ICGC-COMPTON INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP (Application 2011)
January 18, 2011
As a PhD student within the Comparative and International Development Education program, I am interested in exploring and researching the concept of dependency, development, technology and inequality. Having met other ICGC-Compton fellows during my first year at the University of Minnesota, I found myself to have a strong relationship with several of these students and would be very interested in being part of this learning community. I have a strong interest and an affinity with Latin America, and it is my goal to spend my professional career working in the region. “A man’s feet must be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world.” George Santayana. During my time at the University of Minnesota, I hope to learn the skills and obtain the knowledge to help steer Latin America or a developing country to a more equitable and inclusive future. Through both critical pedagogy and experiential learning, I hope to give back to the region from which I came. As with my master in Latin American Studies – Development, I hope throughout my graduate studies to further explore the question of “development” and society. As the best trained individuals migrate to improve their socioeconomic conditions, developing countries periodically lose a portion of their human capital investments to the international brain drain. During my PhD studies I hope to find ways in which technology can help reduce the impact of the brain drain, influence brain gain initiatives and “knowledge remittances” as well as study the ways in which technology can provide a space for both youth and marginalized voices to empower themselves and address societal problems. The improvement of the education system in developing countries should address issues such as peace education, conflict resolution, environmental sustainability, civic values, and service values. These objectives can be address by the proper inclusion of technology within society and the classroom and the promotion of best practices. As modern technologies become more ubiquitous, they will increasingly influence the global economy, and, as a consequence, formal education.
Despite their promise, modern technologies can accentuate rather than reduce inequalities. They can strengthen the influence and the advertising capabilities of the richest countries, eroding local traditional values. Modern technologies also may improve the terms of trade in favor of the northern states, developed or “center” countries who export their technological innovations to developing states at a cost which surpasses the income generated through the exportation of raw materials (least developed countries most common export goods) and the discretionary income of the majority of the population. It is therefore not unfair to question whether the acquisition of modern technologies improve living conditions throughout third world countries, or whether it increases a country’s dependency on foreign goods that develop new societal “needs” or wants rather than address the pre-existing needs and problems. The erosion of local communities, local dialects and cultures in an increasingly globalized world is a subject that has been extensively studied. In many instances modern technologies have increased dependency and inequality. As certain technologies such as television sets and computers and mobile phones become more ubiquitous, the debate has shifted towards how to best use modern technologies within developing countries. Information Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) is a rapidly growing field addressing some of these questions.
Within my research, I am particularly interested on the possible influence of Open Education Resources (OER). Some of the most common and well known OER projects include the OpenCourseWare Consortium, Connexions Consortium, Educational Arcade, and Open Source Software as well as other freely accessible knowledge repositories such as Wikipedia. Today in the United States, an individual could obtain a free computer through a “learn to pay” program and access a freely accessible internet hotspot through a library or a business such as McDonalds or Starbucks. In addition, the need for a powerful personal computer may decrease as more and more companies invest on web-based programs and move their services to the cloud. Studies show that the cost of technology has decreased rapidly over time and individuals are increasingly storing more digital information. Currently Google offers any individual seven gigabytes of free cloud storage. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and other freely accessible websites allow individuals to upload their own media content, develop social or business relationships and share their thoughts and opinions instantaneously to the world, requiring a increasingly reduced personal investment. However, the internet has become increasingly “balkanized”. While one out of every four servers runs on Apache OS software (Linux), companies such as Macintosh, Microsoft and Google are providing services that are yet only accessible to the affluent members of society. Technological innovations such as augmented reality devices, motion sensors and touch screen interfaces are providing a different technological experience to a segment of society remaining inaccessible to the general population. Despite the introduction of iPad and other technological devices into various educational institutions during the past year, it can be questioned whether they will have a strong pedagogical influence on education or simply act as a novelty item. The rapidly changing nature of the system further generates difficulties in developing best policies and evaluating the impact of the technological changes. When moving into the future, which technologies must developing countries invest on? How will developing countries move from being programmed to becoming programmers?
