Sigurjón Mýrdal Iceland University of Education

sigurjon@khi.is http://menntun.khi.is/sigurjon

Rural Education and the Rural Education and the Predicament of New the ICTPredicament of New the ICT

A lecture given at the 32nd Congress of the Nordic Educational Research Association in Reykjavík at the Iceland University of Education, March 11 – 13, 2004

How do we define “rural”?

•    by statistics / size, e.g. number of inhabitants

•    by location / remote

•    by social structure

•    by cultural features / way of life

                   

Rural Conditionas a place

Word &Concept

-vs.-

“Reality”

Analytic construct.

Ideal type?

“the Rural” is a Modern concept.

Ruralness did not become an issue until something differentdeveloped; f.ex. urban or modern. Of course a plurality of rural conditions have existed through history, but it didn’t become a social/cultural problem until in modern times

Classification of municipalities by size

December 2000.

Size Number Population Males Females  124 282.849 141.596 141.253 100.000 + 1 111.345 54.676 56.669

10.000–99.999 4 69.379 34.496 34.883 5.000–9.999 4 25.433 12.841 12.592 2.000–4.999 11 34.320 17.515 16.805 1.000–1.999 11 15.577 7.985 7.592 500 – 999 18 13.254 6.843 6.411

300 – 499 13 4.889 2.586 2.303 200 – 299 14 3.445 1.821 1.624 100 – 199 25 3.605 1.936 1.669 50 – 99 17 1.350 763 587 49 or less 6 252 134 118

Source: Statistics Iceland; Hagstofa Íslands  

                   

Rural constellation Economy/Politics focus

Pre-modern

Medieval

Agricultural

Feudalism

Modern

Industrialization

Technologization

Urbanization

Nationalism

Post-modern

Globalization

Info-technology

Multi-culturalism

Rural constellation Cultural focus

Pre 20th century

Culture, politics, geography

History

20th century

Economy, demographic, geography

Fishing

21st century

Economy, (multi)culture, technology

??

Distance Education and Rural Education

Modes of Distance Education

The Icelandic case:• Why?• How?• What results?

Changing “Rural”• Traditional culture• Multiculture

•Effects on schooling !

Modes of Distance Education

Correspondence by:

MailTelephone

RadioAudio cassettes

TelevisionVideo cassettes

InternetInteractive Video

Multimedia-phonesVirtual reality

                   

Is distance education as good as “traditional” education?

Can ICT promote education?

                   

New technologies in education – Just one more new tool ? Yes, but each new tool has its disposition, temperament, and moral fiber !

The culture of the Internet !!

                   

The Iceland University of Education offers most of its programmes at all levels via distance learning. Students in distance education generally complete most of their courses independently using computer technology and the Internet. All distance education programmes, however, also include some on-campus activities.

Distance Education

Does distance education change university structures?

                   

What impact does the new ICT have on institutional structures of Academia?·       On teaching?·               On administration?·          On research?·           On services?

Education Workshop

Education is action

Mixture of creation and communication

 

Traditionalstudents

Network students

% Network

Pre-school

Primary school 506 420 45 %

Secondary school 97 131 58 %

Physical education 118 33 22 %

Developmental therapy 65 60 48 %

       

Graduate studies   557 100 %

Sum: 939 1342 58.8%

  

2281 Students at Iceland University of Education 2003

48 %141153

Further reflections

                   

•The medium carries ideological structures - technical rationalities

•It is important to be conscious of the ideologies/rationalities and align them to the professional and academic objectives of the institutions• 

•Who is in control of the program: -the human or the machine?

-the professional or the technician? 

alternative

RURAL has many dimensions

• Geographic

• Demographic

• Cultural

• Institutional

• Economic

• Political

                   

ICT has many dimensions

• Social

• Cultural

• Institutional

• Economic

• Political

• Technological

                   

ICT has many dimensions

ICT devices carry ideological dialectics ofsocial, cultural and economic transformations.

ICT is neither the cause nor effect of globalization. It is the very essence of thenew world order.

                   

                   

•urban•technological •individualistic•secular

The Modern as a reference

The pre-modern

The post-modern

Culture

Identity

A place

                   

People interact, socialize and create meaning

Networks of neighbors construct •communities •cultures•identities

The Modern as a reference

The pre-modernThe non-modern

The post-modern

                   

• the rural condition • e-learning • ICT-cultures

Is there a common nominator?

Who is defining the procedures of distance education?

And can ICT-culture become base for new rural empowerment?

ICT as rural cultural phenomenon

• cultural context of distance education

• formation of ICT-culture

• empowerment of rural students due to specialized knowledge generated through e-communities