The challenges of cyberfeminist pedagogy : a case study

Abstract

Within the context of debates around gender, feminism and ICTs, much effort has been put on pointing out the need for reducing the digital gap by means of approaching the feminized subjects to ICT. In our approach, effort needs to be put in developing projects to redefine ICTs, in order to match feminized subjects’s (and feminist) needs and wishes.

To that end, it is crucial to develop a debate and a collective reflection on the subject, and that is the objective of our proposal, particularly, in the pedagogic dynamics of the process. In a first step, we establish a dialog with theorists about the gendering of Virtual Learning Spaces (VLS), and with the proposals of feminist pedagogies, in order to build a cyberfeminist pedagogy. Afterwards, drawing from the experiences carried on the Introductory Course on Feminist Research Methodology (2011 edition), we identify two factors that can either facilitate or obstruct the key elements to building a cyberfeminist pedagogy, equal participation and networking. Our work contributes in building the recognition for the need to investigate virtual learning processes from a feminist perspective, in offering tools for the analysis, in improving an ongoing experience, and finally, in offering some results to reflect upon.