Summary
Contents
Subject index
Global Perspectives on E-Learning: Rhetoric and Reality presents several cases of international online education and the rhetoric that surrounds this form of teaching and learning. Editor Alison A. Carr-Chellman examines the impact of online distance education throughout the world in an effort to understand more deeply the merits of such initiatives. Written from a critical perspective, the book sheds light on some of the problems faced by international distance educators. It particularly focuses on who benefits, and who does not, by the advance of international e-learning and how we can respond to the needs of the disenfranchised. This book is intended to supplement what has to this point been largely a positive, how-to literature in distance education. It offers a balanced perspective on the problems and possibilities of distance education worldwide.
International Study Circles
International Study Circles
Online learning is constrained by (among other things) technology, language, education, and wealth, but need not be limited to particular populations or geographical boundaries. With neoliberal globalization increasingly eroding the ability of nations to respond to national needs, this chapter investigates an educational response that matches the global reach of the transnational corporations.
International study circles (ISCs) embody the spirit of progressive adult education. Combining the philosophy of the Grundtvig-inspired Scandinavian folk schools with 21st-century technology, ISCs fan the dwindling embers of popular, radical adult education and shed fresh light on the practicalities associated with empowering democracy internationally. Exploring the possibilities of this version of nonaccredited, voluntary adult education has lessons of interest to more than those engaged in workers' education. Questions to consider as you read this chapter include:
- What do international study circles reveal about the ability of e-learning to cross national boundaries?
- Do international study circles show the weakness or power of employees in relation to their employers?
- What are your suggestions to improve international study circles?
- What are the costs and benefits to adults who engage in this form of education?
Background to the Study
The rapid growth of union Web sites (Lee, 1997) and the role that the Internet is playing in actual disputes are indications of the potential that new technology offers for international workers' education. The Association for Progressive Communications helps 50,000 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in 133 nations fight their causes electronically (Mathews, 1997). In Amsterdam the Transnationals Information Exchange (TIE), comprising some 40 research and activist labor groups, is attempting to similarly empower the victims of global capitalism (Brecher & Costello, 1994; Herod, 1997), as is the San Francisco-based International Forum on Globalization (Roberts, 1998).
The place of computers in international labor struggles is well established. Cross-border alliances of unionists have proven effective in resolving labor disputes involving Coca-Cola's Guatemalan operations (Frundt, 1987). Herod (1995) has written on the successful campaign fought by the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and the International Trade Secretariat (ITS) of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers' Unions (ICEM).
The trigger for this dispute was the 1994 illegal firing of 2,300 workers at five Bridgestone/Firestone tire factories. To attempt to reinstate the workers, the USWA and ICEM utilized the Internet to orchestrate a campaign of negative publicity. Shareholders and Internet advertisers were informed of the illegal action of the company, and a boycott of their products was initiated. The company's own Web site was targeted for these actions, making the employers pay for this aspect of the campaign. The Internet also allowed the protesters to spread their campaign worldwide. The catchy phrase “to picket, just click it” was used to encourage supporters to send electronic letters of protest to the management and spread the action. The campaign was so effective that in September 1996 nearly all the workers were recalled.
The Bridgestone/Firestone campaign showed that computers can put the workers in the driving seat, forcing management to react. Herod (1998) expresses guarded optimism by writing:
Nevertheless, the internet does offer possibilities for organizing globally which will become increasingly significant as the speed of planetary capitalism and the spatial reach of capital increase to even greater levels, and unions become increasingly concerned about global geo-economic strategy. It does enable those with access to the technology (which though still concentrated in the advanced industrial nations is slowly beginning to diffuse to other parts of the world) to develop contacts, share information, and harass employers in ways and at speeds not previously [thought] possible.
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