Workshop 3 - Decolonising EdTech: Positionality in Educational Technology Research
About this workshop
Have you ever thought about your own positionality and what it meant for you as an educational technology researcher? Our positionalities shaped our particular research interests, what we regarded as worthy of studying, our relationships with our research participants, conceptual and theoretical lenses, the research approaches we were drawn to, and more. This interactive session engaged participants in a reflexive process where we unpacked different kinds of positionalities together (social, intellectual, decolonial), the relationship between these, and doing educational technology research.
Presenter's bio
Nompilo is a Lecturer in the Department of Curriculum Studies and the Centre for Higher and Adult Education at Stellenbosch University. She has been working with educational technology since 2005 in both student and staff development, and as a researcher. Nompilo holds a PhD (Rhodes University) which focused on understanding the agency of academics as they integrate educational technology and quietly resist a range of constraining structural forces. Developing from this, her current research interests focus on reflexivity and critique by seeking a nuanced understanding of educational technology practices in higher education through a better understanding of context and the use of social theories.
Nicola is an Educational Technology Specialist at senior lecturer level in the Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning (CHERTL) at Rhodes University. She provides learning design support and designs professional development opportunities for academics to use technologies effectively in their roles as educators. Nicola supervises postgraduate students and co-teaches formal courses in Higher Education. She received her PhD from the University of Cape Town. She values contextual and culturally responsive approaches to learning design and educational technology usage. She seeks to expand critical perspectives on educational technologies in Higher Education and regularly contributes to collaborative research.
About the partners and organisers
Emerge Africa
e/merge Africa is an educational technology network which is mostly for educational technology researchers and practitioners in African higher education. Since 2014 e/merge Africa has offered regular professional development activities in the form of online seminars and workshops and short courses.
Learn more at www.emergeafrica.net.
EdTech Hub
EdTech Hub is a global research partnership. Our goal is to empower people by giving them the evidence they need to make decisions about technology in education. We use an integrated approach that marries research, technical assistance and innovation to address the educational challenges faced by low- and middle-income countries around the world. We do this by collaborating with partners to provide governments with the resources to effectively integrate EdTech into their education systems. We work globally, and also on the ground in 7 focus countries: Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. We are supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, World Bank, and UNICEF.
Learn more at www.edtechhub.org.
