July 10 – Edna Dach
On July 10th, our cohort had the opportunity to speak with Edna Dach on her trips to Africa and the workshops her group provided. These workshops trained African teachers on how to use technology and various software applications. While this discussion was interesting, I was even more interested in the discussion on the laptop program being introduced in Africa and the importance off the surge in technology use. Edna Dach’s perspectives on bringing technology to Africa brought to mind many of the concepts that Mr. Friedman alludes to in his book “The World is Flat”: the proliferation of technology, their ability to bring us closer together as societies and the changes that they can help bring about within a society both for good and bad.
I came into this discussion, with a fairly firm stance on the laptop program in Africa. My worries are that we are bringing technology into impoverished areas and strongly encouraging its use without thinking about life and needs from their perspective. I’ve always had this image in my head of an African child holding the laptop in their hands, looking in the eyes of the CEO and saying,”Well, this is very nice but how about a stable government? Steady, well paying jobs for my parents so I don’t have to go out and support my family? Electricity that I can depend on?” Are we really giving the people of these countries what they need? Or are we assuming that we know best and that giving them this technology will solve all their problems. An interesting comment in the discussion was made using the term “Cultural Imperialism” (David Rothkopf, 1997). We are imposing a culture that they are either not ready for or is so different from their culture that we end up destroying cultural values in an attempt to infuse it into their own way of life and culture. Providing physical schools or the like may also not be the answer but my thoughts were that it would be hard to move your society forward even with the surge in wireless technologies, cellphones and internet cafes. How far can you go as a country if you can’t provide the necessities for your citizens. In her article “The Fellowship of the Microchip: Global Technologies as Evocative Objects”, Sherry Turkle (2004) states that
“the digital divide does not simply separate those who have access to computation from those who don’t. Rather, even if the very important issues of access could be resolved, there is still a divide between the large mass of users and those who are empowered by computation to do more than play games. Making the leap depends on having food, clothing, and access to educational and social resources that are not found in cyberspace” (p. 99).
However, Edna made a good point that has challenged my stance and made me re-think. She put forward the notion that these technologies may be the catalyst that will eventually bring about changes in their society. More access to technology will increase the spread of ideas and communication and encourage the changes needed to help these countries. No longer is information the domain of the rulers. No longer can governments scare, intimidate and withhold the truth from its citizens. The people in these countries will have access to information and resources that will ultimately bring about change. While this may be true, it has led me more to ponder the old chicken and the egg analogy. What comes first? The technology or the infrastructure?
Or will both be devoured?
Rothkop, D. (1997, June 22). In praise of cultural imperialism? Effects of globalization on culture. Foreign Policy, Retrieved June 13, 2007, from http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/cultural/globcult.htm
Turkle, S. (2004). The fellowship of the microchip: Global technologies as evocative objects. In Suarez-Orozco, M.M. (E.d) & Qin-Hilliard, B.D. (Ed.) Globalization Culture and Education in the New Millenium, 97-113. Berkeley: University of California Press.
