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- Convenors:
-
Giovanna Guslini
(Formerly of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research)
Mary Hallin (University of Nebraska at Omaha)
Mina Rad (World Cultural Diversity)
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- Format:
- Panel
- Sessions:
- Tuesday 7 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
This panel will explore both physical (in person) and virtual modes of learning, how today's educational models of mobility for both young people and adults are changing, and the tools that best document different experiences around the world. We will examine how new information and communication technologies (e.g. Internet, Zoom, Google Meet) can facilitate cross-border collaboration and enhance inter-institutional, intercultural and knowledge exchange at all educational levels. This panel is also interested in comparing different forms of documentation, written, oral, visual, knowledge exchange and exploring what is the best form/method to use for respective cultures. e.g. video might be best for countries in the South where documentation may primarily be oral rather than written. We will also examine the advantages and disadvantages of physical learning and virtual exchange, taking into account experiences which existed before the COVID-19 pandemic and were reshaped by the pandemic and now take on a different meaning. Although physical mobility seems to remain the main goal of everybody, in case of temporarily restricted physical mobility, a blended or entirely virtual mobility has now become the new norm and brings new perspectives of international exchanges. Given the above considerations, we welcome papers that discuss physical and virtual mobility and look at how today's educational patterns of mobility are changing, for both young people and adults.
Long Abstract:
This panel will explore both physical (in person) and virtual modes of learning, how today's educational models of mobility for both young people and adults are changing and the tools that best document different experiences around the world. With the Internet and new modes to connect up virtually (e.g. Zoom, Google Meet), learning can be done in person or virtually. The virtual modes can increase mobility such that a person can ‘travel’ to another part of the world virtually to learn and experience another culture. The new information and communication technologies facilitate cross-border collaboration and enhance inter-institutional, intercultural, international networking and knowledge exchange at all educational levels. This panel is also interested in examining the various forms of documentation, written, oral, visual, knowledge exchange and explore what is the best form/method to use for respective cultures. We will also examine the advantages and disadvantages of physical learning and virtual exchange taking into account experiences which existed before the COVID-19, were reshaped by the pandemic and have taken on a different meaning. The COVID-19 pandemic revolutionised our lives but also forced a radical change in educational and communicative approaches and tools. Before, virtual mobility was limited and often experienced as secondary to physical mobility and direct contact. However, all have had to accept an unwanted but, perhaps, healthy leap forward for the future of education of young people and adults. Digital and visual technologies have made it possible to break out of the lockdown and many are now trying to capitalise on what they have learned in the last two years. That 'leap' for which many individuals and institutions were not prepared, will surely leave a legacy. Although physical mobility seems to remain the main goal of everybody, in case of temporarily restricted physical mobility, a blended or entirely virtual mobility has now become the new norm. How today do we learn or teach or exchange knowledge and experience in a foreign country, without physically leaving home? How can today's virtual mobility complement physical mobility in global knowledge exchange and education? And how can it bring the new dimensions of international collaboration and cooperation? Given the above considerations, we welcome papers that discuss physical and virtual mobility and look at how today's educational patterns of mobility are changing, for both young people and adults.
Keywords:
Education, Documentation, Virtual Mobility, Physical Mobility, Digital and Visual Technologies
Sponsorship:
IUAES Commission on Anthropology and Education and IUAES Commission on Documentation
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Tuesday 7 June, 2022, -Paper short abstract:
85% university students in India faced learning loss during Covid, according to a survey by TeamLease ‘Covid-19 Learning Loss in Higher Education’ (Indian Express, 14th Feb2022).
Paper long abstract:
It states that, “in a comparison between India and G7 countries such as Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States, India has an estimated learning loss of 40-60% while other countries range from 9.84% (France) to 31.16% (Italy)” recording the main reasons for this as “the digital divide, slow governance at government institutions, pre-existing capacity deficits, longer lockdowns than most countries, and weak online teaching/learning content”. Keeping this scenario in mind, *it becomes extremely important for us to assimilate our knowledge of virtual learning, inter-connectivity and mobility as a springboard towards turning crisis into opportunities for the future. The covid-19 pandemic has already prompted an innovative step towards technological handholding and reorienting communication strategies. Leveraging on this*, the present paper explores the experiential reality of the teaching learning experience through the lens of an educator, during virtual interaction through the various waves of the Covid pandemic. It explores both fractured communication as well as innovative teaching pedagogy. The attempt is to draw a parallel between classroom experiences in the physical space and the virtual space, looking at how communication can be strengthened and how the student community comes together inspite of adversities. The aim is to explore and document experiences to overcome future eventualities, influence hybrid as well as virtual mode of teaching with a futuristic perspective and inform policy from a grounded embedded experience.
Keywords
Digital classroom, Technology, experiential learning
Paper short abstract:
The questions I will explore are 1) How can we conduct ethnography in the context of restrictive protocols in the era of the Covid-19 Pandemic? and 2) How do we teach/share our findings during the COVID-19 pandemic? Covid-19 protocols are about behaviour modification as an approach to stemming the spread of the disease.
Paper long abstract:
The most spectacular component of the protocols has been the global lock down, the physical restriction of movements of people across the globe. In the conjuncture of the restrictive protocols associated with the COVID-19, how do we obtain deep knowledge about a situation which can only be obtained via ethnographic approaches? Furthermore, supposing that the first hurdle of inquiry has been negotiated, how do we make our experience and findings available to stake holders in domains who draw from such knowledge for assorted initiatives in efforts to fix issues of society? To the two questions the answer lies partly in already existing digital tools such as Google sites [YouTube videos, specialists’ blogging, e-books showcasing, discussions of articles and posts among experts], Zoom and Skype, for audio-visual interaction and an assortment of qualitative data analysis soft wares. Digital ethnography is a valuable tool to conduct in-depth ethnographic research during and post COVID-19. To adapt to imperatives arising from the COVID-19 pandemic it will be crucial for anthropologists to use a mix of the best tools available to them when conducting research and teaching.
