Joseph James Echevarria President and Chief Executive Officer | School of Education and Human Development News & Events University of Miami
International Literacy Day, observed globally on September 8 since 1967, highlights the importance of literacy as a basic human right and its role in fostering understanding and positive change. In recent years, the digital era has introduced new challenges to interpreting information due to the rapid spread of data, much of which is generated by artificial intelligence systems that may carry biases.
To address these issues, the University of Miami School of Education and Human Development established the Data Analytics and Intelligence for Social Impact (DAISI) degree program over a year ago. The program was developed by Professor AhnSoyeon Ahn, who also serves as senior vice dean of academic, faculty, and research affairs, along with EllenMarie McPhillip, associate dean of undergraduate academic services. They started from the belief that data affects almost every part of daily life and should be approached directly.
“Many people think that data has to do with just numbers and math. Data is anything that has to do with information—it’s a logic, it’s a dialogue, it’s our life,” said Ahn. “Through the program, we’re empowering students to actively engage with this reality.”
Ahn emphasized that literacy today involves more than reading text; it means making sense of all kinds of information in order to improve lives. She noted that technology such as voice assistants, smartphones, and AI-powered tools require users to have some level of technological awareness.
Digital information can often be biased because algorithms are created quickly without widely shared guidelines for fairness. This situation makes promoting literacy more complicated than before.
“People are trying to make sense of so much stimuli,” Ahn said. “Yet the information getting to them might be biased, minimally representative, or even a hallucination.”
Rather than focusing on advanced quantitative or computational skills alone, DAISI aims to teach students how to critically assess and contextualize information for social benefit. The program broadens the definition of data literacy beyond numbers or text to include nonverbal cues like eye contact or gestures.
Students can choose electives in fields such as philosophy, language studies, psychology, sociology, or public health. This flexibility allows them to bring their personal backgrounds into classroom discussions.
“Students are encouraged to bring their full selves—their cultural backgrounds and societal experiences to the table,” Ahn said. “They learn to see how their diverse perspectives, shaped by culture and society, directly influence how data is collected, analyzed, and contextualized.”
Ahn underlined the need for critical thinking throughout every stage of working with data and stressed knowing both your audience and intended impact—a core aspect of any form of literacy.
“Yes, it’s a very basic concept, but not everyone knows it. Even for me, when I’m teaching statistics or any course, I must remember that if I don’t know my audience—the barriers that might be keeping them from learning—then I’m not connecting,” Ahn said. “To create social impact, you have to know who you are talking to, where they are coming from, and where are they heading.
“And this communication is not just verbal—it can be visual, oral, or written. You have to know your audience and think about how to make the data resonate,” she added. “Otherwise there are no changes. There’s no impact.”
She also spoke about the value of interdisciplinary teamwork in analyzing data: “No one can know everything. You need to have people with different backgrounds, disciplines, and perspectives working together to make sense of data,” she said.
Ahn pointed out that including varied groups when developing algorithms leads to more representative outcomes; she referenced initiatives like Chat Black GPT as examples.
Her main goal for DAISI is making data literacy available broadly because it has become essential in everyday life rather than being reserved for specialists. While foundational knowledge in analytics remains important within DAISI's curriculum, its primary focus is on applying these skills toward human-centered goals.
“We value an understanding of numbers and math in our program and have students who love math,” Ahn said. “But what we truly care about is an individual’s curiosity compassion and ability to use knowledge to identify and address real-world problems.
“We’re looking for students who want to consciously generate more representative less biased data and make sense of it to lead social change for individuals and communities,” Ahn said.
Alerts Sign-up