Digital Non-Formal Education and Youth: Conditions of Access, Use and Meaningful Learning in Brazil.

Marcelo de Oliveira; Alaina Alves

DOI: 10.22167/2675-6528-202603239

Article derived from a Course Conclusion Work (TCC), with content based on the student’s original work and adapted to the editorial format of the E&S Magazine with the support of the ResumeAI tool, an artificial intelligence solution developed by Instituto Pecege for textual synthesis and organization.

Summary

The expansion of digital technologies has transformed learning processes in recent decades, but persistent inequalities in access condition the educational possibilities for Brazilian youth. The study investigated how digital access conditions can favor or limit meaningful learning (Ausubel, 1963; Moreira, 2012) in non-formal contexts. To this end, the research, of a quali-quantitative nature and descriptive-analytical approach, analyzed secondary data from the TIC Domicílios survey (Cetic.br, 2025) and institutional documents (A4AI, 2020; UNESCO, 2024). The results revealed that, although the majority of young Brazilians access the internet, a significant portion did so exclusively via smartphone, especially in lower socioeconomic classes. The technical precariousness arising from this condition imposed an extrinsic cognitive load, which consumed working memory resources and compromised the disposition to learn and the anchoring of new knowledge, according to Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller, 1994). It was concluded that the binary metric of connectivity is insufficient. The absence of Meaningful Connectivity (A4AI, 2020) operated as a neurocognitive barrier to learning, deepening educational inequalities and challenging the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 10 in Brazil (UN, 2015).

Keywords: Meaningful learning; Meaningful connectivity; Digital inequality; Non-formal education; Youth.

1. Introduction

In recent decades, the expansion of digital technologies has profoundly transformed the ways of production, communication, and learning in contemporary societies. In Brazil, this process has been marked by advances in infrastructure, but also by persistent inequalities that condition the quality of access and the possibilities of technology-mediated learning. In light of neuroscience, such inequalities are not limited to the social sphere but directly impact cognitive development processes, as the brain is highly sensitive to the quality of environmental stimuli. Evidence indicates that contexts with restricted or low-quality access to digital technologies can compromise executive functions, sustained attention, and working memory, skills fundamental for learning. The use of technologies in learning, in line with Lev Vygotsky’s (2007) perspective, is part of mediation processes, in which cognitive development is constructed through social interaction and the use of cultural tools.

Non-formal education is characterized by educational intentionality developed outside the curricular structures and certification processes of formal education, presenting greater flexibility regarding spaces, times, audiences, methods, and forms of participation (Gohn, 2006; Fernandes and Garcia, 2019). Unlike informal education, non-formal education involves deliberate educational objectives and can be developed by social organizations, public or private institutions, collectives, and different civil society initiatives. Part of these experiences occurs in digital environments, such as online course platforms, virtual learning communities, and educational channels. In these contexts, learning combines participant autonomy and flexibility of pathways, without replicating formal curricular organization. This characteristic makes it relevant to analyze the conditions of access and use of technologies, as participation in digital educational experiences depends not only on the existence of a connection but also on the material, technical, and social conditions that allow young people to interact and participate actively.

The ICT Households data, produced by Cetic.br, show the widespread dissemination of Internet access among Brazilian youth. Millions of individuals between 16 and 24 years old report recent use of the network, indicating the centrality of digital technologies in their daily lives, including in practices carried out outside formal educational contexts (Cetic.br, 2025). However, the forms of access present important variations among different social contexts. Although 95% of young people aged 16 to 24 access the Internet, 56% do so exclusively by smartphone, a percentage that rises to 87% in classes D/E. Only 24% of young people in these classes study online, with 73% being from class A. In a large portion of lower-income households, access occurs predominantly through mobile phones, often as the only device available, pointing to the coexistence of different Internet access conditions in the country.

To qualify this access beyond the binary metric, this work relies on the concept of Meaningful Connectivity, defined by the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI, 2020) and adopted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU, 2022). This concept describes daily Internet access through an adequate device, with sufficient data and a fast connection. The absence of these conditions acts as a barrier, directly influencing learning possibilities.

From the perspective of cognitive neuroscience, Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory (1994) argues that the absence of Significant Connectivity imposes an “extrinsic cognitive load” on the young learner. The mental effort expended to overcome technical limitations, such as freezes, slowness, and inadequate interfaces, saturates working memory and dissipates the attentional resources necessary for deep learning. This mechanism is relevant because working memory has a limited capacity, according to Baddeley (2000), and when overloaded by operational demands, the capacity available for conceptual elaboration and the formation of stable cognitive structures is reduced, impacting learning processes and the learner’s executive functions.

