ICT4D GG3077A: Annotated Bibliography
Community Participation in ICT-Based Educational Initiatives in Developing Countries
Kate Horn
“Over the last few years, a wide consensus has emerged on the potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to promote economic growth, combat poverty, and facilitate the integration of developing countries into the global economy. Seizing the opportunities of the digital revolution is one of the most pressing challenges we face. […] First, our efforts must be based on the real needs of those we are seeking to help. They must be fully and genuinely involved.” – UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan, General Assembly 2002 (cited in Weigel and Wald Burger 2004:18). This quote alone highlights the current issue concerning community participation for the success of ICT for development in developing countries. Marginalised people need to be involved otherwise education and technological implementation will not have the desired impression and impact.
This annotated bibliography addresses the issues of community participation and ICT-based initiatives (including Radio, TV, and computers) in relation to education. It hopes to provide a wealth of resources addressing issues throughout these areas. The references have been divided into sections concerning general publications on ICT for development, global summit material and institutional publications along with more specific case studies, respectively. Each section is organized alphabetically by title so to make reference as clear and easy as possible. Due to the dynamics of this contemporary subject most of the material collated is accessible through the Internet, while some printed publications were also found, most in relation to education and development theory of ICT in developing countries. These resources are just a small proportion of the current material being produced surrounding the ever growing ICT and development initiatives within today’s global society.
GENERAL PUBLICATIONS:
ICT4D – Connecting People for a Better World
“Lessons, Innovations and Perspectives of Information and Communication technologies in Development”
Weigel G, Waldburger D (Eds)
2004
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
Global Knowledges Partnership (GKP)
This book introduces the ICT4D Platform and analyses the current discussions, debates and programs. It presents the contemporary situation as well as the forum proceedings and reports of current world summits. It is a brilliant overview of ICT in today’s world along with development and poverty reduction throughout the developing world. It draws on the importance for community participation and the need for full and genuine involvement for successful implementation. Collectively the chapters cover a range of issues for development and the use of ICTs, in particular the work on ICT for, human capacity building and empowerment as well as the financing factors all providing excellent material for this title.
Information and Communication Technologies and Broad-Based Development
A Partial Review of the Evidence
Grace J, Kenny C, Zhen-Wei Qiang with Liu J, Reynolds T (2004)
World Bank Working Paper No. 12
This paper reviews the evidence of and links between ICTs and economic and social growth. It provides a good theoretical basis behind development theory and the use of ICTs throughout different sectors of society. Especially focusing on methods to maximise access to ICTs and improve developmental impact through income generation and quality services to developing countries. It also holds particular reference to work done with TV and Radio along with cultural issues relating to ICTs and community involvement.
Information and Communication Technologies for Capacity-Building: Critical Success Factors
Proceedings of the World Conference 11-13 May 2005, UNESCO
Weiler R, Waheed Khan R, Schauer T (Eds)
WSIS Publication
This publication concludes the World Conference in Paris earlier this year, which was set up in preparation for Tunis 2005. The chapters are largely aimed at policy-making, and the issues of Partnerships both in terms of technologies and people. Other topics included are that of sustainability and infrastructure. Interactive participation is addressed in terms of highlighting initiatives across the globe, with many developing countries and the work done in terms of ICT and the communities involved.
Maitland+20
Fixing the Missing Link
Milward-Oliver G (Ed) 2005
The Anima Centre Limited
This publication is a collection of essays all broadly based on World Wide Telecommunication Development. Chapter 9, ‘The missing links in ICTs for global education and community development,’ by Astrid Duborg, is of particular interest due to its focus on educational systems in developing countries and the work that can be done to use ICTs for potential development of communities through the study of current pilot initiatives. Duborg also highlights the importance of targeting initiatives at the real needs of the people and evaluates the priority issues needed for successful strategies.
