Digital Innovations, Imagined Identities, and Language Learners in a Ugandan School

• In Event: Digital Mediation and Language Learners: Imagined Identities and Placed Resources

Abstract

Objectives or purposes
In this paper, I report on a research study conducted in 2008 with six secondary school students, all English language learners, in a rural Ugandan school, in which a portable digital library, called eGranary, was introduced into the school library. Drawing on data from this study, we address the following research question: What were the students’ investments in e-Granary and how does the development of digital literacy impact language learner identity?

Perspective(s) or theoretical framework
Theories of investment, imagined communities and imagined identities have been very productive in the field of language education (Norton 2000; Norton & Toohey, in press), and there has been increasing interest in the ways in which digital technologies might increase learner investment in the language and literacy practices of classrooms, and possibly enhance the range of identities available to language learners (Lam 2000, 2006). However, while much research on digital language learning has taken place in wealthy regions of the world, there is need for research in poorly resourced communities to impact debates on digital literacy (Warshauer, 2003; Mutonyi & Norton, 2007; Snyder & Prinsloo, 2007). Further, as Prinsloo (2005) notes, digital innovations need to be investigated as “placed resources”, suggesting that any given technology, when transplanted, takes on new meanings, particularly in poorly resourced communities.

Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry
Methods used in this qualitative case are informed by the principles outlined in “Decolonizing Methodologies” by Linda Tuhiwai Smith (1999) and Patti Lather’s “Getting Smart” (1991). Such principles include research as socially and culturally accountable; research as praxis; research as collaborative inquiry; and research as critical reflection.

Data sources, evidence, objects or materials
Commonly described as an “Internet in a box”, the eGranary is an external hard drive containing multiple websites and documents that can be attached to a computer and searched like the internet, without the need for connectivity. Research participants had the opportunity to experiment with this digital innovation, and develop a range of new digital skills. The researchers used data collected from questionnaires, observations, journal reflections, and document analysis to better understand students’ investments in digital practices, in general, and eGranary, in particular.

Results and/or substantiated conclusions or warrants for arguments/point of view
The study found that the students were highly invested in the digital practices made possible by eGranary, including searching for information, listening to music, and downloading text. The researchers found that an important part of the learning process was determining what could be called “public” rather than “private” knowledge. Further, over the course of the study, it was clear that the students expanded the range of their imagined identities as they progressed from tutees to information finders and then to peer tutors. However, the study also highlighted the challenges associated with the introduction of digital technology to a rural Ugandan community, findings which contribute to a better understanding of eGranary as a placed resource.

Author

• Bonny P. Norton, The University of British Columbia