3.4: Open Source Software and Operating Systems in Africa
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According to a recent survey of ICT and education in Africa commissioned by the World Bank, there is a growing interest in free open source software (FLOSS) in Africa. The Free and Open Source Software Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA), Bokjang Bokjef in Senegal, and LinuxChix Africa are examples of organizations promoting the use and development of FLOSS in Africa. At the same time, the report noted substantial drawbacks with regard to the dearth of skilled personnel available to support such systems.
As a recent Elluminate report The Impact of Synchronous Online Learning in Academic Institutions … noted that distance learning can be an isolating experience. Consequently, transitioning from simply delivering courses to providing a total experience is a central to distance learning. Creating online communities will help foster a sense of connectedness. The report also notes hat increasing numbers of institutions of higher learning and governments have concluded that “it’s time for academia to blend pedagogical structure with sound business decision-making. It’s also time to change mindsets and approaches to move online education from current trend into the mainstream”. This explains why all over Canada and the rest of the world, institutions of higher learning are introducing elearning as a supplement or a complement to traditional teaching modes.
Course Description and Objectives
The course examined different types of inequality and the historical, as well as contemporary roots of these inequalities throughout the world. It focused on the relationship between globalization, inequality, and poverty; the fate of cultural diversity in a globalizing world; and issues of gender, ethnicity, the environment, social justice, and human rights. It also discussed several development patterns and trends that influence peoples of various countries in the global system from a comparative and cross-cultural perspective. Different regions of the world, including Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas were examined from both a substantive and theoretical perspective.
The course was based on the premise that globalization is dialectical process with local and global interests colliding, coalescing, negotiating, and negating each other. In other words, globalization was perceived as the master trend reshaping social life everywhere, while social outcomes were shaped through interaction with other processes as well. The course was interdisciplinary, combining perspectives from sociology, anthropology, political science, economics, and philosophy to explore the meanings of globalization and its central processes and institutional structures.
The course sought to develop a conceptually grounded understanding of the various aspects of globalization, particularly, economic, political, social, and cultural. The main objectives were to introduce students to:
- the main topics and debates related to globalization;
- the conceptual and empirical tools available to frame discussions of globalization topics; and
- the multifaceted ways in which globalization manifests itself and its complex impacts on individuals and collectives and multiple ways individuals and collectives are challenging and shaping globalization in the contemporary world.
The Beginnings
The course was conceived in the Fall of 1998 when I was a lecturer at Wayne State University. I received a School of Liberal Arts’ innovative Global Curriculum research grant. The aim of the grant was to encourage faculty to design courses with an eye to linking students and faculty of Wayne State with students and faculty in different parts of the world. With a modest seed grant I began an intensive research into long distance learning. Also, began to look for collaborators in Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya. I continued my research when I moved to Central Michigan University in the Fall of 2003.
Looking for collaborators was quite daunting. After several “blind” emails and phone calls I was able to get in touch with a couple interested ones but lost contact with them somewhere along the line. Many of those who I maintained more or less longer links with preferred the traditional methods and eventually lost interest in my proposal. Their greatest fear, I gathered, was change. They appeared comfortable with “what they have,” i.e., the hassle-free traditional mode of pedagogy. Many of these referred me to colleagues who they suggested might be interested. These in turn suggested others who might be. Two constant questions I was asked were “How is the technology going to work?” “We do not have even one computer in our entire department, how are we going to train our students to take a course that is computer-based?” The electronic aspect was quite intimidating to most of them, even to me at first. Just thinking about how to link technology-savvy students in ICT-rich Canada with their technology deprived counterparts in Ghana was mind-boggling, to say the least. Despite the challenges, I decided against giving up. Thus, when I moved back to Canada4 and to Kwantlen University College in the Fall of 2005, I decided to pursue the project.
Looking for funding for the project proved even more daunting. After applying to several external funding agencies with no success, I had to settle for a modest internal funding. In the Spring of 2006, I received a $500 Technology Innovation grant from Kwantlen University College Information and Education department grant to purchase two webcams and a pair of headsets. In the same year, I received Kwantlen University College’s Office for Research and Scholarship travel grant. In the Summer of 2006 I travelled to Ghana where I met several potential collaborators at the University of Ghana and to assess the level of technological readiness of the country’s premier university. Professor Kojo Senah, who is the current chair of the Sociology Department, signed onto my proposal, cautiously. While I was aware of the yawning digital divide between the Global North and Global South, I was not prepared for what I saw. For example, the entire Department of Sociology had only two computers—one for the secretary and the other for the head of the department.
On my return, I teamed up with Afretech, a Delta, BC-based NGO which supplies used computers to various African countries to collect and ship 40 used computers from Kwantlen University College to the Sociology Department of the University of Ghana. In 2007, I went back to Ghana to follow up on the project. I met with the Director of the Information Technology Directorate, Mr. Emmanuel Owusu-Oware, who enthusiastically also signed on to the project. He immediately assigned his deputy, Ms Ama Dadson and Mr. Patrick Kuti, the directorate’s web-developer to work with on the project. He has made available UGL’s a well-equipped lab for students.
It is pertinent to mention that the University of Ghana, Legon has had Internet connectivity some time now. In fact, UGL is one of the participant institutions taking part in the African Virtual University (AVU) project. The AVU was set up in 1995 under the auspices of the World Bank as “a satellite based distance education project whose objectives are to deliver to countries of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), university education in the discipline of science and engineering, non-credit/continuing education programs and remedial instruction” ( http://www.etw.org/2003/case_studies/soc_inc_africa_ VU.htm) .
From August 2007 to October 2007, Patrick and I tried a number of course delivery systems, notably Adobe Connect, Elluminate, and Yugma. We tried Adobe Connect first, because Kwantlen University College has just purchased a licence for it. Unfortunately, we had a hell of time with it. In fact, about half of the trial period was spent on Adobe Connect. Most of the time, I could hear and see Patrick. However, he could hear and see me some times, but other times he could not. There was constant feedback and delays in the audio transmission. At this stage, I decided to “hit” the Internet, sending blind messages asking for suggestions. It was through one such blind message that I got in touch with Sandy Hirtz of BCCampus, who offered not only to be my course assistant gratis, but also offered her Elluminate virtual meeting room for the course. Prior to that, LearningTimes.org had awarded me its Global Collaboration Grant, which consisted of one Member Office with a capacity of 25 users. In addition, Elluminate, a web-conferencing company offered me a four-month free trial and training beginning in May 2007.