I should write something (Week 1 Getting Started)

It has been a busy month since I wrote my first blogs. It feels like only a week or two ago that I typed out those pages. And how much as changed since then. It appears the world is moving rate of several wow's an hour. It feels like it hasn't stopped. And it isn't slowing down. Who knows, next week the world could be even more different again. Everyday is something changing. Every where we look we see uncertainty, in the world, in politics, in others, in ourselves. And we have become so accustomed to fending for our own we kind forget that there are other people around. Forever preparing for the inevitable uncertainty. But we are raised in an era of instant gratification, and because we can't have our uncertainty delivered from us with understandable knowing in a moments notice, we feel anxious. So we cling to any remnants of our self and memory and repeat it over and over to try reinforce its affirming belief that it is real. But what is real? Especially now in a post-truth era.

Reality as we know it, is just that, what we know. Nothing more, nothing less. It can be nothing else, it is only that. But by that very same grace, reality is saved from mundane entropy; it can grow. The more we know the more our reality grows, it begins to incorporate more, adjusting and adapting to personify itself through action and creation. Like a seed beginning to sprout, cracking through the hard shell of frozen slumber only to crawl its way out of a dirt soil womb, and finally see the light. And then only to realize the journey has just begun as we stretch out into the air, only then do we get a glimpse what the grand plan is. And I guess that is my topic for this post: Where to start? Where do I plant that seed? How do I plant it? What seed must I use? When should I tend to it? These questions, as much as they are metaphors, represent so much more than the words they appear as on the page.
 

The very same questions and processes an actor, and even writers and directors, apply when developing characters. The Stanislavski Method was the first method in acting/directing that applied this kind of critical analysis of a character. The Who, What, Where, When, How, Why? of the character. The esence of the entity that was to be invoked for an audience. These same questions can be applied in their own capacity when developing content or curriculum, and by doing this we are giving ourselves a broader view of what needs to actually happen in order for an idea to be planted and nurtured to grow.

Who is the content designed for? What is the purpose of the content? Where is the content best delivered? How do you deliver the content? Why is this content valuable for the student? I think these are great starting points when investigating any possible solutions to problems. I think that the content and style has already gained a life of its own in terms of online teaching, there are standard platforms, basic guides, and a multitude of resources available to whoever can access it. Which brings me to my first "problem".

I read through some of the PBL readings and read through what the course has to offer, I can see it's direction and how it can be beneficial in its own capacity and when applied to other resources, but one needs to understand, where I come from, access to the internet is a luxury afforded to the few. And in its own way, delivers its own version of unintentional class exclusion; those who have access excel at disproportional rate to those who do not, who in many cases only regress further into their own exclusion from that which they need to learn, giving birth to a form of resentment to establishment, and justifiably so, so while the advancements in education and online teaching skyrocket as we move into a post-covid world and find our way in a new hybrid reality that is augmented with information in semi-real time, we need to consider the vast majorities of people that still do not have access. Or at least lack the access to data. Everyone has a phone, but data is so expensive that it often comes down to a choice of basic necessities or data. And no teacher in their right mind would ever exclude a student simply on the basis of their inability to have access to a luxury commodity. 

So my "problem" is: Access.

Before we make it wonderful, make it accessible.

For example, below, using just one question, I will illustrate just how quickly the application of online teaching becomes convoluted with major issues before the content can even begin structuring, notably this is in South African context and may be different all over:

Who has access in your country?

Over half our population. But it is probably less as this number is just active users, there could be multiple devices for one person/entity.

"As of January 2021, there were 38.13 million active internet users in South Africa"

Majority of these connections will be one entity, business, household, etc. High speed internet is almost exclusively in high rise residential areas or business districts. The vast majority of townships around the country are often struck by power outages, congested data signal for those who can afford it, there is virtually no fiber access, heabvily poluted and non-conducive living quarters, etc.

"...Among them, an overwhelming majority (over 36 million) also used mobile internet."
(https://www.statista.com/statistics/685134/south-africa-digital-population/#:~:text=As%20of%20January%202021%2C%20there,their%20accounts%20through%20mobile%20phones.)

So a large majority of active internet users in South Africa are mobile devices. This means that the average persons means of access is through their phone, which then already means that content must be mobile friendly. As this would be the easiest means of access. This already creates a major shift in approaching online education in South Africa.

Have a look at the maps in this article from MyBroadBand South Africa, but don't be bamboozled by the initial sightings, the big map makes it look like we have internet every where, but once you get down closer you start to see large gaps in internet accessibility.
(https://mybroadband.co.za/news/internet/98178-this-is-what-south-africas-internet-actually-looks-like.html )

If you want to see even more disparity, have a look at Africa as a whole.
(https://blogs.worldbank.org/digital-development/africas-connectivity-gap-can-map-tell-story)

According to Statista.com, around only 63% of South Africans have internet access. A whopping 37% (if not more) do not. Is it not exclusive to not be able to include those people, those that need it the most? Before we start trying to perfect the system we need to perfect its means of delivery. Or else this will only drive an educational class division further. And inevitably its own collapse. Now while I can also admit that my utopian ideas may seem far fetched and not really "on topic", I still believe they are completely embedded in the idea of promoting online education beyond what it is now, but equal access is key to that, and thus is currently a problem we face as educators in developing countries, and I think it needs to be addressed some how. Soon. Especially in the wake of mass misinformation campaigns that will inevitably rise as tensions escalate across the world. And again, only furthering the divide. 

While the implementation and process of this integrated way of teaching may be paving way for a new form of education, we still need to acknowledge the inherent faults before solidifying the result. As it may then not be quite what we intended.

The pandemic really kicked us into gear in terms of digitizing our means of educating, we still have a long way to go.

Great ideas are great only if they work for everyone. Otherwise, it's not a good idea...