ICT for DevelopmentThe importance of place: language,

culture and identity

ICT4D Lecture 16Tim Unwin

Lecture 16

Outline

• Places and languages• Literacies• WSIS ICT4D Forum

Local content issues

• Lessons from COL’s literacy project COLLIT

• Bangladesh mobile boats• Languages of disability

Lecture 16

Place in a globalised world

• Globalisation as tension Between the local and the global Between one’s own identity and the identity of the masses

The challenge of democracy: Individual freedoms and majority decision making

• The importance of literacies in an increasingly globalised world

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Local languages

• My original thoughts Make everything available in relevant local languages

Enable local communities to communicate

• But in practice Many people want to use new technologies to communicate with ‘others’

Hence the importance of ‘English’

• Need for balance

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Literacies

• Traditional meaning of literacy The ability to use text to communicate across space and time

In modern context Reading and writing at a level to communicate at certain levels of a society

• Other kinds of literacy Digital Literacy (Gilster)

The ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers

Visual literacy Numeracy

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Literacies

• Challenges for the future Will people need to learn to read and write?

Computers reading to you, and writing your voices? Will computer literacy become the most important literacy?

• Literacy and ‘development’ Literate people can be trained less expensively than illiterates

Hence, literacy contributes to development But earlier research on effects of literacy on development are now challenged

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WSIS-ICT4D Forum 2003

• Lessons learnt: local content and knowledge ICTs can empower disadvantaged language communities

New technologies can sustain nomadic cultural systems

Different lifestyles may imply different notions of time and space affecting design and use of ICTs

Importance of documentation of knowledges Local content development can empower local communities

Importance of networking local content

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WSIS-ICT4D Forum 2003

• Trends and innovations Shift to enabling local communities to develop their own solutions

User-centred learning is changing our notions of literacy

Linguistic diversity on the Internet is increasing

• Priorities Cell phones and easy communication enabling sense of belonging

Need to facilitate use of non-roman scripts, domain names and e-mail addresses

Need to enhance status of local languages

Lecture 16

WSIS-ICT4D Forum 2003

• Key questions How can ICT4D projects aimed at linguistic and other minorities be made sustainable?

How can the right of individuals to use their language in the Information Society be ensured?

How can we foster cross-cultural/linguistic information flows?

How can local and indigenous knowledge be shared avoiding negative economic, social or cultural impact on the local community?

Lecture 16

COL Literacy Project

• Pilot project in India and Zambia To explore how literacy projects might be enhanced with appropriate technologies

Main finding The most profound impact of these literacy initiatives was the effect it had on the learners’ self-esteem and on the way they used their newly acquired literacy skills.

Lecture 16

COL Literacy Project

• Findings Most learners start to use new literacy skills immediately Bus schedules, adverts, signs

Reading used more than writing But ability to sign name and doing small written tasks enhances self-esteem

Numeracy skills valuable for money Most profound effects on people over 40 Parents who were involved developed a more positive attitude to schooling

Lecture 16

COL Literacy Project

• Use of ICT Computers, digital cameras, some Internet, cassette recorders Used mainly for word processing and PowerPoint lessons

Many problems Connectivity, delays in setting up, lack of electricity

Focus was largely on hardware rather than on learning

• Value of use of ICT Unclear? Impossible to calculate accurate cost-benefit figures

Lecture 16

Bangladesh: Mobile Internet-Educational Unit

on Boats• Shidulai Swanirvar Sangstha (NGO)• Boats for students in riverside areas Using computers and projectors

• Education programmes Library facilities Micro-enterprise development Evening educational programmes on large screens

Distance education for farmers Particular focus on girls

Literacy lowering abuse and earlier marriages

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Use of ICT for people with disabilities

• Different kinds of literacies

• Potential for ICTs to enhance communications Signing for people with hearing impairment

Visual impairment Accessibility

Hardware and software Mac Universal Access

Seeing• Visual enhancement

Spoken user preferences• Voice commands• Text under mouse

Boy playing games in school for deaf people in Ghana

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Lecture 16

Conclusions

• ‘Literacy’ now used in many different ways Need to be clear what we mean by it

• The local and the global A place for both

• ICTs have much to contribute To enhancing local cultural recognition and communication

For overcoming disabilities Enhancing literacies

Opportunity for questions and discussion