Vol.:(0123456789) Discover Sustainability (2023) 4:28 | https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-023-00143-9 1 3 Discover Sustainability Research Spatial perspectives on student profling to inform open distance e‑learning (ODeL) in various geographical contexts: a case study from the Global South Sanet Carow 1  · Peter Schmitz 1  · Rudi Pretorius 1 Received: 29 January 2023 / Accepted: 8 June 2023 © The Author(s) 2023 OPEN Abstract Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 underpins the other SDGs and emphasizes the importance of increasing access to inclusive, equitable, quality education. Equitable and inclusive access to education remains a pressing issue in many parts of the world, especially in the Global South. Developments and challenges experienced in the Global South have increased awareness of the potential of open distance e-learning to increase access to higher education. This potential has to be considered from the perspective of the digital divide. Analyzing student data can play an important role in obtaining insights into students’ lives to improve the quality of the educational services provided. This paper aims to refect on the use of spatial statistics in compiling a profle of the students registered for a Geography module at the University of South Africa. This paper has two objectives. The frst is to specify the broad student profle in terms of the geographical location of students. The second objective is to refect on the lifeworlds of the students in the diferent clusters and the challenges they may face in successfully completing their studies. Four representative student profles could be compiled using lifestyle data. Marked diferences in lifestyle factors between the four identifed profle types were observed. These may directly impact students’ ability to progress with their studies. Keywords ODeL · Student profle · Educational data mining · Global South · GIS 1 Introduction It is generally accepted that education provides upward socio-economic mobility, with the level of education and the various dimensions of development positively correlated [1, 2]. Education therefore features prominently among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as SDG 4 (Quality Education)—"Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all" [2]. SDG 4 not only links, but also underpins the other SDGs [3, 4]. Fur- thermore, it emphasizes the importance of increasing access to inclusive, equitable and quality education, while aiming for minimal exclusion or at the most no exclusion whatsoever, on the basis of entry requirements, fnancial resources, social circumstances, geographical factors, gender, race and nationality [5]. However, equitable and inclusive access to education remains a pressing issue in many parts of the world [6], and its absence prevents SDG 4 from achieving linkages between the SDGs [4]. This is especially true in contexts such as the Global South, where improvements in the quality of and access to education are an issue of concern [7]. Africa, for example, has a growing number of unschooled * Sanet Carow, sanetpc@unisa.ac.za | 1 Department of Geography, Science Campus, University of South Africa, Private Bag X6, Florida 1710, South Africa.