Participatory Parity and Emerging Technologies

Abstract

This chapter argues that in relation to developing and doing socially just pedagogies, emerging technologies in themselves cannot be seen as a panacea for addressing inequalities and access in higher education as many claim they do. Indeed, they may serve to deepen existing inequalities, as has been evidenced by the digital divide and the consequences that they have for access to knowledge and information. Nonetheless, despite the exclusion from the Internet and technological devices experienced by many people in southern contexts, there have been some indications that the emerging technologies together with transformative pedagogies can be used to work towards participatory parity in higher education. This chapter uses as its point of departure Nancy Fraser’s conception of social justice to understand the extent to which South African higher educators who use technologies are able to achieve participatory parity in their pedagogy. According to Fraser, participatory parity involves the ability to interact on a social level with peers on an equal footing. Participatory parity (or social justice) involves three dimensions—the economic, the cultural, and the political. In order for students to be able to interact on an equal basis in higher education, pedagogical arrangements, which affect each one of these dimensions, would have to be considered and these pedagogical arrangements can be considered either affirmative or transformative.