Keywords
digital ethnography, covid-19 pandemic, research, teaching, options and appraisals
Paper short abstract:
By June 2021, students in Ireland had been learning almost exclusively online for well over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, face-to-face summer camps were in high demand. At the same time, summer camps could not return entirely to ‘business as usual’, given that a high number of pandemic-related restrictions remained in place, including a state ruling midway through the summer camp season that all summer camps must be held entirely outdoors.
Paper long abstract:
Thus this was an environment that required significant flexibility and adaptability from summer camp instructors. It also involved a level of relearning how to ‘do’ face-to-face educational activities, given that both students and teachers had spent much of the previous fifteen months rapidly adapting to online instruction. This paper presents a case study of one such face-to-face educational summer camp programme in Ireland, run by a private music educational organization called Rock Jam. It is based on ethnographic participant-observation throughout Rock Jam’s 2021 summer camp season, as well as continued ethnographic fieldwork in the months that followed and interviews with most of the summer camp staff. As an organization specializing in teaching rock and popular music, Rock Jam works in a musical genre that is fundamentally technological, rock music having historically emerged with the increasing availability of electric guitars and sound amplification technology. And yet, as with other educational spaces, the COVID-19 pandemic required a reworking and reframing of popular music teachers’ relationships to and uses of audio, visual, and digital technologies. This paper will explore how Rock Jam staff and students conceived of and interacted with existing audio-visual music technologies within this space of renewed physical mobility, as well as their memories and discussions of virtual educational mobility during Ireland’s lengthy pandemic lockdowns in the preceding academic year. It will explore how Rock Jam utilized a hybrid approach combining digital technologies with face-to-face techniques in order to facilitate educational mobility within the continued limitations of the pandemic, in terms of both the learning experiences themselves and the ways in which students could share the results of their educational labours – that is, the song performances they had written and rehearsed during the week-long summer camps. Finally, it will discuss the wide variety of technologies were used to notate and document musical learning experiences.
Keywords
music education, rock music, summer camps, music technologies, educational mobility
Paper short abstract:
Not only in times of pandemic, the use of new technologies may manifest itself as a facilitating means and for education in Portugal. The SIPA digital platform - Integrated System of Architectural Heritage - is an information and documentation system on Portuguese architectural, urban and landscape heritage of Portuguese origin or matrix managed by the Directorate General of Cultural Heritage (DGPC).
Paper long abstract:
In this sense, it becomes possible to access this database where records and documents included in archives, heritage inventories, and other databases are kept. These provide valuable information for the study of Portuguese culture. In the case of education, this platform becomes an asset in pandemic moments, since it facilitates access to knowledge by students and teachers to content that is difficult to access. Complementarily, provided with images they also provide enhanced information. In parallel, the fact that the main Portuguese museums and monuments have online pages where it is possible to make virtual visits and have access to the spaces, even if virtually, of course, manifest themselves fundamental in situations where access is difficult. It is considered that nowadays, the fact that the spaces may be closed, is not an impediment to make a visit, as well as to study and understand Portuguese culture. In this paper, we intend to show the use of these Portuguese digital platforms for the study of its culture, showing that they are an added value.
Keywords
Digital platforms, Portuguese culture, Education in Portugal
Paper short abstract:
The education of refugees and asylum seekers globally is a constantly moving target as new journeys are undertaken in the hopes of better opportunities, less precarity, and safety from persecution. It is often assumed that once in a distant resettlement country refugees and asylum seekers will have their educational needs met; however, they are caught between definitions of refugee rights, national and devolved policies, and educational fulfilment in everyday life.
Paper long abstract:
In Northern Ireland (NI), a region complicated by historical and continuing tensions relating to the UK and the Republic of Ireland, refugees and asylum seekers continue to be in a precarious situation. BREXIT (or the UK leaving the EU economic region) has renewed political tensions in NI, causing instability in the NI Assembly leadership. Consequently, the NI Assembly has been suspended twice -- delaying refugee related actions. Furthermore, though education is a devolved power to the NI Assembly and its ministries, refugees and asylum seeker related policies are also impacted by the UK Home Office. Unlike other devolved regions, NI does not have a Refugee Integration Strategy (though a draft is currently being consulted on). The extent to which this will alter provision of refugee and asylum seeker education resources remains to be seen. The delays in education access for asylum seeker children caused by devolution is well-documented. However, the impact on the education of refugee or asylum seeker young people and adults is under-reported. Though language skills are a recognized need few accredited English language school options exist for young people and adults in NI, while religious or charity volunteer supported classes are prevalent In the current global Covid-19 pandemic options for education are further complicated by reliance on technology. Digital solutions are increasingly utilized for education in crisis; however, for refugees and asylum seekers who may not have devices or internet connectivity this can be problematic. Even in NI, where electricity is stable, the digital divide persists. From mid-2020 to December 2020 I was a volunteer for a charity-conceived English language class for adult refugee and asylum seekers in NI. In this presentation I will provide an auto-ethnographic description of how technology could and could not be applied in and outside the classroom to supplement lessons. I will demonstrate the ways in which the digital divide persists for refugees and asylum seekers in NI and the disadvantages caused by limited educational access.
Keywords
Digital divide, refugee and asylum seeker, adult education, Northern Ireland