In light of the Theory of Meaningful Learning, formulated by David Ausubel (1963) and systematized by Moreira (2012), learning goes beyond memorization. Genuine learning occurs when new ideas anchor themselves to the learner’s prior knowledge, called subsumers, in a non-arbitrary and non-literal way. This process requires two conditions: that the material be potentially relatable to the learner’s cognitive structures and that they have the disposition to learn meaningfully. In informal digital environments, precarious access can directly compromise this disposition: recurring technical frustration reduces engagement and replaces active learning with passivity, making the conditions for meaningful learning to occur unfeasible.

Given this scenario, the central question of this work is: how can the conditions of access and use of digital technologies among Brazilian youth, evidenced by Cetic.br data (2025), favor or limit meaningful learning experiences in non-formal education contexts? The relevance of this research is based on the urgency to reflect on the alignment of Brazilian digital inclusion policies with the goals of Agenda 2030 (UN, 2015), especially SDG 4 Quality Education and SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities. In this sense, the Global Education Monitoring Report (UNESCO, 2024) reinforces that digital innovation should not be seen as an autonomous solution, but as a support whose value needs to be proven, guided by principles of equity and pedagogical adequacy. Understanding how the absence of meaningful connectivity impacts the transition of young people from passive consumption to creative agency is a condition for building public policies and pedagogical practices capable of making non-formal digital environments effective spaces for human development. The general objective is to analyze the relationships between access and use of digital technologies among Brazilian youth, based on Cetic.br data (2025), and discuss their implications for meaningful learning in non-formal contexts. The specific objectives are: i) to characterize the access profile by age group, region, and social class; ii) to analyze the identified inequalities and their limitations for participation in non-formal learning experiences; and iii) to discuss, in light of the concept of Meaningful Connectivity (A4AI, 2020) and the theory of Meaningful Learning (Ausubel, 1963; Moreira, 2012), the impacts of these patterns on non-formal digital learning.

2. Material and Methods

The research was characterized as quali-quantitative in nature, with a descriptive-analytical approach, based on documentary analysis procedures and secondary data analysis. This data was understood as information previously collected by specialized institutions, used in this study to interpret phenomena related to digital connectivity conditions and their implications for learning in non-formal contexts (Gil, 2002).

The methodological design was structured from an analytical-interpretive perspective. In it, the indicators of access and use of digital technologies by young people in Brazil were treated not only as statistical descriptors, but as expressions of structural inequalities that condition the educational appropriation of digital technologies.

The empirical material of the research was constituted by documentary sources and secondary databases of national and international scope. The selection of these sources occurred based on criteria of timeliness, thematic relevance, and adherence to the research problem.

The main quantitative basis used was the TIC Domicílios survey, produced by Cetic.br (2025). The anonymized microdata from this survey, in tabular format, were employed with cuts by age group, socioeconomic class, and geographic region. The variables analyzed included type of access device, connectivity status, use of multiple devices versus mobile-only, frequency of use, and perceived connection quality.

The documentary corpus was complemented by the Global Education Monitoring Report (UNESCO, 2024) and documents from the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI, 2020). These materials were used as conceptual references to qualify the qualitative dimensions of digital connectivity and its relationship with international education goals.

During the preparation of this work, the author utilized artificial intelligence tools, specifically ChatGPT (OpenAI) and Claude (Anthropic), as support for spell checking, technical vocabulary adaptation, and textual cohesion enhancement. After use, all content was reviewed, adjusted, and validated by the author, who assumed full responsibility for the information and conclusions presented.

The data processing was carried out in three sequential and integrated stages. In the first stage, the microdata from the TIC Domicílios survey were extracted, organized, and coded into a spreadsheet. The variables were standardized and categorized to allow for comparative analysis, and absolute and relative frequency tables (%) were constructed.

In the second stage, variable cross-tabulation analyses were performed using tables, comparing access device type and sociodemographic variables. This stage enabled the identification of digital inequality patterns, focusing on multi-device and mobile-only users. The data were organized for synthesis through descriptive statistical graphs, such as bar charts and proportion comparison charts.

In the third stage, a comparative and interpretive analysis was carried out between the empirical data and the selected institutional documents. The objective was to confront the observed patterns with international guidelines and diagnoses on digital inclusion and technology-mediated education. This stage was inferential in nature, supported by statistically organized empirical evidence.

The interpretation of the data was guided by theoretical frameworks used as analytical instruments. Cognitive Load Theory, by John Sweller (1994), was employed to analyze the implications of connectivity conditions on working memory processing demand in digital environments.