With the Support of Multitudes
Using strategic communication to fight poverty through PRSPs
Mozammel M and Oduggbemi S (2005)
DFID and World Bank Publication
This publication is an excellent resource incorporating up to date strategies and policies; dealing with participation and communication, along with the principles, challenges and applications. With each chapter dedicated to a specific country case study so as to provide, evaluations, examples and lessons learnt from work done throughout a range of developing nations. This contemporary collection shows up to date studies and helps to illustrate the situations in which many developing countries are working in parallel with the on going policy making of more developed nations.
World Yearbook of Education 2004
Digital Technology, Communities and Education
Brown A and Davis N (Eds)
RoutledgeFalmer
Part IV – Building Communities p250-311
This particular section draws attention to networked communities and the help of technologies to strengthen and connect people on a global scale. Some good case studies including the Enlaces project in Chile, telecollaborative communities in Canada as well as examples from Hungary and the ‘New’ Europe. This selection of papers perhaps focuses on ‘communities in practice’ within ICT and education, more so than direct community participation. However it is an interesting perspective taken when thinking about ICT, education and the communities involved.
WOrld Summits and Institutional Websites:
ICT Success Stories
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/wsis-themes/ict_stories/ (Accessed 03/12/05)
This page allows one to search through a range of case studies all aimed at using ICT to help traditional and marginalized societies in the transition into knowledge-based societies. Through the ‘Search by Theme’ option one can access numerous topics all based in developing countries and predominantly all linked to the use of ICT for development through community participation. The Digital Education and learning section along with the Community development area highlight just some of the WSIS and global approach to using ICT to enthuse the lives of the marginalised and the impoverished.
InfoDev – The Information for Development Program
http://infodev.org (Accessed 20/11/05)
The infoDev website provides a wealth of material, not only about its own work, but publications involving international and regional case studies and their success both within a local community and within the global society. Not only is it involved with WSIS, but also has a large section on education and on community participation and work done around the world, in terms of access for all, innovation and growth through the appropriate use of ICT.
Louder Voices
Strengthening Developing Country Participation in International ICT Decision-Making
A study by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation and Panos London
http://www.panos.org.uk/images/books/Louder%20Voices.pdf (Accessed 20/11/05)
This report discusses the lack of developing country opinion in international ICT decision-making, through lack of awareness, accessibility and exclusion, all having a deepening effect on the growing global disparity. Although this report does not directly focus on community participation in ICT-based educational initiatives, it is rather taking a broader governmental slant implying the need to involve the country first within an international context, through the state, before grass root education and participation can evolve; looking at a more long term involvement and solution to the digital divide.
Monitoring and Evaluation of ICT in Education Projects
A Handbook for Developing Countries
Wagner D, Day B, James T, Kozma R, Miller J & Unwin T
An infoDev Publication
Pre-Publication draft for circulation at the WSIS (Tunis, November 2005)
This publication follows the increasing demand for ICTs in education in developing countries. The collection of papers all address the issues of access, use, cost effectiveness and actual impact. The authors explore the costs as well as the effects on education, development and capacity building. This resource is helpful when trying to assess the success of ICT projects within a developing world context, and really highlights the potential as well as the more negative issues involved.
Telecommunication and Development in Africa: Recent Resources (CBD Review Essay)
Mason-Middleton C (2004)
Communication Booknotes Quarterly Vol 35, No. 1 pp 23- 32
This article is itself an annotated bibliography drawing on a range of work and policy making involving development through telecommunications in Africa. An excellent wealth of resources is provided, some more relevant than others, but all drawing upon Africa, its people and their development through involvement with ICT projects and implementation.
The Commonwealth of Learning
Access to Education, Access to a Better Future
http://www.col.org (Accessed 03/12/05)
An intergovernmental organisation created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to encourage development and educational knowledge resources and technologies with a particular focus on open and distance learning. This site provides evidence of commonwealth countries and the development of education and of communities through ongoing projects. COL describes itself as a ‘catalyst for collaboration’ and a capacity builder, and also provides knowledge and resources for the start up of similar programmes on a global scale.
