Multiculturalismo transnacional: um modelo para a compreensão da diversidade

Neste trabalho são apontadas algumas falhas das abordagens contemporâneas paraa educação multicultural, especialmente na maneira pela qual essa questão é articuladae entendida nos programas de educação de professores no Canadá. É apontadaa necessidade de reconceitualizar e redefinir a educação multicultural de acordo comas necessidades do mundo globalizado e interconectado do século XXI. O argumentoapresentado é que o modelo atual de educação multicultural é ineficiente e temtido impacto limitado em razão do fato de que os educadores estão enredados emuma estrutura com falhas de construção, a qual é focada essencialmente na culturaem um contexto nacional e ofusca os aspectos de justiça social.Palavras-chave: Multiculturalismo. Multiculturalismo transnacional. Globalização.Diversidade. Justiça social

Using Technology for Learning: Generalizable Lessons from Educational Technology Integration in Kenya

This paper presents some initial findings from a multi-year partnership project on the integration of technology into the Kenyan education system. Specifically, qualitative evidence is presented on how results and lessons learned from the partnership project can be generalized and used by other research teams and projects using other technology platforms. Grounded in the critical theory of educational technology and using methodological strategies on the intersections of critical discourse analysis and critical ethnography, this paper examines technology integration in Kenyan public schools using the Learning Toolkit+ developed at the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada

RELIGION, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL CHANGE: REPRESENTATIONS OF MUSLIM WORLD IN ACADEMIC ANALYSES OF THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE ARAB SPRING

This article deconstructs the dominant constructions and portrayals of the Muslim world in literature on social media and civic engagement in relation to the Arab Spring. A critical reading of literature on social media and ‘Arab Spring’ shows that analyses by Western scholars and commentators are still grounded in ‘modernist dualism’ and orientalist understandings. The article starts by tracing the history of technology to argue that analyses of social media’s educational and civic potential within the Western context in general, is continuation of arguments about earlier technologies in relation to societal development. However, when it comes to analyzing social media and civic engagement particularly in the Muslim world this tendency gets muddled with another well-established trend, that of Orientalism. The overall impact of this tendency results in restricting majority of arguments within the essentialists/determinists paradigm. Such analyses essentialize the technological aspects of social media as universal and constitute the West as civilized, democratic, multicultural, and progressive. On the other hand Muslim world is represented as uncivilized, undemocratic, uncultured, and chained in past traditions. Thus, there is a need for a nuanced understanding of the relationship between the social media and civic engagement in the Muslim world, which can be conceptualized by framing the issues within a postcolonial critique of neoliberal globalization. DOI: 10.15408/tjems.v1i2.126

Multiculturalismo transnacional: um modelo para a compreensão da diversidade

Neste trabalho são apontadas algumas falhas das abordagens contemporâneas paraa educação multicultural, especialmente na maneira pela qual essa questão é articuladae entendida nos programas de educação de professores no Canadá. É apontadaa necessidade de reconceitualizar e redefinir a educação multicultural de acordo comas necessidades do mundo globalizado e interconectado do século XXI. O argumentoapresentado é que o modelo atual de educação multicultural é ineficiente e temtido impacto limitado em razão do fato de que os educadores estão enredados emuma estrutura com falhas de construção, a qual é focada essencialmente na culturaem um contexto nacional e ofusca os aspectos de justiça social.Palavras-chave: Multiculturalismo. Multiculturalismo transnacional. Globalização.Diversidade. Justiça social

Education and technology : a critical study of introduction of computers in Pakistani public schools

The importance of technology in education cannot be underestimated. There are compelling reasons for developing nations like Pakistan to introduce technology in their educational systems. Nevertheless the approach and methods used in introducing technology in schools are premised on an economic ideology and based on a techno-centric curriculum that leads to new forms of dependency by keeping individuals from controlling the decisions that significantly shape their lives.Introduction of technology does not automatically guarantee enhanced learning or effective teaching. Technology in education should be used as a tool to increase communication, create awareness, break down existing hierarchies, develop new styles of creating knowledge, and make schooling and education more inclusive. Mere technical use of computers in education does nothing to empower students.The techno-centric introduction of technology in Pakistani public schools is likely to produce inequality. A number of practices in Pakistan's educational and social structure will have to change for the potential of technology to be fully achieved. A shift is needed from 'learning about the computers' to 'using computers in learning', from 'acquisition of limited skills' to 'construction of knowledge', from 'teacher-dependency' to 'independent inquiry' and from 'teacher-centered' to 'student-centered' teaching methods.However, such a change can only take place within a critical framework of education. The critical model based on integrated curriculum treats the computer not as an isolated subject but as a tool that helps learners enhance their critical thinking skills and seek various alternatives to solve problems.Thus, it is important for educational policy-makers to realize that any effort at introducing technology in the educational realm requires theoretical discussion and a societal dialogue to arrive at a framework for technology's place in socio-educational contexts. Pakistan needs to develop and introduce educational technology to seek solutions for its unique economic, social, cultural and human and social development requirements based on its present level of development and evolution