Not only is technology changing rapidly but with it so has the general society. The way scholarship, business, and government are conducted today are very different from how they were conducted a few decades ago. Within this rapidly changing context, what will be the influence of Open Education Resources? Will they lead to a transformation of education as we know it as in order to meet the needs of an information and an innovation based 21st century society? What role must governments take to increase computer literacy and reduce the digital divide? To what degree should technology be prioritized within a country’s development plans and what future should developing countries attempt to leapfrog into? How must developing countries transform their education system to meet the challenges of the 21st century and improve their terms of trade and diminish their long term dependency? To meet these research objectives during my time at the University of Minnesota, I plan to obtain a minor in evaluation studies as well as an online learning certificate.
Modern technology has a strong influence on today’s youth. Technology can empower youth and allow them to both develop and publish media from a very early age. Generations Y, and Z grew up and have lived in a world characterized by rapid change and technological improvement. Having only ten years in existence, Wikipedia is used more frequently than traditional encyclopedias such as encyclopedia Britannica. Beginning less than 8 years ago, Facebook today has close to $700 members and is valued at over $50 billion. The rapid growing costs of a university education, may lead to unexpected changes within the higher education industry. How will these changes affect individuals in developing countries? According to some, the United States itself can be considered a “developing” country, under these lenses what are the objectives and what path must be taken by developing countries as they adapt to meet the needs of the 21st century? Unlike their parents, “digital natives” are expected to change jobs on a regular basis. How will teachers meet the challenge of teaching “digital natives?” What will education be for developing countries in the later part of the 21st century?
During my studies, I will analyze innovative programs taking place throughout Latin America including initiatives such as the One Laptop per Child (OLPD) program, rural connectivity program, technological community center programs, and other programs which are helping students obtain the skills to not only use modern media and improve their computer skills, but learn the basic of programs, finding reliable sources, creating media, and networking. Some of the countries which I am currently surveying include the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico and Haiti. I plan on researching in one of these countries both during this summer and in future years.
Some of the Dominican Republic recent technological initiatives include the establishment of the Technological Institute of the Americas, (ITLA) founded in 2000, the Dominican Telecommunication Institute (INDOTEL), established in 1998, the Cyberpark of Santo Domingo, founded in 2001, and the new Network Access Point (NAP) of the Caribbean built in 2008 as well as various innovative programs such as LINCOS (Current CTCs), and Educando.edu.do, among others. The government’s investments in ICT technologies recently resulted in the First Lady of the D.R. receiving the World Information Society Award in 2007 from the United Nations. While the Dominican Republic education expenditure accounts for a below average 2.2% o the GDP (2007), during the governments of Leonel Fernandez (1996-2000 & 2004-today), and Hipolito Mejia (2000-2004) the Dominican Republic has greatly improved and expanded its telecommunication industry.
The increased investment and emphasis on ICT development has contributed to the rapid expansion of Internet use in the D.R. in recent years, increasing from 183.687 Internet accounts in 2006 to 508.603 Internet accounts by June 2010. Based on the average users per Internet connection, INDOTEL believes that 33% of Dominicans, or 3,214,371 people, had access to the Internet by June 2010 (INDOTEL, 2010). The D.R. has a cell phone use rate of 0.91 cellular phones per person (INDOTEL, 2010), and mobile phone coverage is increasing in rural areas. In addition, through the rural connectivity program, INDOTEL hopes to bring broadband access to every town with over 300 inhabitants by 2012 (San Roman, 2009; INDOTEL, 2010). The telecommunications industry has grown by over 15% annually between 1997 and 2004 with most of the traffic from the D.R. is destined for the United States (Stern, 2006). With 1 million, or 9%, of Dominicans living outside the country, most of them in the United States, the D.R. received 3.477 billion dollars in remittances in 2009 (World Bank, 2010). Remittances are not only a major source of foreign revenue but they have also fueled the growing development of ICT as families are in favor of investing to increase communication with their loved ones.
