Session 9 and 10: What ethical issues are raised by the use of technology as a learning resource?
IOE’s MA Education and Technology in Clinical Practice. Module: Education and Technology in Clinical Practice: perspectives and issues. Session 9: Technology, disability and virtual worlds. Session Tutor: Diane Carr
The aim of this session is to explore issues of ethics and research design, while discussing disability, identity and technology. It is not unusual to encounter debates about disability, education and technology that implicitly construct disability as an individual deficit that can be solved or ‘fixed’ by a corresponding, compensating tool. We will examine the problematic aspects of this approach while making reference to Disability Studies perspectives and recent research into the experiences of deaf users of Second Life. In 2007, the integration of a ‘voice’ feature within Second Life meant that users or ‘residents’ had the option to speak to one another via microphone, rather than typing ‘chat text’. This controversial new feature had a considerable impact on some deaf residents, who found themselves suddenly ousted from friendships, organizations and events in Second Life. Meanwhile educators working in Second Life have embraced the voice tool with enthusiasm. We will discuss and disentangle some of these issues, while considering the links between community and identity, disability and technology.
Preparatory reading
Moser, I. (2006) ‘Disability and the promises of technology: Technology, subjectivity and embodiment within an order of the normal’. Information, Communication & Society, 9 (3), 373 – 395.
This article by Lennard Davis http://www.lennarddavis.com/downloads/deafnessandtheriddle.pdf
This guardian article ‘My daughter lost her hearing…’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/aug/15/lost-hearing-musically-gifted
Excerpt from Branson and Miller’s 2002 book ‘Damned for Their Difference’, pp 224-229
See also ‘Learning from Online Worlds’ project blog http://learningfromsocialworlds.wordpress.com/
