Description
Abstract
Purpose: This paper explores how digital capacities influence cognitive processes and metacognitive development among African scholarship recipients.
Design/Methodology/Approach: Employing a structured sequential mixed-methods approach, the study intertwines quantitative data from a tracer study with qualitative insights from interviews, capturing the experiences of secondary and tertiary African scholarship recipients and educators. Using Swartz’s Navigational Capacities Framework, this data was analysed to identify the cognitive processes and metacognitive developmental areas that must be nurtured.
Findings: Despite barriers to digital infrastructure across African countries, interviewees have a high appetite for new technology. However, these barriers impede the transformative potential that new smart technologies offer Africa’s graduates. The identified cognitive processes and metacognitive developmental areas include acting alone and developing agency, acquiring digital capitals, aspiring towards possibilities, analysing intersecting policies, achieving digital justice, and acting together to develop collective agency.
Research Implications: The findings underscore the critical role of digital capacities in navigating through the digital economy. This involves advocating for collaborative efforts to bridge the digital divide and promote digital justice. Crucially, there is a need to promote digital literacy and build the digital capabilities of young people across the African continent.
Originality/Value: The focus on digital capacities and cognitive development of African scholarship recipients has not been widely studied. By employing Swartz’s framework to analyse the data, the study provides a nuanced understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by African youth in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Keywords: Digital Capacities, Navigational Capacities, Digital Inclusion, African Youth Development.
