Digital Learning

Vibe Coding: How South Africans Can Build Software by Simply Describing What They Want

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An approach to programming that could enhance digital skills development across the country

I’m a big fan of Cursor for coding with AI, and this movement now has a name – “vibe coding” – which allows people to create programmes by describing what they want in natural language and letting AI handle much of the actual coding. As South Africa grapples with developing digital skills and implementing new coding curricula in schools, vibe coding represents a potentially transformative approach that could democratise software development across the country.

The timing couldn’t be better. With the Department of Basic Education rolling out coding and robotics as part of the new curriculum framework, and the country’s ongoing push to develop digital literacy, vibe coding offers a bridge between traditional programming education and practical software creation. Rather than spending months learning syntax and programming languages, South Africans can now focus on problem-solving and creative thinking while AI handles the technical heavy lifting.

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Classifying and Sorting Content

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The Ulwazi Programme attempted to put together an online resource around the local history and knowledge of the people of the eThekwini Municipality. To do this, we trained participants in digital media production as well as online content management. An important aspect of this work was sorting and classifying information, to make it accessible to both the end-user as well as indexable by search engines.

Gathering content through methodologies such as oral history and field research is only the first step in creating an accessible and useful body of information. In order to make it easily navigable and retrievable, it is important to apply classification and sorting principles in a logical and consistent way. This ensures that the content follows a set hierarchy and is presented in a way that is most appropriate for the intended users.

Why Classify Content?

Classifying content for the web involves very similar disciplines and systems to those used in bricks and mortar libraries, with the Dewey Decimal System being one of the best-known examples. When using this system, each book is assigned a number based on its content, which dictates its place on the shelf. This system works well for physical texts because it allows for very specific classification that is universally understood and used. 

However, with online content,, a slightly different approach is needed. Digital content tends to evolve more organically as  files can changed, added to and updated as needed.Yet, it still requires the same rigour and consistency in hierarchy. When conducted properly, the process of sorting content also ensures that search engines can properly index the site. This is necessary for the content to be displayed as results in search pages, and helps to increase the readership of the site and its general profile online.

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Gates Foundation Global Libraries Meeting

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bill-and-melinda-gates-foundationI am very excited about an event I have been invited to present at next week in Cape Town, the 2013 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) Global Libraries Peer Learning Meeting.

The BMGF’s Global Libraries program supports efforts to supply and maintain free public access to computers and the Internet in ten countries around the world. According to the BMGF, quick and easy access to information and knowledge can transform the lives of individuals and strengthen communities. Yet, approximately 5 billion people – almost 90 percent of the world’s population – do not have access to computers connected to the Internet.

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