Nuts and bolts of the project:
Ann: The Ark youth learned how to record sound onto the Macintosh powerbooks (on-site at the Ark for a 1/3 of the year) and then manipulate these sounds using shareware computer software. Then at a WYRED event in the iEAR studio up at RPI with the two other WYRED groups, the Ark youth taught their peers how to record and edit sounds. They worked in pairs creating short musical pieces based on recordings their names. Then everyone gathered together in a drumming circle that included traditional percussion instruments, the powerbooks and electronic drum pads. Many other iEAR graduate students participated in the event contributing the technical assistance to pull of the electronic drumming circle. This is one of the few activities that relied on gear that was not on-site at the Ark. Erik kept the drum pads he had made and the youth never got to use them again. When the Macintosh powerbooks from the 1996 Learning Technology grant rotated to the other sites we lost access to the Macintosh based sound programs. We have never been successful at getting comparable sound programs working on the IBM compatible computers at the Ark. While it was a wonderful event, it was a one shot deal rather than on-going.
Thinking behind the project:
Ann: Helping others is a theme that recurs in the WYRED web
site. Youth who society would label as
"those who need help", have always thought about how they could help
people with less. However, they are not automatically accustomed to
bringing this mindset into the technology arena.
Last May another adult in the WYRED project was working with the
kids doing web pages when someone asked her how to do something that
she didnŐt know how to do. Another youth turned in his chair and
disdainfully said "You don't know how to do that? It's so simple" and
proceeded to detail the procedure. This kid who a few months before was a
"technology have not" had become a "technology have" with all the
attendant arrogance. Since there is such a long history of dominance
connected to technology, there must be a perpetual dialogue about power
when placing technologies in communities. People must learn not only
how to use technology, but how to share it. Gift theory provides a useful
way of thinking about it. In some non-western cultures receiving a gift
carries the responsibility of giving to someone else. (Mauss)
In WYRED, learning technology is framed as a gift which youth must
in turn pass on to someone else. After students learn a skill they are soon
asked to become trainers (sharing pages, drumming circle). As trainers they
are taught to give up the computer mouse and let the person who is
learning be in the "drivers seat". The power comes not from hoarding the
technology but from the ability to share it. In a project like WYRED, where
so much new technology is coming through the door for the first time, it is
critical both to preserve spaces in the project where youth are able to give in
return, and to infuse the technological realm with the spirit of sharing.
Looking ahead:
Ann: Incorporating gift theory into the electronic technology arena is especially useful for adults. When I was working as an Internet Consultant in the Minneapolis Public Schools through an AmeriCorps position, I found that adults more than children struggle to pick up new technologies. A culture of cooperation and sharing makes the process that much easier. Gift theory provides a way to encourage a sustainable use of technology.
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