Empathize

To be effective in the empathize stage, we need to become an observer where we engage, watch and listen with our target learners or users. Researching strategic eLearning plans for this paper was an exercise in letting go, and allowing unanticipated themes to reveal themselves naturally.

Initially, I set out to analyze the eLearning planning of two countries that share geographic borders, but have stark differences in human development – Costa Rica and Nicaragua. In doing some research, I wanted to reflect on access to online learning in developing countries and the potential for digital colonialism. I had travelled to Costa Rica years ago, and was intrigued by the government’s move to abolish the military in 1948 and reallocating the budget to health and education. The country ranks in the UN’s top 5 Human Development Index (HDI) for Latin America, while its neighbour, Nicaragua ranks in the bottom five. I couldn’t find substantial literature by the Nicaraguan government on online learning. However, I noted plenty of articles suggesting how the country could reform its education system and telecommunications (and subsequently foster online learning) albeit written by authors in developed countries.

However, after running into research hurdles, I started to rethink my decision to explore a developing country like Nicaragua. I’ve fared better with Costa Rica and looking into Latin America overall has been fascinating. Unfortunately, neither country has a dedicated government strategy for eLearning readily available and in English. From the different developmental agency reports, I’ve only been able to piece together an idea of the state of education and online learning.

I ended up switching my focus to governmental eLearning plans from the UK (specifically, England) and the European Union. Considering the timeliness of their publications, I wanted to discover if Brexit had an impact on the approach that was taken – whether to be conservative (and project unity and stability), or to be radical under the guise of innovation. While completing my report, I found the wealth of data a complete 180° from researching my previous choices in Latin America. Unfortunately, the strategies found were only available in Spanish, and as a non-Spanish speaker, I didn’t think I’d do the plans justice with lack of cultural and linguistic context. Relying purely on articles written by Western countries about Nicaragua for example, felt inauthentic as well.