technology-assisted learning within a resource-constrained rural context (SDN Satap 12 Konawe Selatan, Indonesia). Data was collected over an eight-week field engagement through semi-structured interviews, direct classroom observations, and documentary analysis involving the school principal, teaching staff, elementary students, and administrative personnel. Utilizing an interactive thematic analysis framework, the study revealed that principal leadership innovation operated across four interconnected dimensions: localized peer-mentoring circles, adaptive rotational hardware management, offline content pre-loading, and administrative tool modeling. Despite severe hardware shortages and unstable internet connectivity, these frugal leadership practices successfully enhanced teacher digital self-efficacy, expanded pedagogical diversity, and elevated student learning engagement. The study contributes a grounded model of "frugal digital leadership" to educational management literature, demonstrating that administrative vision and cultural empowerment can effectively offset material scarcity. These findings imply that educational policymakers should prioritize contextualized leadership capacity building and offline EdTech management strategies over top-heavy hardware distribution alone when driving digital equity in rural schools.