05/04/2024
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/inspiration-education-persistence-charity-jennings/?trackingId=Fk9PXbLnTb%2Bz2hGmKQeoDQ%3D%3D
An Inspiration for Education and Persistence
Charity Jennings
Charity Jennings
Enabling Learner Success in Career-Relevant Education
162 articles
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April 19, 2022
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Dr. Sadrag Panduleni Shihomeka was a contributing author to my 2021 book project Ensuring Adult and Non-Traditional Learners’ Success With Technology, Design, and Structure. In my role as the book’s editor, I helped him prepare the final draft of his chapter for publication. I communicated closely with him over several weeks, making recommendations for his final draft and learning more about his students and his research.
What I learned from Dr. Shihomeka inspires me. His students’ stories remind me of the value of education and diligence in pursuit of an improved life. The persistence that his students showed during the pandemic to continue their education is inspiring. Dr. Shihomeka and his colleagues’ support for their students was equally impressive.
Sadrag Panduleni Shihomeka (PhD Media and Communication, MBA, B.Ed.) graduated from the Department of Media and Communication at the School of History, Culture, and Communication at Erasmus University--Rotterdam. Dr. Shihomeka serves as a Senior Lecturer in Educational Technologies in the Department of Lifelong Learning and Community Education at the University of Namibia. He previously served in different capacities as a lecturer, undergraduate and postgraduate research supervisor, consultant, secondary school teacher, and facilitator for various workshops and trainings in Namibia.
Dr. Shihomeka’s chapter shared research about his students’ experiences when University of Namibia classes moved to remote learning in response to the government’s Covid-19 pandemic response. In Namibia, the digital divide far exceeds what we see in the United States. Dr. Shihomeka’s research revealed four categories of students’ access to technology that would support remote and online learning.
From Dr. Shihomeka’s own words, in his chapter: "My interactions with the students and learners at various institutions and schools led to the identification of key characteristics through a critical autobiographical narrative enquiry: Technologically-Endowed (TE) student/learner; Moderate Technologically-Exposed (MTE) student/learner; Severe Technologically Disadvantaged (STD) student/learner, and Acute Technologically Marginalized (ATM) student/learner. Application of these categories makes it easier for a school administrator or manager to be able to tell the number of such learners or students in the institution and the type of resources required to avoid unintentional digital exclusion of these learners in the teaching and learning process once they switch to online learning."
Dr. Shihomeka’s research showed that only the Technologically-Endowed (TE) students/learners have what we in the United States would consider to be typical levels of access to technology. All other students had substantial limitations in their access to computers, electricity, smartphones, and the Internet. In particular, students in all but the TE category lacked "access to power/electricity at home but depends on neighbours [sic], nearby cucashops and so on for charging or through solar panels."
In particular, students in the Acute Technologically Marginalized (ATM) category lived in far remote areas of Namibia, and when they were sent home during the pandemic, they had severe challenges to continuing their education when the university went online.
Students in all but the TE category took extraordinary steps to maintain access to class, walking distances to find charging opportunities from solar or even hand-cranked generators. Borrowing computers or smartphones from others to gain infrequent and inconsistent computer access to their classes. Relying on the goodwill of neighbors to share technology resources within a village.
Reading about Dr. Shihomeka’s students’ experiences reminded me to have gratitude for the wealth of resources we have in the United States, even when we’re navigating some type of digital divide. People in remote and rural parts of the U.S. aren’t reliant on hand cranked generators and shared smartphones to scrape by access to their education. Dr. Shihomeka’s research showed me the opportunities we have to reach out beyond our borders to support educational endeavors in places like Namibia.
Colleagues, who inspires you in your industry? What lessons do you learn from colleagues in other parts of the world?
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Charity Jennings
