Technology, Teaching & Aftrica

There were several features of Edna Dach’s presentation that struck a chord, The most powerful of these was the statement to the effect that the technology was a tool that allowed students to learn in spite of us. This idea translated itself into organizations, like the one Edna worked with, striving to provide the people in Africa with a tool (technology) and instruction on how the tools works. This model facilitates these groups wielding the tools in a way that suits their circumstances, culture and more importantly, their needs. Critical thinking is a significant goal in our educational system – this is a definite example of providing a base level set of tech tools and skills and allowing individuals the autonomy to make critical decisions in how these tools are applied. Sounds like a form of inquiry to me! A lesson to remember in my own teaching.

The convergence of technologies is not something that I had given a lot of though to beyond enjoying the novelty of them. Edna spoke to the idea that the convergence of technologies like wireless are changing African nations. This is an interesting idea in that something that as a North American, I see as novel, has the power to change culture, education and possibly political economies in Africa – a place I would see primarily as low tech. This is a topic that I would like to explore in more detail.

Edna addressed the larger picture behind going to Africa to provide these services. I like the idea of investing technology PD in a variety of teachers from a variety of schools and regions. They are building experts, who will then transfer these skills to other teachers in their area. This reminded me of the ‘Building Champions’ approach that Phil had spoken about. It was interesting to hear about the application of this model in another context. It was a testament to the power of this particular model of PD to impact teacher practice.