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This article provides information about the difference between techno-utopians and techno-structuralism:
Techno-utopians are optimists who believe the Web leads to greater access to education and there by greater dispersal of knowledge. This facilitates the universal accessibility of knowledge and this may lead to empowerment of larger section of the population because in knowledge-based society the acquisition of knowledge empowers the individuals.
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In this discourse, they argue, the Web (i) lowers barriers that impede access to education in face-to-face settings, (ii) will eventually result in equity, (iii) reaches the hard-to-reach, (iv) straddles cultural boundaries, (v) constitutes a “paradigm shift” in learning and education, (vi) fosters high degrees of interaction, (vii) leads to a reinstallation of fading local democracies, (viii) invites learner participation, (ix) encourages a desirable level of collaborative (rather than individual) learning, teamwork and cooperation.
Techno-utopians are often having a global vision about the ICT infrastructure and ICT penetration without taking into account local particularities. They predict a universal dispersal of knowledge through Internet and World Wide Web without taking into consideration of the fact that a vast majority of the world population are in the developing countries where the first priority of the people even in this 21st century is the basic amenities of life not ICT infrastructure. For example in developing Asia, despite techno-utopian talk of “paradigm shifts” there are only roughly 9.8 million people on line – a mere 0.3 per cent of the population.
Techno-utopians version of “information highway” – a Utopian narrative which argue that progress and salvation through technology and transportation – makes little sense in most part of the world even today. If the techno-utopians fail to view technological advancements in the societal contexts of inequality, illiteracy, poverty, ill health and other forms of social backwardness that persist in many parts of the globe, the paradigm shift that they claim that they claim the technological will bring about may instead lead to a “paradigm lost”.
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Techno-structuralists are not interested in whether technology is good, bad or neutral. They are mostly interested in institutional forces or the social context wherein the Web is used. In the techno-structuralism discourse there are questions about: (i) who is using the Web, who is doing what to whom and for what reason? (ii) the extent to which the Web is “World Wide” or largely carrying an American message, (iii) the extent the Web will invigorate or enfeeble democratic structures and processes, (iv) will it reinforce or challenge the interests of corporate, political and military elites? (v) will it lead to celebration of “information highway”, (vi) the nature of power relations nested in Web learning and education? (vii) how the Web suits the modus operandi or learning proclivities of different groups.
The centerpiece of this discourse is the way technology is used. As Galtung noted “A naive view of technology sees it merely as a question of tools – hardware – skills and knowledge and software. These components are certainly important, but they are the surface of technology, like the visible tip of the iceberg. Technology also includes an associated structure, even a deep structure, a mental framework, a social cosmology, serving as the fertile soil in which the seeds of a certain type of knowledge may be planted and grow and generate new knowledge … Tools do not operate in a vacuum; they are man-made and man- used and require certain social arrangements”.
According to the techno-structuralists, although the Web can facilitate vertical and horizontal communication, more information does not, by itself, lead to desired action. It’s a question of who is doing what to whom and why? Other questions informed by a techno-structuralist discourse concern who uses the Web.