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Paolo Brunello

ICT4E in Burundi

Supervisors: Professor Tim Unwin (Geography, RHUL)
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From 2004 to 2008 I have been working in Burundi in ICT for Education projects, gaining experience and insight in this domain. 

I am about to start a new project in the same domain, at a national level, consisting in setting up 10 linux-based computer labs in public technical high schools and training the system administrators to maintain them functional. Once the infrastructure in place, functional and mantained, the project aims at improving teaching and learning skills by supporting everyday's school activities with ICTs. 

Throughout the whole project, the issue of relevance will be key: why should teachers bother using ICTs? What added value are they getting if they do? And what are they losing? 

I've decided to do my PhD research as a part-time, distance-based student to investigate these issues. According to the literature on ICT4D, this is a relevant issue, both academically and socially, since the interplay between local needs and ICT is a complex one, especially in the domain of education in peripheral areas, and yet under-researched.

The research approach will be systemic, trying to avoid sliding on the technical vs pedagogical dichotomy, and taking into account the local, cultural ecosystem in which this intervention is taking place. 

I will focus on the social relationships game (power, status, hierarchy, etc.) promoting or hindering the adoption of ICTs within this particular context. 
Methodologically, I will (probably) adopt an ethnographic action research approach, aiming to be both academically rigourous and pragmatically effective.