iSTEP: Technology Field Research in Developing Communities
The ultimate goal of this course is to teach students practical skills necessary to conduct field research in the area of ICTD (information and communication technologies for development) and to show them that computing technology can have a positive impact on the lives of people in developing communities. A secondary practical goal of this course is to prepare iSTEP internship participants for their upcoming summer internship experience. The course will focus on Ghana this year, the selected community for iSTEP 2012. Students will be given an overview of the field of ICTD, introduced to real partners in Ghana, work within a multidisciplinary team to understand specific challenges in that community and design relevant technology solutions to those challenges. The outcomes of this course will be deployed in Ghana this summer through the iSTEP internship.
Understanding and Broadening the Images of Computing
In this research and action based course we will explore computing from a cultural perspective and look at the role played by images in what some have called a crisis in computer science education. We will be looking in particular at the images of computing, and examining how the field is represented in the popular culture of the USA and how such representations might affect public attitudes, access to resources and understanding of computer science. We will reflect on some issues often taken for granted e.g. are our attitudes to computing culturally specific or is computing and its workforce perceived and represented differently in cultures from around the world?
The Role of Technology in Learning in the 21st Century
Computing is increasingly harnessed to address pressing educational challenges of the 21st century: under-performing inner-city schools, integrating immigrants into the school system, irregular school attendance in rural developing regions, and women empowerment in the developing world. For educational technology solutions to be effective, however, their designs will in turn have to be informed by theories and prior research on how people learn. In this course, we will cover theory and practical applications of the Learning Sciences, Educational Technology and Human-Computer Interaction. These concepts will be framed around the above authentic problems, so as to help students fully appreciate the real-world relevance of the major theories behind how people learn.
Technology and Global Development
This undergraduate course studies meaningful ways to use advanced technologies
to support the development of communities where the world's poorest people
live. We will review the history and politics of development over the last
century, the economic and social contexts in which development work takes
place and current applications of advanced technology for sustainable
development. Students will participate in discussions and debates, evaluate
existing development projects, participate in a simulation field study and
a small group class project.
Technology for Developing Communities
This graduate course studies meaningful ways to use
advanced technologies to support developing communities worldwide. It
focuses on communities that include the poorest 4 billion people: people
who today lack access to modern technologies and infrastructure. Each
student will carry out a project of the student’s design, and
participate in a whole-class fielded project.
Human-Computer Interaction in the Developing World
This graduate seminar course explores the emerging body of literature on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in the Developing World. We examine the applications of HCI methods in developing world contexts such as education, agriculture, healthcare and microfinance. We cover developing regions which include Africa, China, India, Latin America, and of course, the so-called developed world. This course does not assume a prerequisite in HCI, non-HCII students are welcome, and advanced undergraduates are welcome to contact the instructor. Enrolled students will participate in class activities, write weekly reflections on the readings, and submit a term paper.
On-Line Learning and Communication Technologies
The purpose of this seminar course is to expose students to the foundational theoretical, technological, and methodological issues underlying previous work in on-line learning, to introduce students to the wide range of current on-line environments for formal and informal interaction and learning on-line, and to explore current research in improving the quality of experiences these environments have to offer. The course is oriented around a hands-on project of the student's own choosing and design that will offer the opportunity to gain experience with available tool kits and work towards making their own contribution to what the modern day web has to offer for on-line learning. A running theme in this course will be capacity building in university level education in the developing world. We'll discuss a new, in progress distance education project to offer an on-line machine learning course with Carnegie Mellon students together with students at IIT Guwahati, and the design challenge for course projects will be related to that.
Ethics and Policy Issues in Computing
In this undergraduate course students will discuss the social impacts of computing
technology. The course will provide a brief introduction to ethics and to the
history of computing and the Internet. It will focus on a number of areas in
which computers and information technology are having an impact on society
including privacy, freedom of speech, intellectual property, work, distribution
of wealth, and the environment.
Technology and Development for 4 Billion (T&D4B)
This Readings and Research (Special Topics) course studied meaningful
ways of utilizing advanced technologies for development with regard
to the world's poorest people. We considered technology to
be an enabler of development, and studied the intersection of technology,
policy, and the business case with an emphasis on sustainable solutions.
The course was an updated version of the ICT4B class taught in 2004.
Technology & Policy for Disaster and Humanitarian Response
This graduate course engages students in exploring the technologies
and technology-related policies involved in response to natural disasters
and humanitarian emergencies. This is a seminar course that will require
active student participation and contribution. Students will perform
literature reviews, contact practitioners, participate in discussions,
document findings, and deliver presentations.