Presentation for Marianne Martens's Gender and Technology course, FS 2009 04:547:340, at Rutgers University (November 2, 2009).

1. Literacy, Culture, and Technology in the
Developing World:
Reflections on Ten Months in Morocco
Gender and Technology 04:547:340
School of Communication & Information
Rutgers University
November 2, 2009
1
Heather Lea Moulaison

2. Outline
• Concepts pertaining to
this talk
• Morocco as a
developing country
• Moroccan experiences,
2008-2009
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3. Developed v. developing world
• Developed countries: “A developed country is one that allows
all its citizens to enjoy a free and healthy life in a safe
environment.” (Annan, 2000)
• The West: Developed countries in North America and Europe.
• Developing countries: Nations with a low level of material
well being. (wikipedia)
• Other terms you may have heard:
– First World, Third World (Second World)
– Global South: The nations of Africa, Central and Latin America, and most of Asia
(http://www1.american.edu/academic.depts/acainst/cgs/about.html)
– Least Developed Countries (LDC): (http://www.unesco.org/ldc/list.htm)
• a low income, as measured by a three-year average estimate of the gross domestic
product (GDP) per capita;
• weak human resources, as measured by a composite index (Augmented Physical
Quality of Life Index) based on indicators of life expectancy at birth, per capita
calorie intake, combined primary and secondary school enrolment, and adult
literacy;
• a low level of economic diversification, as measured by a composite index
(Economic Diversification Index) based on the share of manufacturing in GDP, the
share of the labour force in industry, annual per capita commercial energy
consumption, and UNCTAD's merchandise export concentration index. 3

4. Poverty indicators
• Did you know...
– 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water
– 2.4 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation
– The average distance that women in Africa and Asia walk to collect
water is 6 KM (3.72822715 miles)
– In developing countries, 91 children out of 1,000 die before their fifth
birthday
– Of the 6 billion people in today's world, 1.2 billion live below $1 per
day
– The amount of money that the richest 1% of the world's people make
each day equals what the poorest 57% make each year
http://www1.american.edu/academic.depts/acainst/cgs/about.html
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5. Literacy
• Literacy: “the quality or state of being literate; knowledge of
letters; condition in respect to education, especially the
ability to read and write” (Literacy, 1989):
– “Literacy is a process of learning that enables individuals to achieve
personal goals, develop their knowledge and potential, and
participate fully in the community and wider society” (Global
Monitoring Report Team EFA, 2008, p. 410),
– An illiterate person is one “who cannot read and write with
understanding a simple statement related to his/her everyday life.”
(Global Monitoring Report Team EFA, 2008, p. 411),
– Non-literate citizens are those coming from oral cultures that do not
emphasize literacy or education (Cédelle, 2008),
– 776 million adults in the world today remain without basic literacy
skills (Global Monitoring Report Team EFA, 2008, p. 91),
– Speech is a basic method of communication exploited by people in
oral cultures (Brady, Dyson, & Asela, 2008).
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6. Culture and exchange
• Culture: “Learned behavior consisting of thoughts, feelings,
and actions” (Hoft, 1996, p. 41),
– “Mental programming” (Hofstede, 1980)
Five dimensions of culture (Hofstede, 2001) –
1. Tolerate authority?
2. Tolerate ambiguity?
3. “Men’s work” is different from “women’s work”
4. Individualistic or interested in the group?
5. Short-term or long-term orientation?
• Fulbright Grant: student and teacher grants for US citizens to
travel abroad for research and study; also, grants for foreign
nationals to come to US for research and study.
– I went to teach Library and Information Science (LIS) in an African country last
year. 6
– If you are an American citizen, YOU QUALIFY!

7. Morocco and the Mediterranean
Satellite map from
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maps.google.com

8. Higher ed. and women in Morocco
• Ecole des Sciences de l’Information, Rabat,
Morocco
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9. Education in North Africa
COUNTRY ADULT LITERACY RATE (%) SCHOOL ENROLMENT (%)
Libya 81.7 94
Tunisia 74.3 75
Algeria 69.9 73
Egypt 71.4 76
Morocco 52.3 58
Maghrebi Education Indicators, 2004 (UN Development Programme 2006).
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10. Male v. female literacy in Morocco
% FEMALE RATIO OF FEMALE
AGE GROUP IN MOROCCO LITERATE RATE TO MALE
Adult literacy rate (aged 15 and older) 39.6 0.6
Youth literacy rate (aged 15-24) 60.5 0.75
Literacy rates, Males to Females in 2005 (Human Development Report, 2007/2008).
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11. Illiteracy and daily life in cities
• Life in Rabat, the capital of Morocco
Photo by Eric Childress
Photo by Ray Schwartz
And in Casablanca, the economic capital of Morocco. 11

12. ICTs and technology in Morocco
• Morocco has the highest
Internet penetration on
the African continent,
with 19.9 percent
(UNCTD, 2007, p. 25) of
Moroccans having
Internet access.
• Relative to other African
countries when Internet
access averages around 5
percent, Moroccan access
is very advanced.
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13. Internet access
• Sharing wifi between apartments
• Culture of Internet cafes
– “In Morocco, the Café was and still is the domain
of men and this transferred to the concept of the
Internet Café as well” (Gunawardena, et al., p.
527).
– Online chat rooms are equally open to men and
women, and women are able to participate with a
sense of freedom that they may not enjoy in
traditional non-anonymous face-to-face
communication with Moroccan peers
(Gunawardena, et al., p. 527). 13

14. Of Morocco’s 34,000,000
inhabitants …
*From the CIA World Factbook
MOROCCAN TECHNOLOGY* YEAR NUMBER INHABITANTS
Telephones - mainlines 2006 1,266,000
Telephones - mobile cellular 2006 16,005,000
Internet hosts 2007 137,187
Internet users 2006 6,100,000
•Morocco, along with Maghrebi countries Algeria and Tunisia, is one of
several countries in Africa to have a cellular phone penetration of more than
50 percent.
•Non-literate Moroccans and other non-literate people (Brady, Dyson, & Asela,
2008) have been observed to use text messaging features on mobile phones;
therefore, not all of the communication taking place through the use of mobile
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phones is speech-based.

15. Issues in development
• Copyright infringement:
– Pirated movies in theatres in
Casablanca
– Pirated DVDs sold on the
street
– Pirated CDs sold in the market
• Software piracy
– High taxes on luxury items
– Importing software
designed/created elsewhere
• Microsoft creating new
pricing structures for Africa.
Bottom line: more people accessing technology! 15

16. Empowering women?
• NGOs and microcredit projects
• UNESCO’s education goals
• Community-based financing
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17. Thank you.
Merci.
‫شكرا‬
Questions?
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