TechChange has a course coming up that breaks a little bit from the standard “ICT4D” content. It’s titled “New Technologies for Educational Practice” and I was trying to think of how someone would put this knowledge to use. It all seemed abstract, so wracked my brain for cases when I used technology in my own … Continue reading Mobiles for education…a memory from Samoa
A Post on Pragmatic Meaning: Part 1
The title of this website refers to Habermas’s Theory of Pragmatic Meaning, and uses a reference to the coffee house as the place where political meaning is made regardless of class, family, or economic station. With this in mind, I’m currently writing a paper for the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences that draws on … Continue reading A Post on Pragmatic Meaning: Part 1
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year. 2011 has been exciting and here's to 2012!
New Media, Old Tactics: Humor and Ridicule in Political Protest
A friend of mine living in Cape Town forwarded a humorous advertisement for Nando’s Chicken, a restaurant chain based in South Africa. The advertisement carried the title “The Last Dictator Standing” and provided an enjoyable laugh, especially for those with some knowledge of African dictatorships: After watching, I started to think about the role that … Continue reading New Media, Old Tactics: Humor and Ridicule in Political Protest
Happy Holidays!
Happy holidays! I'm in Upstate New York, far from regular internet access, so updates will have to wait until after the holiday. In the meantime, safe travels to everyone, and look for new posts coming after the 27th.
Using mixed methods to understand a mixed field
So after 13 weeks and 4000 pages of reading, I finally finished all my term papers on December 16. My goal was to explore the world of ICT4D and ICT4Peace in ways I hadn't thought of before. I was introduced to anthropological theories of the person (challenging for me, a dedicated positivist), and critical theory … Continue reading Using mixed methods to understand a mixed field
SwiftRiver: Where Software Meets Social Change
This post was also originally published on the TechChange blog, and was popular; the theme is still relevant especially as crowdsourcing becomes a more prevalent approach to conflict prevention. You land in a country that is recovering from a long war. The infrastructure is limited, but there is a nascent democratic government. To make up … Continue reading SwiftRiver: Where Software Meets Social Change
After Gaddafi, how can we use ICT4D to support the recovery in Libya?
Originally posted on the TechChange blog After 40 years of rule, Colonel Gaddafi is gone. Reports say he was killed today in a military offensive in Sirte, Libya after a protracted insurgency that was backed by NATO forces. While there is room for a conversation about NATO’s actions, whether they’re an example of Responsibility to Protect … Continue reading After Gaddafi, how can we use ICT4D to support the recovery in Libya?
Charles P. Martin-Shields 