The Origins of Civil Society Involvement in the WSIS
M Raboy
MIT’s Information Technologies and International Development Vol1, 3-4 – Summer 2004 p95-96
Raboy’s short article addresses the basis of involving both NGOs and the civil society in WSIS talks and the ideas centered on involvement, both as a response to lessons learnt from past global talks as well as perceived advantages for the success of future initiatives. The key appears both in enhancing human rights as well as strengthening the social, economic and cultural lives of individuals and communities thus moving towards a global Information Society.
The World vs. the Web: The UN’s Politicization of the Information Society Report on the World Summit on the Information Society: Geneva, December 2003
A N Selian and K N Cukier
MIT’s Information Technologies and International Development Vol. 1, 3-4 – Summer 2004 pp.133-138
This report of the WSIS has a more negative tone, addressing more of the problems and reactions to the approach taken to involve civil society. It highlights the problems of inviting organizations yet not fully involving their opinion, becoming almost a ‘sideshow’? Points such as a lack of dialogue and frustration of those ignored, are perhaps good lessons for both the WSIS as well as to help one think more about involvement on a variety of scales and the need for local as well as global participation.
The WSIS final Summit in Tunis, 16-18 Nov 2005
http://www.wsis-si.org/si-tunis-wsis.html (Accessed 03/12/05)
This site is still currently under construction due to the recent summit and the information consolidation that has followed. However it already holds many useful resources summarizing the summit and the work done especially with the civil society, the aim of targeting the Millennium Development goals as well as the issue of the digital divide, and particularly the inclusion of people with disabilities and incorporating them within the global networked society. This site just needs a couple more weeks to get itself up to date, but it still remains a good point of access to WSIS and in particular the recent Tunis Summit.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
http://www.unesco.org (Accessed 03/12/05)
This website has an excellent wealth of resources for education and ICT, especially with reference to work in developing regions through specific policy making and implementation. The site includes many detailed proposed initiatives as well as successful projects, involving education along with health, politics and regional economies. It also involves issues of human rights, inclusion and general development of marginalised people. This organization is really focused on an all encompassing effort to encourage development through all sectors, especially education and the use of ICT for making the world a better place, politically, economically, socially and culturally, and reducing disparity and marginalisation. ‘Education for all by 2015’.
Also http://www.unescobkk.org/education is a more specific look at the work done in Asia and the Pacific region in terms of education and capacity building.
Just two of the organization’s specific case studies found through the site search engine:
- Workshop on community participation in schools in Haiti
- Training manual on community participation and social mobilisation in basic education (Bangladesh)
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
Geneva 2003 – Tunis 2005
Action Plan (12/12/03)
Document WSIS-03/GENEVA/DOC/5-E
http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/geneva/official/poa.html (Accessed 20/11/05)
This paper sets out the WSIS plan of action to advance the achievement of the internationally-agreed development goals by promoting the use of ICT-based products, networks, services and applications, and to help developing countries overcome the ‘digital divide’. The points of the plan incorporate the government, the private and perhaps most importantly the civil society. The use of ICT in all sectors of life and the impact on development and the information society lies on the implantation through all e-sectors, especially through education and ‘capacity building’, through information and knowledge are all working towards benefiting all aspects of life. This detailed plan marks out what needs to be done through a range of institutions and sectors to ensure community participation, education and development with the help of ICT.
REGIONAL CASE STUDIES:
BBC Four African School Programme
http://www.lcd.org.uk/africa/africanschool.html (Accessed 04/12/05)
This webpage is a follow up to a BBC Four program following the community development of schools in Uganda. The Link Community Development (LCD) organization supports the work of community development through education within numerous schools in Africa. This NGO uses ICT not only to better communities but to involve those in developed countries. ICT in the form of radio and television programmes have alerted donors to the people in need and therefore contributed to the organization’s support and success.