"Let's talk about data": Co-Designing Critical Data Literacy Tools for K-12 Education through Dialogic Learning

This paper investigates dialogic learning as a pedagogical lens for designing tools that support critical data literacy (CDL) in K-12 education. We present a research-through-design (RtD) project conducted with three teachers to operationalize dialogic learning in design. The resulting prototype, Datafy, enables students to produce and analyze personally meaningful music data and co-create playlists, fostering critical reflection and dialogue around data practices. Through a classroom observation with 40 sixth-grade students, we show how the tool shaped learners’ collaborative exploration and construction of knowledge about data. We contribute a theoretical framework and an empirical case study of embedding dialogic learning in the design of CDL technologies that promote dialogue and critical engagement with data. We recommend: (1) anchoring co-design with teachers in learning activities and learning goals, (2) designing diverse opportunities for dialogue about critical data literacy, and (3) treating dialogue linked to learning goals as design evidence for tool evaluation.