Technology and Inclusivity

"Half the world's population has never made a phone call" - ('A survey of telecommunications', 1995)

One of the benefits of technology is its ability to provide access to those who were previously excluded from participation in the learning community. In summarising a number of points concerning the social nature of learning, the Institute for Research on Learning states that "Failure to learn is the result of exclusion from participation" <www.irl.org/info/sevenprinciples.html>

Telecommunication access through e-mail, conferencing, newsgroups and 'chat' provides entry to what Oldenburg (1989) describes as a third place that is neither home nor work.

Third places exist on neutral ground and serve to level their guests to a condition of social equality. Within these places, conversation is the primary activity and the major vehicle for the display and appreciation of human personality and individuality. ...Though a radically different kind of setting from the home, the third place is remarkably similar to a good home in the psychological comfort and support that it extends (Oldenburg 1989, p. 42).

When participation is not dependent on sameness i.e. being in the same place at the same time and being of the same kind, then the population of these third places is made richer. Within the University are examples of the use of technology to create inclusive learning communities. The Teaching and Learning Technology Resource <www.admin.uwa.edu.au/csd/tltr/> lists just some of them.

• A survey of telecommunications: the death of distance - a giant effort (1995, September 30). The Economist.
• Oldenburg, R. (1989). The Great Good Place. New York: Paragon House.