Iran and Education - Assigned Blog

This week we were given the assignment of discussing the connection between technology and education, in relation to our topic. Thank you to Professor Yaros for finding and providing me a report filed by Bibi Eshrat Zamani, scholar of Education and Psychology at the University of Isfahan, in Iran. The article is titled "Successful implementation factors for using computers in Iranian schools during one decade (1995–2005)" and discusses the integration and usage of computers within the Iranian education system. One of Eshrat Zamani's goals is "to see what changes had been occurred [sic] during one decade."

Before I go any further here are some important facts about Iran's population: The CIA world factbook indicates that the median age in Iran is 27 (the median in the US is 36.7); that 77% of Iranians are literate; and Iran spends 5.1% of its GDP on education (the US spends 5.3%).

According to the publication, Iranian students have used computers since the late 1980s and today officials boast that most high school graduates are in some way computer literate. From 1995 to 2005 the number of schools within the city of Isfahan that had computer labs rose from seventeen to ninety-four. In 1995 89% of students did not have home computers; that number plummeted by 2005 to 38%. Over the same period of time students stated their primary use of home computers was for entertainment purposes; secondary usage centered around academics.

A disparity also exists in attitudes towards computer usage. Teachers and administrators did not enjoy computer as much as their pupils: "In 1995, 89% of the teachers and 91% of principals’ believed that using computers in education was a complex process. This percentage has been changed [sic] to 76% for teachers and 82% for principals in 2000 and 73% for teachers and 76% for principals in 2005." For educators knowledge of computers required extensive technical and language training: "According to teachers, using computers in classrooms need a lot of computer knowledge and experience including computer and IT literacy. In addition, they should have English proficiency in reading and writing computer menus and messages." The students though felt differently: "Average 63% of students liked computer practical classes, because they felt more freedom compared to other theoretical classes...[in 2005 an] average 58% of students did not like the content of computer studies courses, they were interested to learn more about application programs and Internet." Unfortunately the access to computers was not indiscriminate: in 2005 88% of boys surveyed had prior computer knowledge against only 45% of girls.

Going back to Eshrat Zamani's goal of examining the changes over the decade, there is clear evidence that usage has risen, as has reception of technology. As is seen all over the world, Iran's young people are leading the technological growth. Teachers and administrators seem increasingly receptive to the introduction of technology but at the same time they seem to be happy with traditional means of education. Students would be better prepared to teach courses than their teachers. But there is a matter that Iranian students must deal with that many others don't: politics. The study found that "81% of principals in the study in 1995, 2000 and 2005 stated that computer education in Iran has been depended on the political situation"--that if the ministry of education decided to cut funding or if the West tightened sanctions, access to technology would be adversely affected. Iranians, especially its younger population, are thirsty for access to the outside world, to free information and the increased usage of technology in their classrooms has absolutely helped them on the path toward this inalienable right.

This weeks reading list (not class assigned)

Hey guys,

This week has been a pretty tumultuous one in Iran. Along with some explanation of what's going on and why, I've provided some links that will definitely help you learn a thing or two about what's going down.

If you weren't following the news here's a quick breakdown. Yesterday was the thirty-first anniversary of the deposition of Mohammad Reza Shah (shah = king) at the hands of the Islamic Revolution. The Islamic Republic (IR) celebrated its anniversary while suppressing many thousands of opposition supporters, rallying for their civil and democratic rights--freedom of press, political expression, etc. It was on February 11th 1979 (Iranian calendar date of 22 Bahman 1358) that 2500 years of monarchal rule ended in Iran. The day was "supposed" to mark the beginning of a democratic (yet, Islamic) government. Things haven't exactly turned out as they were expected to.

Thirty-one years and 11 days ago Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini the spiritual and political leader of the Islamic Revolution returned to Iran from a fifteen year exile. The day Khomeini arrived was the first of what is now known as the Ten-Day Dawn, chronicled here by brilliant writer and self-made scholar of Iran, Muhammad Sahimi While Dr. Sahimi is actually a professor of engineering at the University of Southern California he, over the course of the last few months has posted numerous and incredibly well written articles--like why Ahmadinejad didn't actaully win and a very thorough piece about General Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)--on TehranBureau.com, a site run by PBS. On the tenth day after his return, the Iranian army (after a failed attempt at a coup by higher ups) laid its weapons down and surrendered to Khomeini and his supporters. Even before Khomeini had arrived in Iran the army lost conscripts to the Revolution, as many soldiers no longer trusted the despotic rule of the Shah. That is what the Iranian people were supposed to be "celebrating" today.

Definitely give a read to some of the articles. I recommend all of them as each one provides strong insight and background to the current issues plaguing Iran. The article about the Ten-Days Dawn definitely helps shed some light on the most important and final days of '79 revolution; the article about Ahmadinejad's election fraud will, naturally, argue that he cheated (doing so with common sense and strong evidence); and lastly the article about the commander of the IRGC, General Jafari is very important because it explains the rise of one of the most important players in Iran's current political scene. Many experts are suggesting that the IRGC, Khamenei (not to be confused with Khomeini), and Ahmadinejad are running the country by way of dictatorial triumvirate. I wouldn't be surprised. Nonetheless I'm going to keep reading--I hope you do the same.