A Pilot E-literacy Environmental Scan in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa

The Northern Cape and Southern Gauteng CoLab at the Vaal University of Technology has been mandated to provide e-literacy training to communities in the Northern Cape and Southern Gauteng regions of South Africa. The problem however is that no scientific data on the e-literacy levels of these communities exist, which has led to the CoLab embarking on a pilot environmental scan with the objective of obtaining an estimation of the e-literacy levels of these communities. This paper focuses specifically on the outcomes for the Northern Cape Province. The results have proven useful to gain an initial understanding of the attributes that have an influence on the ICT access and competency of learners, and a preliminary baseline could be established. Based on the attributes, the questionnaire will be revised and used in a follow-up study to establish a sound e-literacy baseline against which future data can be analysed and measured.