Implementing a contextualized IT curriculum: ambitions and ambiguities

Authors:
Matti Tedre;Fredrick D. Ngumbuke;Nicholas Bangu;Erkki Sutinen
Affiliations:
Tumaini University, Iringa, Tanzania;Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki, Finland;Tumaini University, Iringa University College, Iringa, Tanzania;University of Joensuu, Joensuu, Finland
Venue:
Koli '08 Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Computing Education Research
Year:
2008

Citing 12
Cited 5

Computing as a discipline

Communications of the ACM
Theory and practice

Theoretical Computer Science - Images of programming dedicated to the memory of Andrei P. Ershov
The computer scientist as toolsmith II

Communications of the ACM
One Man's View of Computer Science

Journal of the ACM (JACM)
Curriculum '78: recommendations for the undergraduate program in computer science— a report of the ACM curriculum committee on computer science

Communications of the ACM
In Search of the Point-of-Contact: Contextualized Technology Refreshes ICT Teaching in Tanzania

ICALT '05 Proceedings of the Fifth IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies
The role of programming in IT

Proceedings of the 6th conference on Information technology education
Ethnocomputing: ICT in cultural and social context

Communications of the ACM - Personal information management
The Challenges of Technology Research for Developing Regions

IEEE Pervasive Computing
The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century

The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
Teaching to identify problems in a creative way

FIE '01 Proceedings of the Frontiers in Education Conference, 2001. on 31st Annual - Volume 01
Jeliot 3 in a Demanding Educational Setting

Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science (ENTCS)

Integrating environmental issues in it education in Tanzania

FIE'09 Proceedings of the 39th IEEE international conference on Frontiers in education conference
Koli Calling: from the ten past years to the future: a developing country's perspective

Proceedings of the 10th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research
Refreshing contextualised IT curriculum with a pervasive game project in Tanzania

Proceedings of the 11th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research
ICT4D: a computer science perspective

Algorithms and Applications
IT service management education in Tanzania: an organizational and grassroots-level perspective

Proceedings of the 13th annual conference on Information technology education

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.00

Visualization

Abstract

In this article we report the combined findings from an ethnographic field study and action research on implementation of a newly founded IT program in rural Tanzania. We have found that the competences and skills of IT professionals in developing countries differ from the competences and skills of IT professionals in industrialized countries. Also workable pedagogical approaches, students' educational backgrounds, teachers' level of education, attitudes towards university education, aims of education, organizational and administrative frameworks, and people's motivations differ between industrialized and developing countries. We report some ways in which developers of functioning, sustainable, relevant, and motivating IT programs in developing countries face different challenges than their industrialized-world counterparts. We finish this paper with a number of lessons learned that we hope to be useful for other people undertaking similar projects in the developing world.