Marcela Guerra is a craftswoman and facilitator whose work focuses on technological appropriation and creative object-making through workshops and immersive experiences. With a background in social sciences, she is an active member of the Portal sem Porteiras Association (PSP), which maintains a community network in a rural region of Brazil, and is involved in developing alternative models for accessing and producing information in rural communities. Since 2016, Marcela has lived in the Souzas neighborhood of Monteiro Lobato, São Paulo, where she contributes to local initiatives and holds maker space and creative laboratory within the Pandavas Institute, a local school where the community network is situated. Her work combines artistic expression, technology and community empowerment, drawing from her experience in hacklabs, permaculture centres and educational workshops throughout São Paulo.
In 2024, Marcela was involved in a collaborative project between the Portal sem Porteiras Association and the Pandavas Institute, funded by the Internet Society (ISOC), in which she and the PSP team faced the challenge of approaching themes such as cybersecurity within the school community. Her perspective as a mother and educator offers valuable insights into the complexities of navigating the digital world, where the line between opportunity and risk is often blurred. In this interview, Marcela shares her experiences and reflections on the intersection of digital technologies, education and community engagement. Through the work being done with students, parents and the broader community, she emphasises the need for education that goes beyond simply using technology, focusing instead on understanding how it works and the implications it has for society. Her approach is a reminder that in a rapidly evolving digital landscape, fostering an environment where both children and adults can engage with technology consciously and collaboratively is crucial. And community-centred initiatives can offer a path for it.
Tell me about your experience using digital technologies in your school community. How do you observe the children's relationship with them? Are there any questions raised by parents on this subject? And by the children themselves? What strikes you?
We are currently working on a project at the Pandavas Institute. This project aims to expand the community network of the Portal sem Porteiras Association to reach the school community. This expansion goes beyond just extending internet access; it also seeks to increase the exchanges, recognition and knowledge between the two associations active in the neighbourhood. The project includes an education section that is divided into three groups: primary school, primary two, and the school community as a whole, which includes parents, caregivers and teachers.
This semester, we carried out one activity with the adults, and five activities with the fifth-grade students, which was the grade selected by the school to participate in the project. These meetings were designed to create a basic understanding of digital technologies among the children.
As digital natives, their generation is naturally immersed in these technologies, but they don’t fully understand how they work. In fact, most people don’t. They may use these technologies daily, but have little knowledge of the deeper mechanisms involved. We believe understanding these deeper workings is important because they directly influence the way technology functions. It’s not superficial knowledge; it’s essential to understand the infrastructure, as it says a lot about the logic behind these tools.
In one activity, we asked the children to trace the path a message takes from one place to another, using cards with elements from the internet. It was fascinating to see how they used these words – they sounded familiar, but they didn’t really understand their full meaning. What stood out was how eager they were to ask questions about how it works. Even though not everyone fully understands the details, they are used to technology in their lives, and their curiosity led to many questions about where it all leads.
We also used the map of network colonialism created by Coding Rights in partnership with the Transfeminist Network for Digital Care. It helped us show the paths and connections in digital networks, as well as the fibre optic networks from the [International Telecommunication Union] website. Since the school has an environmentalist focus, it was rewarding to discuss the extraction of minerals, natural resources, water, and how they relate to servers and carbon production. These were concepts the children were already aware of, and they made the connection between the extraction of commodities in the global South and the ownership of data and power in the global North. This sparked a meaningful discussion, as they linked their critical views on colonialism to digital technologies.
Despite using the internet, it's not the children who are the most frequent users in our community. Most of the parents have limitations when it comes to using the internet. Sometimes, due to a lack of knowledge, children end up spending more time on platforms than is appropriate, and they access content without restrictions. In one of the lessons, we discussed online searches and how to evaluate the trustworthiness of information. It was an opportunity to distinguish between social media content and information from websites, and to highlight the differences between news articles and WhatsApp screenshots.
We also focused on how to search for images online and compare the results across different platforms. We demonstrated how images can appear in different places, helping the children to critically analyse the content they find.
Tell me about the project proposed by Portal sem Porteiras with the Pandavas Institute in 2024. What was PSP’s proposal and what objectives was it trying to achieve? How did the actions go?
The project aimed to connect the school community to the broader digital and community network facilitated by the Portal sem Porteiras Association. The objective was not just to extend internet access, but to build deeper connections and create meaningful exchanges between the school and the local community.
We started with activities focused on educating the students and later moved to discussions with the adults – parents, caregivers, and teachers. The activities were aimed at providing a foundational understanding of digital technologies. The feedback from the participants was positive. We observed enthusiasm from the children who were curious about how the internet works. For the adults, the goal was to move away from a prohibitionist approach to digital technologies and to discuss how to engage with them more consciously, given that many parents themselves are constantly on their devices.
What have you observed in this process, and what do you feel you have learned?
One key observation was the enthusiasm and curiosity among the children. Although they are familiar with digital technologies, they lack an understanding of how they work. They are naturally immersed in the digital world, but there’s little awareness of its infrastructure. This project allowed them to ask critical questions about the systems behind the internet and about topics like data ownership and colonialism, which they connected with their existing awareness of environmental and social issues.
I also observed that parents, despite using digital technologies daily, tend to adopt a hands-off approach when it comes to teaching their children about them. This reflects a larger societal tendency to accept technologies without critically understanding how they function or what impact they may have. I’ve learned that there’s a significant gap in how both children and adults engage with technology. The project allowed us to start bridging that gap by making the invisible mechanics of the internet visible and understandable.
You lived through a youth without digital technologies in everyday life, and now you are a mother of children growing up in a digitally saturated world. Could you share your perspective, as a woman and mother, on the relationship humanity has developed with digital technology?
I lived through a time when digital technologies were not integrated into everyday life, so I experienced a world where human interactions were not mediated by screens. Now, as a mother, I see how much technology shapes my children’s lives. However, I think it’s important to recognise that while technology offers many conveniences and opportunities, it also comes with significant challenges.
As a community, we have been discussing how to balance technology’s benefits with its potential harm. I’m very concerned about the destructive content children can access on their own, without restrictions. Platforms often fail to protect children, exposing them to inappropriate or even harmful content.
In one activity, when I created child profiles on platforms, I was shocked by the kind of content suggested, despite setting the profile to 12 years old. This lack of responsibility from platforms is worrying, especially given how easily inappropriate material can be accessed.
As a mother, I have seen how difficult it is to control children’s use of technology, particularly social media. However, I also recognise that we need to move away from simple bans and towards setting healthy boundaries. It’s about teaching our children how to use technology responsibly and setting external limits when necessary. This includes asking for help when we feel we’re struggling to control our own usage.
One thing I’ve learned is that we need to model healthy digital habits for our children. For example, when I set alarms to remind myself to limit my time on certain apps, I’m not only practising self-regulation, but also teaching my children that it’s okay to ask for help in maintaining control. This is a valuable lesson for them to learn, especially in today’s digital age where technology is designed to be addictive.
In our community meetings, we’re not providing readymade solutions, but encouraging discussions. Through collective knowledge sharing, we are shaping a more conscious and collaborative approach to technology. The philosophy that guides our school is that it should be "without walls but with limits". I think the same principle can be applied to the digital environment. We can have a space where technology is used freely but with clear boundaries and guidelines to ensure that everyone uses it responsibly and consciously.
Featured image: Marcela Guerra carries out an activity with children from the community. Photo: Courtesy of Marcela Guerra/PSP