Empowering Women Through Technology
This week I got several Google alerts under the heading of Digital Storytelling that all originated from a website called “shethepeople”, found at https://www.shethepeople.tv/. With this past Sunday being International Women’s Day, I felt particularly empowered to check out this website and see how it connected to digital storytelling. This website is described as “India's biggest digital storytelling for women, dedicated to passionately championing and promoting their journeys. We Empower, Engage and Elevate, connecting them to an amazing network that inspires and grows each others' efforts” (Shethepeople, n.d.). This site is an independent journalism project which reaches more than 85 million women via digital narratives, engaging videos, and special events and summits. What surprised me is that this site hails from India and is known as India’s first platform for stories of women, however, the site is all in English. Although the Constitution of India recognizes 23 languages spoken in different parts of the country and Hindi is the official language of the central government, English is used extensively in business and administration and is important in education. This relates to this week’s unit of English as a lingua franca.
The article that specifically caught my eye was titled “Women Entrepreneurs Are Unlocking Digital to Stand Up Against Inequality”. One woman interviewed for the article, Dr. Shikha Nehru Sharma, discusses how women were able to rise to the role of entrepreneurs thanks to the digital era. First, going digital has allowed women to work from home. Second, technology allows anyone to have access to real information directly and immediately. Third, social media allows women to connect with other women, be inspired by their stories, and learn from their examples. The article ended with this quote as a proclamation to all women, “Please make sure that you’re standing for yourself because when one woman stands for herself, she stands for the entire women community. Be confident, be more vibrant” (Saavriti, 2020). Thanks to technology, women (and men, of course) have the resources, the support system, and the network to help them be successful.
How does this article relate to this ESL course and why did I choose it as the topic of this blog? Just as the women in the article feel they have more opportunities to succeed thanks to the digital era, ESL students have more opportunities to practice their language skills and connect with others globally thanks to technology. There is a wealth of ESL resources available on the Internet and available to students. We have only skimmed the surface discovering these from the units of study in this course.
References:
Languages of India. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Languages_of_India
Saavriti. (2020, March 7). Women entrepreneurs are unlocking digital to stand up against inequality. Retrieved from https://www.shethepeople.tv/news/women-entrepreneurs-india-womens-day
shethepeople The Women's Channel. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.shethepeople.tv/
Hi Courtney!
ReplyDeleteI must say that your post this week was the best post I've read yet! It was an inspiring combination of technology and feminism (two topics I love talking about!). I was so inspired by what you wrote. I've only just recently learned of digital storytelling, so to then learn of how digital storytelling is empowering women was awesome! I think it's so great to think of the ways technology has empowered women to educate themselves and reach success. Despite the setbacks and challenges of a technological world, we must recognize all the ways in which technology is helping people and creating opportunities that would otherwise be impossible.
Thank you so much for sharing! :)
I really enjoyed reading your blog post this week about digital storytelling and the impact it has on sharing minority stories. I feel that this area and use of technology would be so beneficial for students because ELs may feel more reluctance to sharing their stories out of fear of not being accepted or fear that who they are is not important enough. Digital storytelling can be such a powerful tool. I also love how you mentioned that tools like these can help learners connect globally. I remember the joy one of my ELs experienced when I put a VR on her and placed her directly in her hometown in Puerto Rico. She was so excited and walked as she walked around and explored where she came from. This gave me the opportunity to discuss with her about her past and encourage her to share with others.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
I think this is a very powerful message that you wrote about this week! The best part is that it tied in digital storytelling with empowering women. I really enjoyed how you tied in ESL students to all of this. Not only do they get to practice their language skills, but they can see how women are empowered. I think you found a great article and tied it in nicely with everything!
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