Developing university-level introductory ICT education in Tanzania : a contextualized approach
Mikko Vesisenaho · UEF eRepo (University of Eastern Finland) · 2007
The main aim of our research is to design and develop ICT education that would serve the needs of developing countries. Most of the present ICT tools are based on Western culture and logic and do not necessarily correspond to the ways of thinking in other cultures. We developed Intelligent Building Blocks (I-BLOCKS) to support learning by construction and, more specifically, to support “programming by building”. By attaching a number of basic building blocks (each containing a microprocessor and communication channels) together, the user constructs an artifact which can perceive input, process it, and produce output. We had two “programming by building workshops” in Tanzania in October 2003 and April 2004 at Pommern secondary school and Tumaini University, Iringa University College. The students programmed with LEGO DUPLO covered I-BLOCKS. We evaluated their learning process and analyzed their concept maps, figures and written feedback.