Laura Czerniewicz is a South African scholar and former professor at the University of Cape Town whose work in educational technology has focused on digital inequality, open education, and the ways learners experience technology within different social and educational contexts. I selected Czerniewicz because digital inequality is something I regularly encounter in my own work with adult newcomers and refugees. Some learners I teach have arrived in Canada in their thirties, forties, or even fifties with little or no previous experience using computers or mobile devices. Yet they enter a society where digital skills are often assumed in employment, education, and everyday life.

One important aspect of Czerniewicz’s work is her attention to the relationship between access, inequality, and learner agency. In a study of South African university students, Czerniewicz, Williams, and Brown (2009) found that access to technology outside university was uneven, but students developed strategies to overcome constraints and participate in digital learning. This view recognizes learners as active agents who respond to the social, material, and technological conditions surrounding their learning.

This work remains highly relevant as education increasingly incorporates artificial intelligence and other digital technologies. More recent research involving Czerniewicz emphasizes that digital inequality is multidimensional and cannot be understood simply as whether someone has access to a device or the Internet (Kuhn et al., 2023). As education moves rapidly toward AI-supported learning, her work raises an important question: who is positioned to benefit from these technologies? For educators, providing access is only part of the challenge. Learners also need opportunities to develop the skills, confidence, and agency necessary to participate meaningfully in increasingly digital learning environments.

References

Czerniewicz, L., Williams, K., & Brown, C. (2009). Students make a plan: Understanding student agency in constraining conditions. ALT-J, 17(2), 75–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687760903033058

Kuhn, C., Khoo, S. M., Czerniewicz, L., Lilley, W., Bute, S., Crean, A., Abegglen, S., Burns, T., Sinfield, S., Jandrić, P., Knox, J., & MacKenzie, A. (2023). Understanding digital inequality: A theoretical kaleidoscope. Postdigital Science and Education, 5, 894–932. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-023-00395-8

AI Use Plan and Transparency Statement
I planned to use generative AI to brainstorm potential individuals for this assignment, identify connections between their work and my teaching context, and perhaps assist with organization and editing. I independently verified biographical information, publications, and links using original or reliable academic sources and reviewed the sources to ensure that claims accurately represented the individual’s work. I made the final decisions regarding the scholar selected, the connections to my professional experience, and the content and wording of the assignment.

AI Reflection
Using AI helped me explore several possible individuals before I selected Laura Czerniewicz. It was particularly useful for helping me identify connections between her research and my own experience teaching adult newcomers and refugees. However, because the assignment specifically raised concerns about AI-generated inaccuracies, I did not rely on AI-generated information alone. I checked the sources and links to confirm that the research and publications were authentic and accurately represented. The process helped me narrow my focus, but my own professional experience ultimately influenced both my choice of Czerniewicz and the direction of the post.