Lorenzo Dalvit

• Doctor of Philosophy
• PhD Co-ordinator at Rhodes University

People with disabilities represent a significant portion of the population in any given country. Across contexts, media representations of disability tend to reproduce existing tropes and follow established narratives. One of the most enduring is that of the helpless victim in a tragic story, but that of a resentful villain or inspiring hero is als...

Three decades after the end of apartheid, curricula at South African universities still reflect their colonial and Eurocentric origins. Starting with the student protests of 2015, calls for decolonizing the curriculum have become progressively louder. In scholarly literature and academic discussions (both formal and informal), much attention is pai...

This study explores the experience of first-generation Mixed-Race South African individuals, understood as those whose immediate racial makeup is that of two or more different race groups. Despite being a society deeply shaped by racial politics, Mixed-Race, as a formal classification, is absent in the South African context. Boaventura de Sousa San...

The present study employs the concept of coloniality, understood as the lingering impact of inequalities and power dynamics resulting from the colonial encounter long after the end of historical colonialism, to investigate xenophobia on Black South African Twitter. Xenophobia, defined as the fear or hatred of people from other countries, received e...

South African society is characterized by a historical legacy of institutionalized segregation and oppression along racial and, to a lesser extent, gender and (dis)ability lines. While social media can be considered a relatively elite phenomenon, it has the potential to challenge stereotypes and reshape public discourse. Beauty contests, fashion sh...

South Africa is a diverse country with a legacy of inequalities which extend to the digital domain. Alongside race, gender, socio-economic status and others, (dis)ability is an important dimension of inclusion/exclusion. In this chapter, the digital inclusion of people with disabilities in South Africa is explored through a decolonial lens. In part...

As one of the most violent and unequal societies globally, South Africa is still profoundly shaped by a legacy of segregation and oppression. While race, gender and socio-economic status receive much attention, (dis)ability is an important yet often neglected dimension of inequality. In this article, I adopt a decolonial perspective in discussing o...

This article draws on Castells’ concept of space of flows to explore the role of mobile communication in mediating the flows of ideas, people and resources concerning Dwesa, a rural community in South Africa. While it is the site of an ICT-for-development project fifteen years in the making, Dwesa is representative of many contemporary South Africa...

In this article, I reflect on my personal experience as an academic researching and teaching in the areas of digital media and mobile communication with a focus on inequalities and a person with severe visual impairment. I have always regarded my employer, a small residential university in South Africa, as a compassionate and supportive institution...

Digital inequalities in Africa have been explored in terms of dimensions such as gender, age, education, socio-economic status, language, ability/disability etc. In the present study, we draw on qualitative research emphasising digital differences within Dwesa, a rural community on the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. For th...

Despite issues associated with the digital divide, mobile telephony is growing on the continent and the rise of smartphones has given citizens easy access to social networking sites. But the digital divide, which mostly reflects on one's race, gender, socioeconomic status or geographical location, stands in the way of digital progress. What opportu...

The pervasiveness of mobile phones enables people in marginalised contexts, including African rural areas, to access the Internet. Evidence suggests that women are increasingly at the forefront of ICT adoption. This paper explores how and why women in Dwesa, a South African rural area, learn to access the Internet on their mobile phones. Extensive...

Many poor Black South Africans are starting to find their voice by capturing events on mobile phone cameras, ubiquitous devices amongst all sectors of society. Citizens’ video journalism is providing visual evidence that cannot be mollified by political rhetoric, exposing injustices such as illegal corporal punishment at schools, gang rape and poli...

This paper provides an in-depth literature review on situated learning and its conceptual model of cognitive apprenticeship and their influence on learning in an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) domain. These are used as epistemological basis to reflect on an intervention involving the translation of Wikipedia content into Oshikwanyam...

This paper describes a collaborative experience in the initial development of hyperlocal services for marginalised communities in Southern Africa. Problems specific to urban, peri-urban and rural contexts were identified in collaboration with local community members and NGOs in South Africa and Angola. Selected topics were presented to a group of v...

This paper looks at NikaNOW, a turn-key solution for hyperlocal media organisations wishing to enter the online space. The system is optimised for use on mobile phones within the African context. NikaNOW is characterised by a strong focus on locality and immediacy and aims to promote local businesses and civic engagement. The first instance, based...

The paper reports on a small-scale survey carried out in a northern Namibian urban school about mobile and computer experiences as well as attitudes towards the use of Oshikwanyama in an ICT domain among grade 11 students. This paper provides some discussion of Learner Centered Education (LCE) as a useful framework for research into emancipation th...

