前途: A Year in Morocco

One of the things I’ve struggled with since the beginning of my time in Morocco is dealing with the reality of inequality, and in particular, unequal access to information and technology.

The reality is that, for most of my students, there is no access to online academic databases; there are no computer labs in libraries; and “public” libraries have questionable hours, may be poorly organized, lack relevant materials, or simply do not allow books to leave because too many have never come back. Books in English are practically unavailable for purchase, and the few I’ve seen tend to be too expensive for the average student and/or are inaccessible and therefore not useful to those without fluent English. Students doing research rely on their professors to provide articles and books for them to use, and I have yet to meet a professor who knows of Google Scholar or the Gutenberg Project, let alone the debates surrounding them.

Recently, I’ve done two powerpoint presentations in my Intro to U.S. Culture class, in which I am assistant teaching. I’m really excited about this because until this semester, I didn’t even have a working projector in any of my classrooms. I can safely say that lecturing to a group of EFL speakers is much easier when there are visuals and written text to help visual learners connect to the lectures.

I had maybe six students (out of approximately 100) ask me for the files after class. I don’t mind sharing the files, but I am very keenly aware that sharing the files will have unequal consequences, for the following reasons:

-Technological illiteracy: not everyone knows how to use a computer effectively.

-Access: not everyone has consistent, lengthy, or private access to a computer.

-Signal: even with proper access, the internet signal may be weak or nonexistent due to infrastructure.

-Economic ability: even if they have access to a computer, they may lack the money maintain full-time access to the internet.

-Initiative: in order to get the files from me, students must email me. There is no such thing as a class-list of emails (and indeed there are students without an email address altogether), and I frequently receive student email addresses that bounce back to me for unknown reasons. I have to rely on students to take the first step and email me from a functional address, and then I will reply with the files. Anyone who has worked in universities or as a teacher knows initiative is a normal issue, but when it’s combined with other factors, it truly exacerbates an already serious problem.

-Uploading to a singular location: I will be uploading my files to a file storing website, but distributing the links proves problematic as well. I will post the links in my Facebook group, but I only have about 55 members, many of whom are not even in the U.S. Culture class. I will distribute these links in class as well, but ultimately, it depends on the students to be at class, write them down correctly (see my earlier post on typos), and then remember to look back at their notes and also be able to access them.

Due to all of this, I suspect that a fairly small percentage of my students will end up with the files. My next immediate concern is that they will just memorize the notes on the slides and regurgitate them on their exams in an attempt to get a better grade.

So, the choice I am faced with is: do I deny all access to my powerpoint files, or do I give information to whoever takes the time, initiative, and has the ability to seek it?

And in doing so, how do I deal with the fact that, in consenting to participate in the unequal distribution of information, I am helping maintain the status quo, rather than seeking to change it?

More importantly, is it even possible for me to change the distribution problem without fixing all of the existing economic problems?

In some ways, this problem of mine exemplifies the limitations of educational ideals in the current Arabic-speaking world. Most people would agree that ideals are lovely and beneficial, but ultimately, the ideals are subject to their context and the reality of the environment in which they operate. Working to change that context is what will allow for the implementation of better institutions. Specifically, developing the economy in a manner that provides benefits for all people (and not just those already on top economically), will allow for better meaningful access to information, which ultimately will allow for a society that more meaningfully and usefully engages with education.

At the end of the day, my decision has been to distribute information rather than restrict access to it, even if that results in inequalities. In the end, I believe my contribution to the flow of information does more good than harm. The rest of these issues are what Moroccans will continue to work out for themselves.