Digital storytelling in Bhutan: A qualitative examination of new media tools used to bridge the digital divide in a rural community school

Khendum Gyabak, University of Texas at El Paso
Heriberto Godina PhD, University of Texas at El Paso

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Abstract

This qualitative study examines the use of digital storytelling as an instructional intervention for bridging the digital divide among public school students in rural Bhutan. Primary participants for the study included elementary school children who had never been previously exposed to computer technology and were recipients of a donated classroom set of laptops. Results demonstrated how technology instruction and infrastructure inherently positions ethical and cultural differences between researchers, education personnel, school children and their families. The use of English became an inadvertent gatekeeper for who was chosen to participate in the classroom laptop program. Another major finding examines how Bhutan’s social awareness for “Gross National Happiness” is inherently juxtaposed in contrast to Western perceptions of modernity and progress. Educators and administrators concerned about initial technology instruction in developing regions should find this study informative.