The paper is to illustrate a coming of age approach of imparting digital literacy to rural populations of the country, where traditional literacy is still lagging and where knowledge of English—a language that dominates the world of the Internet both in terms of technology and content—is rare or weak. New Delhi-based non-profit organization Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) has designed and developed START, a digital and media literacy learning curriculum and toolkit. This toolkit has been designed for first-generation technology users living in rural, remote and tribal parts of the country.
Barefoot women wireless engineers creating socially viable community networks in India
In this paper, we define ‘new technologies’ as technologies that are a result of the innovation of older technologies and aim at transforming lives. These technologies are often considered as threatening and unfamiliar and are often viewed as ‘unacceptable’ especially for women. However, with new sustainable innovation, technology has become an empowering agent in the lives of women, especially rural women. The paper also highlights how women have specifically understood the importance of connectivity and are building their own network. This paper also focuses on Creating ‘Community Women Barefoot Engineers’ which would mean that learning and knowledge are transferred and exchanged as women are empowered to act in a predominantly male society and venture into areas that were previously restricted for them.
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Published at: OAsis, COL’s Open Access Repository
http://oasis.col.org/bitstream/handle/11599/3439/PCF9_Papers_paper_200.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y