by Lotte Vermeire, imec‐SMIT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium.
How do you teach data and digital skills in a context where many young people lack reliable internet, adequate devices, or prior computer experience? This question is central to a recent case study at a university in Cape Town, South Africa, focusing on a course designed to equip first-year university students with essential digital and data competences, such as using a mouse, navigating files, collecting and presenting information. Through interviews with the teaching team and national experts in data education, we explored how data literacy is conceptualised, which challenges educators encounter, and which strategies work best in contexts shaped by digital inequalities.
The findings show that teaching data literacy in contexts of systemic inequality requires more than technical instruction on how to use ICT. Educators navigate insufficient infrastructure, high data costs, linguistic barriers, mobile-first habits and experiences, and students’ low confidence with or distrust around technology. At the same time, the most successful approaches build on their lived realities through hands-on practice, scaffolding, peer support and learning, and context-sensitive and culturally relevant examples.
Data literacy is contextual, interdependent, and shaped by inequalities
Data literacy is not neutral. It is shaped by structural inequalities, global data asymmetries, linguistic differences, and everyday digital practices. In South Africa, loadshedding, expensive mobile data, and limited access to devices directly influence what is possible in the classroom. Educators constantly adapt through offline resources, walk-in labs, flexible teaching formats, locally meaningful examples, and so on.
Language plays an important role here. South Africa has 12 official languages, yet most instructional materials are available only in English, or Afrikaans. Students who do not speak English or Afrikaans at home face additional barriers when engaging with data. Experts emphasised that this linguistic inequality, rooted in the legacies of apartheid, limits meaningful access to data-related terminology.
In such conditions, one-size-fits-all models fail. Frameworks ‘imported’ from Global North contexts rarely work without adaptation, as they often assume stable internet connection, affordable data, and uniform competence levels. Effective approaches instead require flexibility, low-data formats, multiple entry points, and locally meaningful materials rather than expecting all students to fit the same mould.
Foundational skills in a mobile-first reality
“You don’t just wake up and suddenly understand… you need to start somewhere, but we forget about the foundational part” (Expert on digital inequalities and literacies).
South Africa increasingly invests in advanced digital skills (e.g., AI, coding, data science), yet many young people lack basic computer competences, having developed most of their digital competences through mobile phone use rather than through computers[1]. This creates a mismatch between national ambitions and everyday digital realities. For example, students may be more familiar with navigating apps or social media, but may struggle with tasks such as uploading files, using a spreadsheet, or managing the desktop interface.
Foundational ICT competences, including using a keyboard and mouse, but also protecting one’s personal data, therefore form a critical entry point for equitable data literacy training. For this reason, educators emphasise structured introductory support through guided demonstrations, step-by-step activities, and repetition, as well as through the presence of student-tutors who provide differentiated support. Although national policy increasingly emphasises advanced digital skills such as AI and coding, the study shows that overlooking these foundational layers risks worsening rather than reducing existing digital inequalities.
Peer and community support reduce barriers
Trusted intermediaries, such as student-tutors, community organisations, and libraries, play a crucial role in lowering barriers, supporting confidence, and normalising technology use. Non-hierarchical, peer-based environments help counter shame, fear, and low self-efficacy, especially in contexts where many students feel uncertain or embarrassed about asking questions. To address this, peer tutors assist in and outside of class, lowering the barrier for learning. Outside the classroom, peers, librarians, NGOs, and community educators are seen and act as trusted “champions”, offering approachable and safe spaces for learning and experimenting.
Students benefit from environments in which they can practice with the devices in hand, ask questions, and seek help from those in their social network without judgment. Educators in the course emphasise a non-hierarchical approach, encouraging students to experiment, make mistakes, and explore at their own pace. Seeing someone “like them” use a tool successfully increases the willingness to try and normalises digital participation: “If they can do it, I can try too.” These relational and affective dimensions are crucial for sustained engagement in the learning process.
Because no institution can address digital inequalities alone, respondents call for holistic approaches that require schools, universities, libraries, NGO’s, government actors, and communities to collaborate to create inclusive data literacy education. Starting with basic digital and data competences and deliberately building toward more advanced, critical, and context-aware forms of data literacy is essential for ensuring that we do not simply reproduce or exacerbate existing inequalities but instead enable meaningful, sustained participation.
[1] Craffert, L., Keating, C., Katunga, N., Blignaut, R., Khanye, F., Padmanabhanunni, A., Ponnet, K., De Marez, L., Keddie, J., Van Audenhove, L., & Mange, S. (2025). Digital engagement in South Africa: Current landscape and readiness outlook in four provinces.
Lotte Vermeire is a joint PhD researcher in communication sciences at imec‐SMIT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in Belgium and information systems at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in South Africa. Her research looks into data literacy, digital youth work, and digital inequalities. Her PhD project focuses on digitally inclusive initiatives aimed at improving data literacy in both formal and non‐formal educational settings.
