Project Leaders: Dr. Maureen Kendrick and Dr. Bonny Norton

Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania in East Africa are defined as “developing countries” facing enormous challenges of poverty, political instability, gender inequities, and HIV/AIDS. However, East Africa’s educational ambitions with respect to accessing new technologies have much in common with the most developed regions of the world (Brock-Utne, 2000; Chivhanga, 2000; De Roy, 1997; Mutonyi & Norton, 2007; Tikly, 2003), and ministries of education in the region are seeking diverse means of incorporating new technologies in their education systems.

The purpose of this research is to respond to the Millennium Development Goal of forging new global partnerships that will reduce digital inequities between nations, and enhance educational opportunities for teachers and students internationally. We have learnt from prior research that while ethnographic research with learners provides much insight into educational challenges at the grassroots level, we need to consider how teacher education, curriculum development, and policy initiatives might serve to address, on a larger scale, the very inequities we have documented.

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