Andrés at Joensuu

This is the first post of a series of posts for a course I am currently taking: ICT4D. In this posts, together with Vasilis, we are going to create the basis of a case study.

Our case study responds to an actual need from a University in Kenya (UiK) and the University of Joensuu (UoJ). UoJ and UiK want to establish a link between them so expertise is shared, and staff at both sites can learn from each other strengths. The background of the project aims to improve the capacity of UiK to join the global discourse on climate change by training the staff on related issues, so relevant courses can later be taught at UiK.

The scenario is as follows: On one hand, we have an European university with all the facilities that can be imagined. The staff are experts in climate change topics. However, they are not aware of the possibilities of educational technologies, nor e-learning tools and methodologies.

On the other hand, we have an Western African university, where there are 4 public computers for all the post-grad students (more than one thousand) and no internet connection, i.e. 0 kb/s. Staff are experts in agroforestry and have their own working computer, which are not networked. And as their partners at Joensuu they do not have experience in e-learning nor other educational technologies. However, they have expressed the need to learn how to produce material for electronic platforms.

And the question is: How can ICT facilitate the communication and educational process between two institutions? How to train both institutions in the correct use of educational technologies?

However, a precondition to first questions is: How can we setup a network at UiK consisting at least of few computers and a internet connection?

Answering these questions properly will enable proper interaction between UoJ and UiK. The ultimate goal of the project would be to stop climate change, however, for our case study it will be enough if ICT can promote cooperation rather than hinder development.