Enabling ‘Ba’ by Using the Photovoice Technique to Realize Expansive Learning - ICT4D Research Case

Oct 15, 2026

Enabling ‘Ba’ by Using the Photovoice Technique to Realize Expansive Learning: An ICT4D Research Case examines how ICT4D initiatives depend on social and institutional factors, not only technology. The study analyzes an ICT4D intervention with digital literacy workshops for BRAC CEP field facilitators, using photovoice techniques to support expansive learning. Engeström’s framework guides how tools and intermediary actions enable active community learning spaces, while Nonaka and Takeuchi’s approach explains knowledge creation and conversion dynamics.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

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Introduction

Background

Akther, F., and Dirckinck-Holmfeld, L. (2018). Enabling ‘Ba’ by Using the Photovoice Technique to Realize Expansive Learning: An ICT4D Research Case. Designs for Learning, 10(1),63–75. DOI: [https://doi.org/10.16993/dfl.110](https://doi.org/10.16993/dfl.110) | RESEARCH
Enabling ‘Ba’ by Using the Photovoice Technique
to Realize Expansive Learning: An ICT4D Research Case
Farzana Akther* and Lone Dirckinck-Holmfeld† | | --- | | The introduction and implementation of ICT depends not only on technological issues but also on social and institutional factors. To respond to these challenges, in this article we describe our engagement with an ICT4D research case conducted in collaboration with the Community Empowerment Programme (CEP) of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC). The project applies the expansive learning approach in a developing country context, with the aim of achieving ICT skills building in the broadest sense. In this article, we look more closely at one intervention within this research: digital literacy workshops for a sample of CEP field facilitators using‘photovoice’ techniques. We apply Engeström’s expansive learning framework for ICT intervention on the ground level, showing how intermediary actions and tools can be used in order to create active learning spaces for the community development program’s field facilitators, and we explain how the photovoice technique can be an effective intermediary tool for expansive learning. To reach this conclusion, Nonaka and Takeuchi’s knowledge-creation framework serves as a lens through which to examine the dynamic nature of the knowledge conversion context and its influence on the progression of knowledge. | | Keywords: expansive learning; photovoice technique; rural community development; intermediary tools; ICT4D | Introduction After nearly two decades of discussion on ICT for development (ICT4D), it seems that researchers have still not reached a deep understanding of how to manage and allocate ICT for sustainable rural community development. Although ICT4D research communities are aware of the potential of ICT in their developmental work, the deployment and implementation of ICT still represents an obstacle rather than a tool (Harris, 2016; Heeks, 2006, 2010; Zheng et al., 2018) . To date, the vast majority of research on technological changes in community development has provided few details about the ICT integration process (Heeks & Stanforth, 2015) . This paper aims to extend the knowledge of how ICT can be integrated in the rural communities in developing countries. The paper builds on the research done on ICT tools as instruments of development processes presented in ‘ICT Appropriation: A Knowledge Creation Perspective’(Akther, 2015). The field work presented here was conducted in collaboration with the Community Empowerment Programme (CEP) of the largest * The University of Southern Denmark, DK † Aalborg University, DK Corresponding author: Farzana Akther ([farzana@sdu.dk](farzana@sdu.dk)) non-governmental organization (NGO) of Bangladesh, known as BRAC. In this paper, we explain how photovoicedriven digital literacy workshops (DLWs) are staged and investigate how the photovoice technique can be an effective intermediary tool for expansive learning (Engeström, 1987, 2001) . This study also reveals how associated intermediary actions and tools are mediated by the context or setting of knowledge creation. To reach this conclusion, we have borrowed Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) knowledge creation framework and Nonaka and Konno’s (1998) concept of‘Ba’(meaning ‘place’) to serve as lenses through which the dynamic nature of knowledge conversion context and progress can be captured. Background In rural areas of Bangladesh, living conditions are characterized by poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, and a lack of access to information. These conditions are being addressed in many ways and at many lev

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the article’s ICT4D research case?

The article investigates how ICT can be integrated in rural communities in developing countries, focusing on digital literacy workshops for BRAC CEP field facilitators and how photovoice supports expansive learning.

How is the photovoice technique used in this study?

Photovoice is used as an intermediary tool in participatory digital literacy workshops, helping participants articulate their ICT experiences and skills to support active learning and community change.

Which theoretical frameworks guide the analysis?

Engeström’s expansive learning framework structures how intermediary actions and tools create learning spaces, while Nonaka and Takeuchi’s knowledge-creation framework (with ‘Ba’/place) is used to examine how knowledge conversion context influences progression.

Oct 15, 2026

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