Doha, Qatar: Data storytelling can fundamentally reshape how students understand and use information, empowering them to become active participants in decision-making rather than passive recipients of knowledge, according to Associate Dean for Community Engagement at College of Public Policy (CPP) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Dr. Evren Tok.
Highlighting the growing importance of data literacy in higher education, Dr. Tok said that while students today often have access to data, they are not always equipped to meaningfully engage with it. “The use of information is usually such that we are not helping students to access data effectively,” he said. “Even when they access data, they can be limited in terms of what they can do with it.”
Speaking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of a workshop examining data storytelling and generative AI in progressive education, Dr. Tok said that as HBKU graduates step into an unprecedentedly fast-evolving workforce, the institution is committed to equipping them with the skills to navigate these tools responsibly, using collaborative dialogue to transform challenges into solutions that serve Qatar and the wider world.
Highlighting gaps in data skills within organisations, Dr. Tok said, “In many entities, you can see that there are data experts, but not everybody has the same or similar competency when it comes to analysing data, visualising it, or looking at data from different vantage points,” he said.
Data storytelling, he argued, bridges that gap by making data more accessible and actionable. “Data storytelling really helps people in professional environments and in education to be able to engage with data,” Dr. Tok said.
“It means creating more personalised experiences and connecting your own experience with the data you have to create stories that matter.” He added that stories grounded in data can do more than inform and drive change. “The story is actually based on data that can enact change. It is a competency that is critically important. I like to use the word ‘accessibility’,” he said.
According to Dr. Tok, strengthening data storytelling skills also enhances inclusion within institutions. “More data storytelling helps people and members of entities to be included so that they have a say in decision-making,” he said.
Speaking within the broader conversation on progressive education at HBKU, Dr. Tok described progressive, or what was once termed “disruptive,” education as moving beyond traditional teaching models. “It’s about going beyond the traditional teacher simply sharing insights to a situation where students are empowered,” he said. “Students and learners have the agency to initiate change and to understand the complexities around them, not just by listening, but by being active.”
He highlighted the unique ecosystem surrounding HBKU, including its location in Education City, as a key enabler of innovation. The university’s environment, he said, supports experimentation through multiversity collaborations and research grants that encourage faculty to rethink how teaching and learning pathways are designed.
Looking ahead, Dr. Tok also addressed the role of generative artificial intelligence in classrooms, cautioning against allowing technology to overshadow human creativity.
“Generative AI can be limiting if it is placed at the centre,” he said. “It is more useful to see artificial and generative AI as a tool to support thinking processes and agency.” He emphasised that while AI can expand access to information and present new perspectives, it should not replace human judgment. “It shouldn’t do the work for you and the human element is always there,” he said.
“It should be used in a way that supports and empowers learner agency.” “It is still the learner who makes the decisions and progresses. Generative AI is about supporting and empowering that human agency,” said Dr. Tok.
