The United States-Mexico border region historically has been viewed amidst great debate and controversy, but as the 21st century emerges, the borderlands region is becoming a strategic concern for all citizens with increasing importance to the political and social fabric of its respective nations. Unfortunately, there is not enough relevant information about the changing border dynamics and evolving new frameworks for analysis and understanding of the changes. As such, instructional materials using today's new instructional technologies is being designed and created for ready dissemination and ease of use as part of a contemporary "constructivist" knowledge-base on the border. The Borderlands Encyclopedia ("Enciclopedia de la Frontera") is that educational multimedia courseware, providing educators and students, at all levels of the educational system, important and timely information about the U.S.-Mexico border as it is evolving today. The materials will be delivered in a bilingual, Spanish and English format.
This question begs answering, but no easy answer can be given. There are however, two levels of categorization
which are most commonly used. The first reflects the physical: a border is a political boundary which segregates
land and denotes an ownership or sovereignty, as in the international boundary that divides the United States and
Mexico from each other. The second reflects the metaphysical: a border is a state of mind which fortifies barriers
and stimulates new challenges impacting one's mindset. A more apropo terminology to describe this border is in calling it The Borderlands, or "La Frontera" in Spanish,
because it denotes a sense of future and a cluster of challenges and unfilled promises.
Understanding the Borderlands requires the shedding of the prevailing myths and stereotypes about the border. Consequently,
a need exists for educational and informational courseware that provides insight into the border dynamics; its culture,
politics, and economics. A contemporary knowledge base needs to be marshaled to better understand the border. But content
alone will not provide effective understanding. The delivery of the information in multimedia formats can enhance knowledge
retention and stimulate active involvement from diverse individuals "making history on the border" to take actions appropriate
to change.
The Borderlands Encyclopedia
Utilizing modern day information technologies, courseware will be designed and created which provides multiple
user access, in both formal and non-formal educational settings, to vital information about the
Borderlands. Titled the Borderlands Encyclopedia, or in Spanish, "la Enciclopedia de la Frontera,
" this courseware will be an instructional tool utilizing both CD-ROM and web-based formats. The
Borderlands Encyclopedia will assist instructors of the social sciences, psychology and business
to work with an array of general and specialized information about the border. Further, the Borderlands
Encyclopedia will be fully interactive and packaged to allow for easy dissemination to students and other
individuals in non-formal educational settings via CD-ROM and web-based formats. It will also be responsive
to private industry, such as the maquilladoras, providing information about the border for their workers and
administrators. The Borderlands Encyclopedia will be bilingual and bicultural in format and orientation,
targeting both sides of the US-Mexico border.
Informational Topics and Modules
There are numerous categories in which an instructional tool of this nature can focus. The intention of the Borderlands Encyclopedia is to provide contemporary, up-to-date basic information (past, present, and future) about the border, with topics ranging from politics to culture. The broader and common informational topics will include Culture, Economics, Education, Family and Politics and Government. Each section will contain a complete range of general and specialized information with thorough analysis of timely and relevant topics related to each informational category.
All of these informational topics can be broken down into modules or units of instruction which could be used for instruction and learning in a variety of settings. For instance, under the topic Economics, modules can include the economic agenda of both nations, impact of NAFTA, other related trade, transportation and import/export treaties and their effects on the border workforce. Furthermore, the modules of this multimedia instructional tool will be updated periodically and new modules will be added as conditions on the border evolve and change. The Borderlands Encyclopedia will not be a static tool but will evolve as timely strategic and relevant information emerges.
Data
Data will be gathered from individuals, the media, organizations and agencies, census and research data bases, the business sector, etc. In short, all and any relevant resources linked to the border will be tapped. Primary data gathering will include interviews of key individuals and population groups on the border addressing the dynamics which make the borderlands unique, interesting, engaging, and controversial. The interviews will be videotaped and photographed for inclusion in the Borderlands Encyclopedia and subsequent transfer to a multimedia knowledge base in digital formats. Also, a range of border images depicting life and conditions on the border will be documented and digitized from raw videotape footage and photographs. Secondary data gathering will include the collection of existing raw materials; such as books, journals, newspapers, web pages (with appropriate links), audio, video, photos, etc. All relevant raw materials will be compacted into the Borderlands Encyclopedia.
