Globalization, Advocacy, and Washing Machines

I think that some EDIM students may feel that the Globalization & Advocacy course is the least "practical" in terms of creating products that can be used immediately in class. This video may give you another perspective:

For me G&A course was about giving us a new perspective on our own place in the world and how to create learning spaces which at the same time both welcome people and ideas from all over the world and also prepare local children for lives that will be controlled to some extent by global forces. It's about seeing that every issue has at least two sides and that what we may see as good practices in the short run may turn out to be just plain short-sited.

Technology is often considered 'the great leveler'. We think it has launched the world into a post-industrial era. Rosling's point is that the great majority of Earth's population is still living in PRE-industrial times. As that divide widens and deepens, there will be more and more people who want 'what we have' and who we'll see as threatening as a result. Perhaps instead of investing in expanded national security and other 'defensive' measures, we should be put washing machines where more women can get their hands on them.

Connecting children to the internet can help them learn and build their dreams, but computers don't replace the labour intensive tasks of day to day life. Dreams denied can be a powerful force for the kind of change which may not be friendly to our way of life.

[This is just one Canadian's point of view.]