Digital inequality remains one of the most pressing societal challenges, affecting access to education, employment, and civic participation (Smit et al., 2023; Smit et al., 2024; Stiller & Trkulja, 2024). The mechanisms of digital exclusion extend beyond basic internet access and include lack of digital skills, affordability issues, inadequate equipment, poor connectivity in rural areas, security and privacy concerns, low motivation, and insufficient accessibility measures. These barriers disproportionately affect individuals based on gender, geographic location, socio-economic background, personal limitations, and age. This interactive workshop aims to raise awareness of digital inequality and introduce practical measures to achieve digital equity in adult education. Participants will engage in a participatory format that enables them to develop strategies for digital inclusion in their own educational contexts.
Topics, Objectives and Expected Outcomes
This workshop is grounded in Van Dijk’s frameworks on the digital divide (e.g., 2020) and studies that investigated different aspects of digital inequity, highlighting that digital inequality is not just about access but also about skills, autonomy, and the ability to use technology meaningfully (Pérez-Escolar & Canet, 2023; Robinson et al., 2020). Participants will gain a deeper understanding of digital inclusion and its impact on learners. They will explore digital inequality, its impact on education, and develop practical skills to identify barriers during the phases of educational programs and implement inclusive strategies.
Workshop Structure and Target Audience
We will begin the workshop with a 15-minute introduction and input session where participants are presented with theoretical frameworks on digital inequity, highlighting its various manifestations and societal implications. Following this, a 30-minute hands-on activity engages participants in group work using discussion cards with persona-based case studies. Each group identifies key barriers to digital inclusion for their assigned persona and maps these challenges to the different phases and elements of digital educational formats: recruiting, onboarding, course structure, and learner support. The discussion also explores how intersectional factors such as gender, age, disabilities, and socio-economic status shape digital exclusion. The session then transitions into a solutions-focused segment where participants explore measures and practical intervention strategies to create inclusive digital educational formats based on their assigned persona. Finally, we will introduce them to a one-page cheat-sheet toolkit that offers practical guidance for designing inclusive digital education programs. We shaped the toolkit through the experiences of designing digital education formats for refugees over the last two years. It enables educators to identify specific needs of their target groups and ensures that their digital education initiatives are inclusive and sustainable. We designed this workshop for professionals and educators working towards digital inclusion in educational programs as well as anyone engaged in fostering digital equity and inclusion.
References
Pérez-Escolar, M., & Canet, F. (2023). Research on vulnerable people and digital inclusion: Toward a consolidated taxonomical framework. Universal Access in the Information Society, 22(3): 1059–1072.
Robinson, L., et al. (2020). Digital inequalities 2.0: Legacy inequalities in the information age. First Monday, 25(7).
Smit, A., Swart, J., & Broersma, M. (2023). Digital inclusion of low-literate adults: Challenging the sequential underpinnings of the digital divide. In B. Herlo & D. Irrgang (Eds.), Proceedings of the Weizenbaum Conference 2022: Practicing Sovereignty – Interventions for Open Digital Futures (pp. 72–84). Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society.
Smit, A., Swart, J., & Broersma, M. (2024). Bypassing digital literacy: Marginalized citizens’ tactics for participation and inclusion in digital societies. New Media & Society, 14614448231220383.
Stiller, J., & Trkulja, V. (2024). Digitale Teilhabe und Chancengleichheit: Wege zu gerechten Bildungsangeboten für Erwachsene [Digital participation and equal opportunities: Pathways to fair educational opportunities for adults]. Information – Wissenschaft & Praxis, 75(5/6): 243–252.
Van Dijk, J. (2020). The Digital Divide. John Wiley & Sons.