The Theory of Meaningful Learning, formulated by David Ausubel (1963) and deepened by Marco Antonio Moreira (2012), was used as an interpretative basis. It aided in understanding the processes of integration between new content and prior cognitive structures in contexts of learning mediated by informal digital technologies.

In a complementary way, the concept of Meaningful Connectivity, proposed by the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI, 2020), was adopted as an analytical reference. This concept qualified Internet access beyond its binary dimension, allowing the relationship between digital infrastructure and the effective conditions for educational use. The empirical indicators for this analysis came from the TIC Domicílios survey, produced by Cetic.br.

3. Results and Discussion

The analysis of secondary data from the TIC Domicílios survey (Cetic.br, 2025) and selected institutional documents revealed that digital exclusion among Brazilian youth is a multifaceted phenomenon, transcending the mere absence of connection. The findings indicate that digital access conditions have direct implications on the neurocognitive learning processes, especially in non-formal contexts. The discussion is structured around the characterization of the access profile, the analysis of identified inequalities, and the discussion of their impacts on meaningful learning, in light of the theoretical frameworks adopted.

The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst, intensifying the reliance on digital environments for educational activities. Data from TIC Domicílios (Cetic.br, 2020) showed that the performance of school activities online among young people aged 10 to 17 increased from 72% in 2019 to 89% in 2020, and autonomous online study grew from 50% to 69% in the same period. However, this transition occurred under unequal conditions, with the mobile phone being the main device for 54% of users in classes D/E, in contrast to 11% in classes A/B, where the computer was predominant. This highlights that connectivity alone does not guarantee equitable conditions for participation and learning.

The Brazilian Digital Access Profile

Data from Cetic.br (2025) indicate that 95% of young Brazilians between 16 and 24 years old accessed the internet in the last three months, which could suggest almost universal digital inclusion for this age group. However, a more in-depth analysis reveals a structural contradiction: 56% of these young people exclusively use mobile phones to connect. This exclusive dependence on mobile devices shifts the focus from binary connectivity to the qualitative dimension of access, a central aspect of the concept of Meaningful Connectivity (A4AI, 2020), which requires an adequate device, sufficient data, and a fast connection.

The dependence on mobile access is strongly associated with socioeconomic inequalities. Among internet users in classes D and E, access exclusively by mobile phone reaches 87%. In contrast, in the higher classes, this percentage is significantly lower, ranging from 5% in class A to 35% in class B. This data shows that the exclusive use of mobile devices is not just a generational characteristic, but a structural condition, being much more prevalent among lower-income populations, which points to different conditions of navigation and interaction with digital content.

From the perspective of Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller, 1994), this condition of exclusively mobile access, especially on devices with limited capacity, imposes an extrinsic cognitive load. Additional mental effort is expended to manage technical limitations, such as a small screen, slowness, and freezing, instead of focusing on the learning content. The need to constantly switch between screens and scroll through content increases the demand on working memory, which has limited capacity (Baddeley, 2000), compromising conceptual elaboration and the formation of stable cognitive structures.

The regional and socioeconomic breakdown reinforces the picture of inequality in the educational use of the internet. Regarding the performance of school activities or research, the percentage is higher in the North (46%) and South (42%), followed by Southeast (38%) and Center-West (38%), with the Northeast presenting 37% (Cetic.br, 2025). When considering social class, the contrast is even more pronounced. Among class A users, 73% reported studying online independently, and 58% performed school activities. In class D/E, these percentages are significantly lower, with 24% for autonomous study and 31% for school activities.

This data indicates that inequalities are not limited to access or frequency of use, but extend to the nature of internet appropriation as a learning resource. Self-directed learning, which requires greater autonomy and resources, is more frequent among groups with better access conditions. In contrast, in lower-income strata, educational use remains more associated with specific school demands, suggesting that the quality of access modulates the possibilities of engagement with content and the depth of learning.

The Significant Connectivity Gap

The results allow for the identification of a phenomenon that goes beyond access inequality, termed the connectivity gap. This gap is not manifested by the absence of connection, but by the distance between being connected and having the necessary conditions to use the internet fully, autonomously, and productively for educational purposes. Although 95% of Brazilian youth between 16 and 24 years old access the internet (Cetic.br, 2025), the analysis of educational use reveals significant differences, such as the 49-percentage-point disparity between socioeconomic class A (73%) and class D/E (24%) in autonomous study via the internet.