Decolonizing Educational Research: Insights From a Qualitative Evaluation of a Technology Transfer Project in Kenya

It has been argued that the ideology of knowledge production within Eurocentric academic contexts imputes positional authority to Western research paradigms, thus pushing to periphery, knowledges and analytical approaches that sincerely address issues of marginalized and indigenous communities. The question then arises: what type of methodology should be adopted when looking at and evaluating the educational initiatives originating in the Western context implemented in the Global South. We are familiar with the discourse on the theory-practice dichotomy in educational research. Often such dichotomy is attributed to a number of historical, colonial, cultural, social, political and economic differences in different contexts in which research is carried out. In its most obvious form, it plays out when a researcher goes to the field and finds out that the theoretical/methodological ideas formulated prior to the fieldwork are not be adequate to find the answers to her research questions. These are problems that arise due to the direct importation of Western research models to non-Western contexts. From a purely procedural perspective, the literature on research methods tailored to the context of developed, Western, individualistic societies is of limited value and can be misleading, for those whose research is in different social, cultural, and material circumstances. In this paper, I argue how insights from the qualitative decolonizing methodologies helped my fieldwork in Kenya. I will show how such methodological insights enabled me not only in navigating through the oppositions/dichotomies/tensions which often result from the use of dominant Western paradigms, but also uncover knowledge which is relational, storied, and experiential rather than purely cognitive (Kovach, 2012)

Perspectives of Muslim and Minority Canadian Youth on Hate Speech and Social Media

In this article, we highlight the perspectives of marginalized Canadian youth regarding hate speech on social media. Specifically, our research focus is on the complexity and intersectionality involved in cyber violence, especially in relation to marginalized identities. Twenty-five participants aged 18 to 25 studying at a central Canadian University (from an initial sample of 90 participants) who self-identified as victims of hate speech were invited to share their experiences and narrate their stories. Research results demonstrate that online hate speech is growing in Canada to an extent where it is has become normalized. This has serious implications for the well-being of Canadian youth - both perpetrators and victims of hate speech. The main targets of hate speech on social media in Canada are immigrants and minorities, particularly Muslims. Results show that online hate speech has significant consequences for the lives of Canadian youth. The repercussions for the victim's mental and physical well-being manifest in problems ranging from alienation, identity issues, deterioration of psychological and physical health to cyber and in-person bullying, and much more. The study concludes that while there are definite links between the rise of online hate speech, deterioration of mental and physical health, and increased attacks on immigrants and minorities, not much action has gone into policymaking and education to correct the situation.

A systematic review for netizens’ response to the truth manipulation on social media

The manipulated or manufactured truth on social media platforms spreads false information to influence netizens’ cognition, often resulting in fabricated social and political narratives. This study systematically reviews the literature on truth manipulation and its impact on the cognition of social media users. The primary focus is on disinformation, misinformation, fake news, and propaganda. The study appraises 162 peer-reviewed publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection database using the systematic review method. The data was put through a bibliometric analysis to unpack the evolutionary nuances of netizens’ cognitive response to manufactured truth, informativity, and manipulation on social media. The study highlights emerging trends and issues from truth manipulation on social media. The bibliometric analysis reveals since 2017, there has been an increase in the trend of scholarly work about truth manipulation on social media and its effects on the cognition of netizens. The USA seems to be the most prominent node to contribute to the study of truth manipulation. The content analysis shows multiple aspects causing truth manipulation. This study also seeks ways and methods to prevent and counter truth manipulation on social media. It looks at the possibilities of altering netizens’ cognitive abilities by improving their critical social media literacies through fact-checking. The study results show that knowledge gaps persist in truth manipulation on social media and the cognitional aspects in response to fabricated narratives. We emphasize the importance of further investigations in this domain