Title: Using Computers in Native American Classrooms: Trojan Horse or Cultural Affirming Technology?

• Main Author: C A Bowers
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Janus; naskapi
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1079.4821; http://cabowers.net/pdf/usingcomputers2001.pdf

In the special issue on Technology and Native Culture (Wicazo sa Review, 1988), Craig Howe concludes his discussion of the Western culural patterns reinforced through computer mediated thought and communication with the following observation: "The Internet is an exceedingly deceptive technology whose power is immensely attractive to American Indians. But until its universalistic and individualistic foundation is restructured to incorporate spatial, social, spiritual, and experiential dimensions that particularize its application, cyberspace is no place for tribalism" (p. 27). This warning, however, goes unheeded by educators, linguists, and some tribal leaders who see in the computer a means of regenerating within youth the language and traditional knowledge essential to tribal identity. As elders pass on, the tribal knowledge encoded in a CD-ROM appears safe from going extinct. The Tewa Language Project CD-ROM, the classroom use of computers adapted to the characteristics of the Hawaiian language, and the use of computers in Native classrooms for purposes of exchanging ideas within the "global village" represent just a few of the efforts that ignore Howe's warning about the Janus nature of computers. While Howe observes that computers are the latest "foreign good" that encode the Western ideal of individualism (p. 26) and a rootless form of existence, most educators continue to justify the use of computers in Native classrooms on grounds that echo the arguments being used in the dominant culture. David Lewis, for example, explains the educational gains for the Naskapi students (who live 1000 miles north of Quebec City) in the following way: The rationale for using technology involving traditons and culture, and therefore the community, is to interest and motivate the students, bring the school and community closer together, create needed resources for the community, and enhance understanding between students, staff, and other people in the community. p. 31 He concludes a brief discussion of how some members of ...