Making Significant Change Through Appropriate Technology in Rural Kenya

• In Event: Roundtable Session 43
  In Roundtable Session: Rethinking Educational Systems and Technological Literacy Standards

Abstract

This paper presents findings from development initiative in a school community in rural Kenya. The initiative utilized appropriate technologies providing learning opportunities in the school community. Learning opportunities included professional development for teachers through blended learning using simple tablet computers; use of solar power to operate the tablet computers; provision of water filters to enable access to safe water for members of the school community. Participants included 10 teachers, 2 professional development trainers, 24 grade six students and 3 teachers from an elementary school in Canada. Interviews, observations, artifacts, and face-to-face meetings provided the data. This initiative offers a model of how a combination of appropriate technologies can enable significant change in communities forgotten by globalization and its perceived benefits.

Authors

• Brown Bully Onguko, University of Calgary

• Susan E. Crichton, The University of British Columbia