GENDER
&
GLOBAL E-LEARNING
Gender and the Digital Divide Seminar Series
September 12, 2002
Barbara Fillip
Knowledge for Development, LLC
Context
This presentation is primarily based on
lessons learned from a course on
Information and Communication
Technologies for Developing Countries
offered online to participants around the
world through the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) Graduate School ELearning Program
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Key points
•
•
•
•
•
•
What the literature suggests
Access to the course for women
Gender differences in interactions
Gender differences in learning outcomes
Implications for course design/delivery
Research agenda
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Literature Review
The Third Shift: Women Learning Online, by
Cheris Kramarae, American Association of
University Women, 2001
- 1st shift = work outside the house
- 2nd shift = home responsibilities
- 3rd shift = squeezing in education
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Gender Perspectives and
Distance Education (DE)
Masculine perspective
of distance education
Feminist perspective of
distance education
DE allows delivery of
education to more people
across greater distance
DE as a means to
connect people into
networks that seek to
achieve a common goal.
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Factors Reviewed
in the Literature
•
•
•
•
•
Differences in communication styles.
Different ways of “knowing” and learning.
Gender identity and online learning.
Motivational factors.
Success factors.
 The literature is only partially relevant
when dealing with a global classroom…
incomplete…
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Access to the Course for Women
• The Digital Divide - barriers to access for
women (and men) in the South.
• Basic skills for online learning – not a
problem in this particular course.
• Ensuring gender equity – some
scholarships reserved for women.
 Does this add up to new opportunities for
women?
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New Opportunities (?)
“In traditional societies where female
enrollment in formal education is faced by
unease of conservative cultures, elearning
may present a channel of education that is
neutral and does not involve direct
interaction between the sexes thus
facilitating female participation.”
Comment sent by participant in Egypt
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ICTs Course Enrollment Stats
Men
Women
Face-to-face 1999
1
5
Face-to-face 2000
Blackboard 2001
CD+email I 2002
CD+email II 2002
2
15+(1) +obs
7+(5)
9+(5) +obs
6
10+(2) +obs
10+(5)
9+(5) +obs
CD+ email III 2002
20?+(13)
20?+(7)
#s in ( ) are scholarship participants from developing countries
Obs. = observers are unregistered participants
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Gender & Interaction (I)
Some Questions
• Do women write more/less messages,
shorter/longer messages compared to men?
• Do women interact more through one-on-one
messages with the instructor or through class
discussions?
• Are women more likely to take the course
for credit or audit? What motivates them?
• Do communication styles impact class
discussions?
More about interactions...
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Gender & Interaction (II)
Intimidation factor
“…at the beginning I felt overwhelmed and
intimidated by the high level of
background/ experience/ knowledge/
comments of other participants (kept asking
myself what I am doing amongst these
experts).”
Comment in the final evaluation survey from a
highly educated woman in Africa who made
excellent contributions to the discussions
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Gender & Interaction (III)
Asking for help
“This is my first on-line course and I felt
little bit nervous about it.”
Comment on the discussion list sent by a
woman participant whose first language was
not English. Lack of confidence is something
women are more likely to acknowledge… and
women are more comfortable asking for help.
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Gender & Interaction (IV)
Email as Equalizer
“Yesterday I was in a meeting where gender
dynamics played a role so that the men in
the room dominated the conversation. Yet
today I can write as much as I want
(whether you're listening or not is another
story:) ) regardless of gender issues.”
Comment within the context of group discussion
sent by a woman participant in South Africa
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Outcomes
•
•
•
•
Are participants satisfied with the course?
How many complete the course?
What impacts can we expect?
To what extent is gender a key determinant
of learning outcomes?
And… a steep learning curve for the
instructor.
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Implications
• Implementing strategies for ensuring equal
opportunities to enroll in online learning.
• Designing courses based on the
characteristics of the target audience
(including gender characteristics).
• Managing group interactions and genderspecific one-on-one interactions to
encourage women to be active participants.
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Research Agenda
• Better understanding online learning
success factors related to gender.
• Identifying strategies to facilitate
interactions in multicultural virtual elearning settings.
• Mainstreaming gender issues in E-Learning
design.
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E-Learning Opportunities (I)
“Promoting Gender Equity” - online course
developed by CIDA - Self-learning course.
“Gender and Agriculture” - World Bank
Training Module.
http://www.worldbank.org/gender/module/index.htm
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E-Learning Opportunities (II)
• Gender & Peacekeeping Online Training
Course – DFID(UK)-DFAIT(Canada)
• Online Gender Learning and Information
Module ILO/SEAPAT
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Barbara Fillip, Ph. D.
Knowledge for Development, LLC
http://knowledgefordevelopment.com
Email: barbara.fillip@verizon.net
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