This distinction between access and meaningful use is at the core of the concept of Meaningful Connectivity (A4AI, 2020), which defines full access as that which meets four simultaneous conditions: daily access, adequate device, sufficient data, and fast connection. The absence of any of these conditions results in access that is formally existing but functionally restricted. In the Brazilian context, most young people from classes D and E access the internet with at least two of these conditions compromised: the device, predominantly a smartphone with limited capacity, and data, often subject to restricted data caps.

The result is not lesser access, but qualitatively different access, which tends to favor practices more focused on passive content consumption, such as watching short videos and using social media, to the detriment of activities that demand greater bandwidth or processing power, such as video lessons or interactive learning platforms. This restricted usage pattern limits opportunities for active production, creation, and learning, perpetuating a cycle of digital inequality that directly affects the development of digital skills and full participation in the Knowledge Society.

Implications for meaningful learning in non-formal contexts

Understanding the implications of this gap for learning requires going beyond infrastructure to reach the cognitive processes it conditions. From the perspective of Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller, 1994), a young person accessing educational platforms on a smartphone with slow processing, reduced screen size, and unstable connection experiences a systematic increase in extrinsic load. A significant portion of working memory resources is consumed by managing the technical limitations of the environment, rather than by processing the content, reducing the available capacity for conceptual elaboration and the formation of stable cognitive structures (Baddeley, 2000).

It is at this point that the gap in meaningful connectivity connects to the Theory of Meaningful Learning (Ausubel, 1963; Moreira, 2012). Genuine learning requires the learner to have the willingness and conditions to relate new knowledge to their subsumers. When the digital environment imposes excessive technical load, the willingness for meaningful learning can be compromised by the overload of available cognitive resources. The gap, therefore, is not just digital, but also cognitive, as precarious access conditions can make anchoring new knowledge unfeasible.

This situation should not be interpreted in a deterministic way, as technology, in itself, does not prevent meaningful learning, but configures conditions that can favor or hinder it, depending on the socioeconomic, institutional, and pedagogical context (UNESCO, 2024). Interventions guided by equity criteria, such as the distribution of multifunctional devices, the expansion of broadband in vulnerable territories, and the training of educators for non-formal digital environments, can reduce this gap. The analyzed data, therefore, offer a diagnosis of the inequality in cognitive learning conditions, which is real and documentable, but also reversible through public policies focused on the quality of access.

In the context of discussions on digital inclusion in Brazil, the concept of “digital possibility gap” has been mobilized to describe a deeper form of inequality, which goes beyond technical internet access (Cetic.br, 2024). This gap refers to the distance between being connected and having adequate means – device, connection quality, and digital skills – to fully exercise the potential of the digital environment. It is a limitation of action capabilities in the digital world, which restricts the set of cognitive and educational practices that the individual can perform, reinforcing existing inequalities in other social domains.

The most relevant consequence of the hiatus in significant connectivity for non-formal education is the perpetuation of low-income youth in a zone of passive consumption, preventing their transition to digital creative agency. Research on digital inequality identifies the “third digital divide” as the gap between those who use technology to consume and those who use it to create, produce, and transform (Murillo-Jiménez et al., 2025). This divide is not determined by the youth’s motivation, but by the objective conditions of their access, which limit the repertoire of accessible digital activities.

Young people with significant connectivity use informal digital environments to edit videos, participate in programming communities, produce content, and take courses with certification. In contrast, young people without this connectivity concentrate their use on short video streaming and messaging communication, not by choice, but because these are the only activities that the quality of their access fluidly enables. From the perspective of meaningful learning, this scenario is particularly serious, as creative agency is the stage in which the learner ceases to be a receiver of information and becomes a producer of knowledge, the fullest manifestation of non-arbitrary and non-literal learning (Ausubel, 1963).

Applicability dimension of the study

As an applied contribution, the Digital Cognitive Load Assessment Protocol (DCAP) is proposed, an operational set of five field metrics that translate the concepts of meaningful connectivity (A4AI, 2020) and extrinsic cognitive load (Sweller, 1994) into actionable indicators for managers, educators, and public policymakers. The metrics are: (1) Cognitive stability threshold, which measures the frequency of connection interruptions per minute; (2) Information fluency threshold, which measures the loading time of educational pages in seconds; (3) Cognitive accessibility coefficient, which assesses device suitability (screen, processing, interface); (4) Cognitive fragmentation rate, which counts the number of switches between screens or applications per task; and (5) Environmental noise load index, which measures the level of auditory interference at the study location in decibels.