Having family living in the Dominican Republic, the country of origin of my paternal grandfather, I am currently networking to make a study there possible in the near future. Haiti has also promoted the use of ICT4D during the past year instituting an innovative mobile banking program. Mexico, through FLASCO, developed relationships in the past with a number of faculty members at the CEHD. Working as a graduate assistant for Dr. Andrew Furco, Associate Vice President for Public Engagement, I will likely be travelling to Argentina during the summer session were apart from fulfilling my requirements at a graduate assistant I will be networking with various organizations within Argentina that are involved in education technology and community engagement. Through my research in these organizations as well as others I hope to not only research but explore ways in which Latin America could appropriate modern technologies and transform them into tools that will guide them into a better tomorrow. Open Education Resources will increase the accessibility quality academic material among the population. A 1997 report by the Inter-American Development Bank identified the lag in education as the single greatest obstacle to future economic growth in the region (Cited in Birsall, 1999).[1]
Latin America today is one of the most unequal regions in the world. The promised trickle down effects of economic growth have failed to materialize, and in many countries the gap between rich and poor is actually increasing. This inequality breeds insecurity, increases social tensions and deepens divisions within societies. Education has been shown to be the most effective investment for raising both productivity and income among the poorest sectors of society and has therefore been identified as “the key factor for reducing the poverty, social tensions, and inequality that continue to plague the region” (Birdsall, 1999).[2] As stated by Anderson (2004), “education is one of the few sustainable means to equip humans around the globe with the skills and resources to confront the challenges of ignorance, poverty, war, and environmental degradation.”[3]
The biggest issue for Latin America is not the number of schools but the quality of the education they provide. The rich tend to educate their children privately, in schools equipped with the latest technology and textbooks, whilst the public school systems often suffer from a chronic lack and/or misuse of resources. It is my belief that online education may provide a cost effective and efficient way of expanding access to educational resources to include even the most marginalized groups within a society. Inspired by the pedagogical theories of Paulo Freire, I intend to examine how new linkages can be made between the life experiences and priorities of students and the online revolution. Information Technology is no longer the exclusive domain of the rich in Latin America, and cybercafés can be found in some of the most remote and sparsely populated areas.
I hope that, after obtaining a PhD in Comparative and International Development Education, I may be able to participate in the formulation of such an initiative. My objective is to work for the educational ministry of a developing country or as an instructor and researcher in South America or another developing country. I am also interested in working for a non-profit or international organization linked to educational policy making and implementation and exploring the possibilities for cross-regional partnerships in this area.
Education can radically transform a human being, it can awaken our consciousness and opens the door to innumerable possibilities and opportunities. Education, formally or informally, empowers an individual and sets him free from the chains of helplessness. It challenges us to question our preconceptions, examine our values and moral codes and can foster a sense of civic and moral responsibility. Through a high-quality education the linkages between our own lives, the economic and political systems and the environment in which we live become clear, allowing for greater understanding of the consequences of our actions and our position in global society. Ignorance breeds fear and misunderstanding, which can lead to conflict and instability. A good education, therefore, represents one of our greatest tools in our struggle for peace, security and greater understanding among people from all around the world.
For these reasons I believe that my goals and objectives coincide with those of the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change and the Compton International Fellowship. I firmly believe in the advantages of an interdisciplinary approach to education, receiving Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science, History, Sociology and Spanish from Ouachita Baptist University and an MA in Latin American Studies with an emphasis in Development from the University of Florida. During my graduate studies I was able to take courses in a number of subjects including economic development, gender and development, anthropology, political science and International Relations. I feel that my Master’s degree has provided me with a firm theoretical grounding in some of the main theories of development and the most pressing issues facing Latin America today. In addition, I was introduced to, and inspired by, the writings of Paulo Freire and theories of critical pedagogy and eco pedagogy. I intend to continue to develop my understanding of educational theory during the course of my PhD studies. By fostering social change through educational policy I hope that I will be able to participate in the construction of a fairer, more equal world, and bring real improvements to the lives of people in Venezuela and make the most of the fantastic opportunities I have been granted to help some of the poorest people in Latin America and begin to narrow the gap between rich and poor.
