If knowledge is power, access to knowledge is also a form of domination. The diffusion of human knowledge has always been limited to the time and space variables. However, the technological innovations have been breaking the conventional power structures, taking opportunities within reach of all. In spite of the fact that the mobile revolution has not yet realized its potential to make access to knowledge more democratic, it is directly connected to social, economic and political aspects. The RNP Forum of this year will receive the researcher Christopher Brooks, from EDUCAUSE, who studies the impact of technology on the educational systems. In the interview below, Brooks gives us a preview of his lecture of August 26, at 04:40p.m..

How has technology influenced the educational system throughout the world?

From a macro historical perspective, technological innovations have influenced education in a significant manner. Writing, paper, papyrus, books, the press, blackboards, chalkboards, telephones, typewriters, Fordism, televisions, computing and personal computers, mobile devices and the Internet have shaped the educational systems during their respective eras and continue to leva their mark today.

Despite the fact that such technologies have produced efficiency and improvements to the learning process and have gradually made access to knowledge more democratic, the technology is outside the learning process and did not fundamentally change the psychological and biological process of learning. Instead, the technological innovation worked as a catalyst for the discovery of new approaches to teaching and learning, making changes to educational paradigms and undermining conventional wisdom.

In this latter point, it is important to note that each of such innovations results not only in benefits to the educational efforts, but also to unforeseen circumstances and undesirable consequences. They are both true and evident in considering the impact of mobile technology on the systemic approaches to education.

How can the growth of mobility contribute to the development of the educational system over the next few years?

What the future of mobile technology offers to education is the possibility of learning anywhere, at any time, to anyone. In general, the greatest obstacle for the democratization of mobile learning, at this time, is the access to the necessary technologies and networks.

EDUCAUSE has several works that point to improvements to learning and teaching through the use of e-learning systems. Do you believe this to already be a reality in Brazil?

I know that Brazil has been taking great leaps towards higher education and expanding the infrastructure that supports the e-learning systems over the last few years. Unfortunately, I am not aware of how successful these efforts have been in expanding access to opportunities through e-learning in Brazil, especially in the rural area.

Having said that, it is evident that e-learning can be as effective as in-person teaching and that the relationship between the student and the contents being studied is more important than the relationship between the student and the instructor. If and when Brazil gets to the point of providing diffused e-learning opportunities, I am confident that there shall be positive effects on teaching and learning.

How can Brazilian researchers contribute to make these methods become a reality in our country?

As a researcher, I believe that there is the need to replicate basic studies carried out in Europe, in the United States, in Australia and in other countries, in order to understand how e–learning is working in Brazil. (I thing it will work in a largely similar manner, because there is no reason to think that teaching and learning mechanisms in use with assistance from educational technologies are fundamentally different in diverse cultural contexts).

The base research having been reproduced, the Brazilian researchers must be free to explore a series of interventions and questions that arise in the Brazilian educational environment, in a systematic and scientific manner, Regarding this last point, those in the segment need to overlook the anecdote and implement empirical research methodologies to analyze data in a qualitative and quantitative manner, so as to create case studies about what works and what doesn’t, and why. That is, in my opinion, the most important thing to take into account as the research programs advance.

Read more about mobility at the 2015 RNP Forum’s website.