COM 2010 Volume 15

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Open Access
Using visual data to 'save lives' in the age of AIDS?
(Department of Communication Science, University of the Free State, 2010) Mnisi, Thoko; De Lange, Naydene; Mitchell, Claudia
This article outlines the use of a digital archive, a data set of staged photos around HIV and Aids related stigma, with educators in two rural schools, exploring their views on using it in their teaching to address stigma. A qualitative research approach, using community-based participatory methodology, was used with educators in two rural schools. The findings suggest that the use of ICT in a rural context can enable educators to access, create and share digital material, which is relevant and realistic and individually tailored, in creative ways to address HIV and Aids related stigma in the school. Technology can facilitate community participation in the production of local knowledge, however, language, computer literacy and access continue to remain a barrier. This work is exploratory and encourages further work around how visual data in a digital archive can facilitate social change.