| 5 April...No jokes about the digital divide...one
of my more interesting and ambitious educational enterprises that I have
undertaken since coming to Moldova has been my a pen-pal project where I
attempted to pair my 42 English language students with an American to
interview (for a paper due next week). In addition, my colleague,
Jean Fallis at Mercer, set up a blog with to let her students and mine
discuss education in Moldova and the U.S.--seemed like such a good idea
in February...ahhh...how ignorant I was. Ahhh...how American was I
in February! First, let me say that when I say American--I don't mean
ignorant, I just mean that as an American I sort of assume that the rest
of the world has all the conveniences that I have (or close to them).
I often underestimate the difference between the realities of a Mercer
student and a student here and nowhere has this been more the case than
in my understanding of students uses and access to technology and
especially the Internet. I went to graduate school in 1990 and we
had no e-mail, no Instant Messaging, and no Internet Explorer. We
still used the mainframe in my "heavy-duty" stats class and I did not
own a computer but used a lab on the second floor of Baldwin Hall.
So I did not start teaching with such conveniences but have I ever grown
accustomed to them.
In the Moldovan universities there is usually a computer lab--but
rarely are the computers hooked up to the Internet and they are often in
disrepair. So the idea of free Internet is not a reality here for
students. Moreover, only a few students have a computer at
home--they are very expensive and are not used in day-to-day working
lives like they are in the States. Most papers in university
classes are still handwritten. Still, I had not clued in because I
assumed my students used e-mail but used it at a cafe (or a store that
is essentially a computer lab--where it costs about 50 cents an hour to
use the Internet--they are all over Chisinau). But as I have
learned, 50 cents is a lot of money for a student here and less than
half of my students even have e-mail accounts and for most e-mail is
more a "concept than a reality."
One of the most interesting responses to my assignment of a pen-pal
was--"I don't want to meet people unless I can see them and look them in
the eye--I won't trust them." In the end, after weeks of begging
them to get e-mail accounts set up, I relented and the students were
given a choice to do the pen-pal project or to write a long paper in
English. From what I have seen so far about 75% will opt to write
the long paper. Thanks to all my American friends (and others)
that volunteered to help with this project--I had high hopes. This
said, having visited the Internet cafes, it appears they are full of
12-15 year old boys (mostly) playing video games. I hope that
eventually they will find some other applications as well.
I have been asked if many Moldovans blog and my answer is other than
the American Peace Corps volunteers and a Moldovan studying economics in
the States, I am not aware of any. It is a shame because the media
is not well developed here. Spending this time in Chisinau, I so
realize the potential in on-line communications to support the
development of democratic institutions.
Even the universities do not computerize administrative functions and
still do scheduling on BIG pieces of paper. The fact that students
take classes in set groups (all 1st year International Relations
Romanian-speaking students are one group and all 1st year International
Relations Russian-speaking students are another group, etc.) makes
scheduling a little easier but seems crazy to me.
One use of technology here is the old hand-held calculator.
Every shopkeeper and market vender has one and they will type in the
amount you owe them on it. I guess this is because there are 5
languages spoken around Moldova (well 6 if you count my April Fools
joke). Everyone here seems to have a cell phone (even me).
A few people fell for my April Fools' joke--English is not about to
become the official language here and it was my fantasy that Moldovans
had an interest in seeing the country become a U.S. state. There
is, however, an Arc de Triumf here (way in the foreground in the picture
on the left). Lastly, winter is indeed over and I know this
because what seems to be an army of older women have been planting
flowers in every open plot of ground in the city. Once all the
flowers start to bloom it is going to be absolutely gorgeous in
Chisinau!!! |
|
Center of Chisinau and Moldcell is one of the two largest cellular
providers.
 Internet
cafes or clubs are a recent rapid growth industry in Chisinau. One
advertises for Frizerie and Internet--hair salon and Internet--does it
get any better?
The big three...the Chisinau Cathedral, the Bell tower, and the Arc de
Triumf
Yours truly working at my desk...I use dial-up!
|
