New Learning Technologies: Promises and Prospects for Women

Linda and Jennifer proposed that the cost or acquisition of new technologies be examined in light of what women are willing to give up. It was agreed that there are many things we would give up, such as the costs that would be eliminated with the elimination of violence against women, but that those who make decisions were unlikely to balance costs in that way.

It was raised that there are national jurisdictional issues that impede universal access in Canada. There are "have" and "have not" provinces and regions, and responsibility for communications lines is national while responsibility for education is provincial. As well, Quebec is the least computerized province in part because of the language barrier and in part because of its cultural and political distinction from the rest of Canada.

A number of examples are presented in the paper where women's opportunities to learn have been enhanced by new technology. Women have been able to communicate with each other quickly and efficiently and across vast areas. They have developed a kind of "network activism" that can galvanize an immediate and widespread response to an issue. A network that has been formed using new communications technology is the Sunshine Coast Women's Centre in British Columbia. Equipment and access to the Internet are provided at the Centre free of charge and connections have been established with women in remote and rural areas of Northern B.C.

Friday Afternoon

In the afternoon, participants divided into four workshops: Community Access, Institutional Access, Quality of Learning and Opportunities for Learning. Workshop facilitators for the sessions were, respectively: Jo Sutton, Linda Shohet, Pat Webb and Cheryl Senecal.

Community Access (facilitated by Jo Sutton)
Discussion in this workshop focused on defining the parameters of community and the barriers to access related to various communities. Barriers were identified for those outside large urban areas, those unconnected with institutions, those who do not have fluency in English, those who have disabilities and those whose most pressing concerns (immigration, employment, childcare) are far removed from accessing the Internet or learning new technologies. For some, particularly for women with disabilities, access and use of the Internet is still a futuristic scenario.

Other barriers include: learning styles (new technologies do not necessarily incorporate a variety of learning styles); inappropriate or offensive content of software, course materials or information available electronically; men's or boys' dominance of technologies or computers in a classroom, work setting or domestic relationship; and the lack of interest at the government level in addressing women's concerns.

However, the potential of new technologies was recognized. Technologies such as the Internet and the World Wide Web may be fashioned to women's ways of learning more comfortably than previous uses of the computer. As well, in very remote or rural areas, or in farm-based and other economies where people live and work at home, the Internet or distance learning technology may provide the only opportunity possible.