Working Practices in One to One Computing : a Rural Tanzanian Case

• In the past two decades computers have become a standard educational tool in the industrialized countries. Recently, equipping each student with a personal device (one-to-one computing, OLPC) has been enthusiastically advocated for developing countries, too. However, despite a number of pioneering research studies, broader analyses of pedagogical, technical, and organizational aspects of one-to-one computing in developing countries are largely missing. In this participatory action research in a rural Tanzanian primary school, we identified a number of pedagogical elements that were beneficial for teaching and utilizing ICT in the classroom. We pinpointed exploratory and self-regulated learning, group problem solving, and constructive principles as facilitators of learning within the one-to-one computing paradigm in this context. Our results show that the introduction of children's computers also triggered a number of changes in dynamics both within the school but also outside the school.

• While there is a growing body of literature on one-to-one computing, there is still a lack in understanding on how exactly should one-to-one computing be utilized in different educational contexts. At a rural Tanzanian primary school, a number of XO-1 based educational projects and workshops have been conducted since 2008. By analyzing the reports from those projects and workshops, as well as from related studies, this paper identified a number of working practices. Several aspects seem to be especially prevalent. Firstly, various viewpoints to contextualization were widely recognized in our studies, as well as in other studies. Educational technology initiatives need to be based on need pull rather than technology push. Secondly, projects need action research-based components for systematically collecting and increasing understanding about well-functioning practices that may be unique to each environment. Thirdly, educational technology projects, including e-learning projects, should be open for a wider spectrum of educational factors such as contingent constructivism: the sentiment of well functioning teaching should be appreciated

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Systemvetenskap, informationssystem och informatik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Information Systems (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Computer and Systems Sciences

data- och systemvetenskap

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)