Deliverables
The end product of this endeavor will have two major formats: CD-ROM and web based. Each format will contain the same information and will function in about the same way. The CD provides a good package which can be easily disseminated. However, CD technology is limited in that no updates can be done to an existing CD. A web site can be updated as necessary. The web site will be password protected thus allowing only those instructors and students with authorization access to the web site. As the information in the web site expands, new CDs would be produced for more broad-based dissemination to targeted populations. All units of instruction will also be developed in a bilingual English and Spanish format for use by an evolving multicultural population demography across the state and the United States and Mexico
With today’s technologies, the instruments driving them, and most importantly, the knowledge and skill level of the people driving the technology, designing and creating CDs and web sites is relatively easy and greatly sought out by today’s university students. Useful content can be made more effective using a delivery method such as a CD or web site. The interactively of these instruments stimulate learning and in fact make learning more enjoyable, as well as bringing the content "to life" in a highly contemporary and contextual manner. Also, an interactive CD and web site can be arrayed in all instructional settings, from individual, homebound learning to auditorium size conferences and as a result, shared more widely across home, work and educational settings. These multimedia formats no doubt will become staple instructional products of 21st century university life, and the U.T. System needs to gather relevant experience and expertise in their use
Effective Instrument for Use In The Distance Learning Environment
A multimedia program is only as good as its effects on the audience which uses it. One means of measurement of the success of such courseware is the number of people that have access and will use the materials. Access and use of any multimedia product also can be enhanced in a distance learning environment. Distance learning delivery is accomplished by the integration of web based and videoconferencing instruction. Most videoconferencing systems are equipped with computers making for easy access to the Internet for specific presentations. Having the Borderlands Encyclopedia CD or access via the web and perhaps videoconferencing will provide an array of effective multimedia instruments for instruction, presentation and discussion about the border. The added benefit is distance learners who would have their own CD or authorized access into the web site, coupled with some videoconferencing, which can facilitate access to many at times convenient to them.
The model from which the Borderlands Encyclopedia emerged is the existing distance learning course offered jointly by UTEP and UT-Austin, which is entitled, The Borderlands Communications Teleseminar. The uniqueness of this course is not the technology being used, but the connections being made by the participants for candid exchanges of contemporary information and knowledge on the border, although separated geographically by over 600 miles. The course deals specifically with contemporary issues and concerns unique to the border, with weekly videoconferences and web pages about timely issues. Issues such as NAFTA, the maquilladoras industry, border press and communication, immigration, etc.--all elicit much discussion and debate. An instrument like the Borderlands Encyclopedia will further assist and provoke discussion of this nature for institutions of higher education across the country now engaged in U.S. Mexico borderlands instructions striving to tap a more contemporary knowledge base, as it is being "constructed" and shaped on the border.
Educational Value
A multimedia instructional effort of this nature, with the array of both general and specific content, will assist instructors and learners alike with better understanding of the dynamics that make the border unique and in the process, also work to reduce stereotypes and myths that inhibit productive future development and cross-cultural collaboration across Texas and Mexico. Of equal importance is that the Borderlands Encyclopedia can be used in any instructional environment and also by key business and industry groups doing business on the border.
Benefits to the instructor include vast amounts of multimedia and digital content available to help facilitate instruction and easy use. Benefits to the students include a convenient, user-friendly instructional guide with necessary information to cultivate understanding of an important and strategic bicultural region.
The economic dependence between the United States and Mexico has solidified. Consequently, having a fuller grasp of the border is emerging as an important factor in the "life journey" skills of all Texas and Mexico citizens, coupled with a working understanding of the current political and social climate under NAFTA. The Borderlands Encyclopedia will serve as an instrument for providing an "easy- to-use" and engaging access to information. In addition, the multimedia formats are perceived to be products that can be easily disseminated for these instructional purposes and also for scholarship and creative endeavors across the many UT System components concerned with issues of politics, socio-econonimic development and the culture of the border.
Dissemination and Evaluation Plan
The dissemination and evaluation of the Borderlands Encyclopedia will
compliment each other. Dissemination will initially be on the campus of the
University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and thereafter to other UT System
components with border study programs. UTEP has numerous
programs of study and centers which focus on the border. Most recently,
UT System Board of Regents approved a new doctoral program on
the History of the U.S. Mexico Borderlands; the university fully expects this
program to also be endorsed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board this 1997 Fall semester. Dissemination efforts will also
concentrate on the new distance learning UT TeleCampus, utilizing the
virtual campus environment to offer specialized courses on the border
originating from UTEP. One notable model (as identified in the
Project Description) is the Borderlands Teleseminar in Communication
Practices offered jointly by UTEP and UT-Austin. It is on effort which
the key member of this proposal Dr. Henry Ingle, has been instrumental in
designing and developing.
Evaluation will initially be a questionnaire provided with all
Borderlands Encyclopedias courseware. This evaluation tool will assist in
measuring the effectiveness and usefulness of the Borderlands Encyclopedia
and the effectiveness and usefulness of the multimedia format
in delivering information of this nature. Two questionnaire formats will
be devised, one targeting instructors and the other targeting students.
Each format will assist in measuring the viability of the Borderlands
Encyclopedia as an instructional and learning tool, respectively. Another
series of evaluations will be focus groups. Focus groups will be convened,
either face-to-face or via videoconferencing, to assist in the development
of the modules and for pilot-testing and refinement of their use.
Data from these sources will assist in immediate
updates to the web site and future updates to the CD-ROM, as well
as in the development of future prototype instructional units envisioned
for the project.