The PACCD is anchored in the main global connectivity metrics established by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Firstly, in the concept of Universal and Meaningful Connectivity (UMC), developed by the ITU and UNESCO, which defines an enriching online experience that goes beyond simple access, being accessible, safe, and productive. Secondly, in the ICT Development Index (IDI), which annually measures countries’ capacity to offer quality connectivity (ITU, 2022; ITU, 2025). The PACCD operationalizes these macroeconomic indicators at the individual level, offering a low-cost instrument for diagnosis and intervention.

Its applicability is multidisciplinary: in public policies, it can condition investments in digital inclusion to minimum neurocognitive thresholds, aligning with Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 10 (UN, 2015). In school management, it allows for the rapid diagnosis of computer labs and the adaptation of pedagogical planning. In instructional design, it can be embedded as a cognitive adaptation module in learning platforms. In neuroscientific research, it offers a low-cost field instrument to correlate access conditions with performance and well-being measures, advancing from diagnosis to intervention and transforming the promise of connectivity into a cognitively effective right for Brazilian youth.

In summary, the results of this research demonstrate that digital connectivity among young Brazilians, although numerically high, is qualitatively unequal, especially for lower socioeconomic classes who depend exclusively on smartphones. This technical precariousness imposes an extrinsic cognitive load that saturates working memory and compromises the disposition for learning, making it impossible to anchor new knowledge and transition to digital creative agency. The absence of Meaningful Connectivity operates as a neurocognitive barrier to learning, deepening educational inequalities and challenging the achievement of SDGs 4 and 10 in Brazil, which requires a paradigm shift in digital inclusion policies, from mere coverage to the quality of access.

4. Conclusion

The study analyzed the relationships between the conditions of access and use of digital technologies among Brazilian youth and their implications for meaningful learning in non-formal contexts. It was found that, although the majority of young people between 16 and 24 years old have internet access, a significant portion, especially in lower socioeconomic classes, exclusively uses smartphones for this connection. It was identified that this dependence on mobile devices, often with limited capacity and unstable connection, imposes an extrinsic cognitive load, according to Sweller’s theory (1994). This overload consumed working memory resources, compromising the learner’s disposition to relate new knowledge to existing subsumers, a process essential for meaningful learning, according to Ausubel (1963) and Moreira (2012). It was observed that the absence of Meaningful Connectivity (A4AI, 2020) generated a gap that transcends the mere presence of connection, resulting in predominantly passive internet use and limiting the transition of young people to digital creative agency.

As a main contribution, the Digital Cognitive Load Assessment Protocol (PACCD) was proposed, a set of five field metrics that operationalizes the concepts of meaningful connectivity and extrinsic cognitive load into actionable indicators. This protocol offers a low-cost instrument for diagnosis and intervention, with multidisciplinary applicability in public policies, school management, instructional design, and neuroscientific research, aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 10 (2015). The main limitation of the study lies in its documentary nature, based on secondary data, which prevented the direct measurement of the cognitive effects of precarious access in learning situations. For future studies, it is suggested to conduct quasi-experimental research that correlates PACCD metrics with performance in non-formal learning activities, isolating the effect of connectivity quality, and longitudinal evaluations of meaningful connectivity programs in vulnerable territories. The work thus advances from diagnosis to intervention, transforming the promise of connectivity into a cognitively effective right for Brazilian youth.

Bibliographic References

ALLIANCE FOR AFFORDABLE INTERNET (A4AI). 2020 Affordability Report. Washington, DC: A4AI, 2020.

AUSUBEL, David P. The psychology of meaningful verbal learning. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1963.

CETIC.BR, CENTRO REGIONAL DE ESTUDOS PARA O DESENVOLVIMENTO DA SOCIEDADE DA INFORMAÇÃO. Pesquisa sobre o uso das tecnologias de informação e comunicação nos domicílios brasileiros: TIC Domicílios 2025. São Paulo: Cetic.br, 2025. (Dados microdados).

MOREIRA, Marco Antonio. Aprendizagem significativa: a teoria e textos complementares. São Paulo: Editora Livraria da Física, 2012.

ORGANIZAÇÃO DAS NAÇÕES UNIDAS (ONU). Transformando nosso mundo: a Agenda 2030 para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável. Nova York: ONU, 2015.

SWELLER, John. Cognitive load theory, learning difficulty, and instructional design. Learning and Instruction, v. 4, n. 4, p. 295-312, 1994.

UNESCO. Global Education Monitoring Report 2024: Technology in education: A tool on whose terms? Paris: UNESCO, 2024.

VYGOTSKY, Lev Semionovitch. A formação social da mente: o desenvolvimento dos processos

Article originating from a Final Coursework on Neuroscience and Learning in Education

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