Minoritised populations' challenges and informal learning behaviours in response to the digitalisation of online services

FitzGerald, Elizabeth; Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes and Bailey, Sara (2024). Minoritised populations' challenges and informal learning behaviours in response to the digitalisation of online services. In: ICERI2024 Proceedings, IATED, (In press).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21125/iceri.2024

URL: https://library.iated.org/publications/ICERI2024

Abstract

The increasing digitalisation of online services in all aspects of life, including education, presents specific challenges to more disadvantaged populations who face additional barriers when attempting to access those services. Skills and literacies required for online access to services such as healthcare may be acquired in formal education or informal ways within communities and families. In this paper we present relevant findings from Protecting Minority Ethnic Communities Online (PRIME), a UK Research and Innovation funded transdisciplinary, cross-sectoral project led by Heriot-Watt University and involving four other universities and four community organisations. The project has sought to understand minority ethnic communities’ experiences of online services in health, energy and social housing and how online harms can be mitigated for these communities. Interviews were carried out with 100 participants from several ethnic backgrounds including Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Black Caribbean and Black African. Qualitative interview data analysis has revealed that formal and especially informal learning have a role to play in facilitating attempts to access the online services. A range of different learning and support practices were apparent, such as learning through trial and error, learning by accessing online information and learning from family members. We use Bourdieu’s theory of capital, where capital is the resources which individuals possess (economic, cultural and social) and which help explain the dynamics of power and inequality in society. We exemplify some of the learning practices and draw conclusions about minoritised ethnic populations’ challenges, current practices and implications for enabling better access to online services.

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