In this paper we discuss the work we have been doing with Connecting World, a global online platform which brings together children from around the world to engage collaboratively, on different topical issues towards finding workable solutions. The project draws on some aspects of collaborative learning to ensure that a rich virtual learning enviro...

Rural development and poverty alleviation are a priority for development in South Africa. Information and knowledge are key strategic resources for social and economic development, as they empower rural communities with the ability to expand their choices through knowing what works best in their communities. Information Communication Technologies (...

In this paper we discuss the recent expansion of network connectivity within the Siyakhula Living Lab. This is part of an ICT-for-development project located in a rural area on the Wild Coast of South Africa. Thus far, five schools in the area have been the primary points of access to the network for the surrounding communities. Thanks to external...

In South Africa, English plays a dominant role compared to African languages in empowering domain. Better access to Education through the use of African languages is an object of heated debate. This paper shows that an intervention involving the use of an African language in the domain of ICT Education can change the attitudes of Black university s...

Rural development and poverty alleviation are a priority for development in South Africa. Information and knowledge are key strategic resources for social and economic development, as they empower rural communities with the ability to expand their choices through knowing what works best in their communities. Information Communication Technologies (...

In South Africa, the linguistic hegemony of English over the African languages in the academic field reproduces unequal power relationships between their speakers. The present study shows that an intervention shaped by a counterhegemonic ideology can change the attitudes of Black university students, key players in spearheading social change. Usign...

This article presents and discusses the results of a survey of a sample of Xhosa-speaking students at the University of Fort Hare regarding their attitudes towards the possible introduction of Xhosa as a medium of instruction at this institution. The research takes into account, among other things, the students' attitudes towards English and Xhosa...

In this paper, we describe initial ideas for the creation of a knowledge-driven learning platform through a system comprising of three components, a telephone system, an information kiosk and a Website. Working within the higher education HIV and AIDS (HEAIDS) programme funded by the European Union, we intend to provide relevant local HIV and AIDS...

In many Southern African cultures, the colours red and blue symbolise tradition and modernity respectively. In this paper we describe our experience within an ICT-for-development project in Dwesa, a "Blue" rural community on the Wild Coast of South Africa. In particular, we focus on the contribution of digital literacy and Internet connectivity in...

For almost two months, I observed a technology-based high school class during the spring semester of 2008. This class used computers almost exclusively for projects and assignments. The goal was to observe the type of influence (if any) technology-use might have on the students’ learning and their classroom environment. Throughout this observationa...

This paper examines how a community in Dwesa, a marginalised area in the Transkei Region of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, adopts Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This research is part of the Siyakhula project, which aims at promoting the potential of the area through ICTs. The project is situated in four different schools: Mpume...

Convergence of telephony with computer networks has made creation of new and innovative services an imperative for gaining a competitive edge within the communications industry. Hence, there has been a substantial effort in ensuring that created services are deployed in a timely and cost-effective manner. In this paper, we present work in progess e...

Over the years, the number of new telephony services has in-creased drastically. This increase can, in part, be attributed to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) converg-ing with computer networks into a single network, based on the Internet Protocol (IP), as well as the advent of mo-bile telephony. Although innovative, many of these servi...

The integration of indigenous knowledge/languages in formal education is a contentious issue in post-colonial Africa. For historical and economic reasons, these are devalued in the formal education system. We argue that appropriate use of indigenous knowledge/languages can empower African students academically even in typically Western disciplines,...

With the information revolution that promises to shape the 21st century, knowledge has become the prime commodity, very much like land, means of production and capital have been at different times in the past. Access to information, made instantly available by the growth of the Internet, determines access to economic resources, social participation...

In our paper we describe the development and deployment of an ecommerce platform in Dwesa, a rural area in the former homeland of Transkei in South Africa. The system is designed to promote tourism and advertise local arts, crafts and music, and it entails a number of related projects. Deployment of infrastructure, technical support, promotion of t...

This article describes a web-based application designed to provide meaningful access to the study of Computer Science to speakers of an African language who have limited experience of using English for academic purposes. Our research is focused upon students of Computer Skills in the Extended Studies Programme at Rhodes University who have studied...

The potential of voice interactions with machines, independent on the visual modality or the possibility to signify intentions through the movement of parts of the body, means that voice applications of different kinds will continue to play an important role in the future. This paper provides a simple design, in the context of telephony, based on c...