Invisible Learning in the Community Technology Centers in the Dominican Republic
11/29/2011
A case study about how increased access to information through modern information and communication technologies is impacting the informal and formal education of Dominicans.
Chapter 1
– A growing number of individuals lack access to a higher education. There are unmet expectations. Discuss statistics which mention that despite a growing access to primary and secondary schools worldwide, there is a lack of human capital and other resources needed to meet the demand that is currently present and will continue to grow for access to higher education institutions.
– Information access is growing because of the growing ubiquity of certain ICTs. Explain how ICTs are not only spreading quickly as few other technologies have before, but also, that since they carry information with and through them, therefore they have a broader educational impact than those the spread of a other types of technology such as new biotechnologies or energy technologies, etc. ICTs increase connectivity, communication and the transfer of information.
– In the Dominican Republic one can find both of these situations converging, happening simultaneously. The DR is in close proximity to the United States and this proximity influences their economy and technology adoption.
– The Dominican Republic has spent funds to improve both situations, focusing on access to ICTs (Low educational investment and achievement when compared regionally to other countries. A high level of investment in ICT including broadband access, and rural connectivity)
– One of the key programs implemented by the government in the Dominican Republic that has increased access to ICT are Community Technology Centers. Brief explanation of what they are, and how they have been increasingly localized over time.
– This situation is not unique to the Dominican Republic or Latin America but rather most countries. Mentioning of how telecenters, CTCs, and other ICT projects which aimed at increasing access have been implemented in the region over the past decades.
– What is ICT, explain this and other definitions, including OER, and also Open Access, information piracy, educational formation, invisible learning, CTCs, Moore’s Law, Prosumer (some will be explained within the text, but the most general ones and important ones will be explained in this section)
– What has been the result of the government investment in the Dominican Republic, and what are some of the learning programs which are currently taking place in the CTCs and how is it impacting its users.
– A discussion of Information. An overview of what is considered private, open, and pirated in terms of information and how access to information is increasingly seen by some as a human right.
– A discussion of visible vs. Invisible learning, formal vs. informal learning. A question as to where or in which of these areas is the impact of ICT in the DR.
– What educational resources are currently used and how? To what extent are they localized? To what extent are they contextualized? What is localization to them? What is contextualization to them? Are they producing or just using? What are they producing?
– A discussion of the study and what it aims to do through the use of ethnographic methods. How transferrable and relevant is it? Why is this study significant, and some expected limitations.
– Brief Outline of all chapters (Overview – Goal, Theoretical Framework, Methodology, Conducting the Study and Analyzing the Data, Conclusion).
Chapter 2
– Taking increased access to information as a given, while technology increasingly exerts a major influence in our lives; some technologies impact the ideas that we assimilate more than others, our formation, our education.
– ICT and information debate. Different perspectives as the type of access to information that should be available and what has prevented greater openness to information. Quality concerns vs. access concerns. What is knowledge, and what is valuable information. What role does technology play in the dissemination of information? What is the directionality of the transfer?
– Positivism and post-positivism scholars and a discussion of the impact of technology in education. How to some technology is seen as a primarily positive influence to education, both increasing access and opportunities. Modern ICT are seen as a way in which the world is increasingly interconnected. Technology is seen as primarily a positive influence on society and the world, including a positive influence in terms of increased information diffusion.
– Critical theorists and constructivist scholars and their views surrounding technology and education. Technology and information transfers are criticized and more specifically categorized. Geography matters and so does the local economy and needs of an area. Technology is a tool that can help at times to improve local conditions, including increasing access to information or protecting and diffusing local ideas. There are plenty of failed examples of poor implementation of access to technology and technology and education programs.
– Classicists and critical constructivist scholars and their views of the impact of technology in education. While it is hard for anyone to deny that there is an increased access to information through technology in modern society and that it is greatly influencing youth, the impact of this influence is questioned as individuals are increasingly bombarded with information but having less time to reflect and form relationships and knowledge out of the information. The increased information may be affecting individuals’ ability to unplug or reflect on past experiences. Less information is internalized and there is also an erosion of local cultural values.
– How knowledge is contextualized or localized and does this matter? Discussing ways in which ICT has helped and could hurt to preserve local knowledge. A discussion of the directionality of OER. Differences as to how open resources are, and how by being open they can be adapted and localized to different extents. Discuss two different paths taken by the open education movement in terms of information licensing and how while both increased access to resources, the way in which they can be localized is different.
– Theories as to how contextualization, localization, and participatory ways of learning have the potential to empower the local population. How through the internet and other ICTs individuals can not only learn from each other but they can also share their own knowledge with the rest of the community and the world.
– Discussion of what educational information is currently accessible thru the internet and how access to this information is important. Highlight that the study expects that the CTCs will have all three types (open, closed, and pirated) of information available. When discussing information, the study divides and discusses information as open, closed, and pirated. Brief overview of how pirated or illegal access to information and how its use is perceived varies by country. The important of knowing what information is being used for learning in the CTCs and what are they learning. Discussion of theories that argue that closed is better for economic growth and innovation and how close would also reduce the impact of some types of information and its erosion of local cultures worldwide.
– Discussion of how to some, not all information should be openly available, but how high quality information that was paid by public funds is not currently available to tax payers and the rest of the world. Will diffusing this information help the developing world?
– Theories and opinions of technology centers from the ICT4D literature. How have these centers impacted local areas in the past? Discuss the best and worst experiences and how they are perceived by ICT4D scholars. Hint at where the Dominican CTC project fits within this literature and how they are attempting to address several of the concerns mentioned below but how the extent to which they are succeeding and its impact changes rapidly and is not fully known.
