Overcoming Virtual Voyeurism: Design considerations for building cross-cultural solidarity

• In Event: Digital Internationalization in Higher Education: Beyond Virtual Exchange

Proposal

Prior to COVID-19, international exchange was arguably at its zenith (Institute of International Education, 2019). However, this all came to a crashing halt in March 2020 with the onset of international lockdowns, moratoriums on field research, and the uptake of remote learning across institutions of higher education. The execution of online distance learning and international virtual exchange was not necessarily done well as a result of emergency response teaching, undergirded by reactionary design practices (colloquially known as “pivots”). Further, it can be challenging for researchers to maintain familiarity with rapidly changing information and communication technologies (ICTs), meaning that the potential utility of digital platforms as research tools may be underrecognized and underutilized by practitioners.
Without finding a way to build in some level of constructivism, digital platforms easily lend themselves to othering/otherness rather than inclusivity. To sustain international exchange and partnerships within web-based, post-COVID realities, the central question is how to lessen disparities here and now in communities strained beyond their means and sometimes still recovering from previous disasters and instabilities. This discussion focuses on the central questions: 1) what is a better and more meaningful path forwards for digitization as the mainstream mitigator or emergency? 2) How might online platforms be designed for better virtual exchange?
To be in a position to answer these questions, the hegemonic forces and design biases laden in ICTs must be brought to the forefront of discussion. The importance of digital citizenship, supply chains, and international development remains, so international exchange cannot just be treated as a cosmopolitan casualty. If we are to engage in these arenas, mitigating digital practices should not take the form of virtual voyeurism. When approaching international exchange, we must heed warnings about fostering genuine connection and reciprocity, postcolonial power hierarchies and asymmetrical relations of domination, the perpetuation of myths and false perceptions of risks, and staged authenticity.
Reflecting on former exchange experiences in Cuba as well as theoretical frameworks such as media ecology theory (McLuhan, 1964), communication power (Castells, 2009), and race critical code (Benjamin, 2019), this presentation discusses the challenges of designing, implementing, and evaluating ICT-based solutions for low-resource contexts. By questioning the very power structures that belie these media, particularly private capitalist interests and ownership, as well as misinformation and disinformation, it makes recommendations on the secure protocols needed to foster better telecollaboration and online intercultural dialogue between the Global North and those regions exacerbated by political, infrastructural, and economic barriers. Notably, the potential of BitTorrent protocols, wikis, and serious games as alternative methodologies for the rapidly growing field of virtual exchange.

Author

• Kate Maloney Williams, Ripple Effect