Smartphones in the Hands of Rural Women: Embracing Informal Learning for Digital Literacy

Abstract

Based on observations of a rural community and in-depth interviews with five rural women, this paper shows how access to smartphones enables marginalised rural women to engage in digital literacies in their everyday life practices. The research shows that rural women learn digital skills, communication skills, and literacies in an unplanned and informal way within the family setting and their neighbourhood and through commercial activities in the local markets. The paper concludes that policymakers have much to learn from the unplanned and informal ways in which these rural women are developing their digital literacies in their everyday life through having access to smartphones. Therefore, using smartphones with informal learning approaches could provide a foundation for future literacy programmes.