Abstract
The introduction and implementation of ICT depends not only on technological issues but also on social and institutional factors. To respond to these challenges, in this article we describe our engagement with an ICT4D research case conducted in collaboration with the Community Empowerment Programme (CEP) of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC). The project applies the expansive learning approach in a developing country context, with the aim of achieving ICT skills building in the broadest sense. In this article, we look more closely at one intervention within this research: digital literacy workshops for a sample of CEP field facilitators using ‘photovoice’ techniques. We apply Engestrom’s expansive learning framework for ICT intervention on the ground level, showing how intermediary actions and tools can be used in order to create active learning spaces for the community development program’s field facilitators, and we explain how the photovoice technique can be an effective intermediary tool for expansive learning. To reach this conclusion, Nonaka and Takeuchi’s knowledge-creation framework serves as a lens through which to examine the dynamic nature of the knowledge conversion context and its influence on the progression of knowledge.
Highlights
After nearly two decades of discussion on ICT for development (ICT4D), it seems that researchers have still not reached a deep understanding of how to manage and allocate ICT for sustainable rural community development
By combining Engeström’s (1987) theory of expansive learning with Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) concept of ‘knowledge creation’ and Nonaka and Konno’s (1998) concept of ‘Ba,’ this study aims to explain the relationships between intermediary actions and tools and the participants’ individual knowledge process as well as the social and physical environments
We look into the concept of Ba, the role of the photovoice technique in the knowledge creation process of inter-subjectivity and trans-subjectivity (4.2), and the process of self-transformation (4.3)
Summary
After nearly two decades of discussion on ICT for development (ICT4D), it seems that researchers have still not reached a deep understanding of how to manage and allocate ICT for sustainable rural community development. The paper builds on the research done on ICT tools as instruments of development processes presented in ‘ICT Appropriation: A Knowledge Creation Perspective’ (Akther, 2015). In rural areas of Bangladesh, living conditions are characterized by poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, and a lack of access to information These conditions are being addressed in many ways and at many levels by initiatives introduced by both government and non-governmental organizations. Akther and Dirckinck-Holmfeld: Enabling ‘Ba’ by Using the Photovoice Technique to Realize Expansive Learning (Access to Information, 2009), and the BRAC wanted to help by activating the existing system for dispatching governmental regulations to rural areas. The research (Akther, 2015) focused on the enhancement of rural community development through ICT and identified the CEP ‘field facilitators’ (FFs), or ‘field workers’ as the key actors of ICT4D within the country. Wandering from village to village, they spread messages from the government or NGOs to local villagers using alternative dissemination techniques, such as rural institution-building, workshops, meetings, community radio and popular theater performances (BRAC CEP, 2018)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
