Note that we will have a quiz on 21.02.08.
February 8, 2008
Note that we will have a quiz on 21.02.08.
Please read just the the slides and the essays we discussed in the class (The
Economist and BBC website), see googlgroup discussion.
Good Luck.
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AL AKHAWAYN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
COMMUNICATION STUDIES
Version 1.0
(Last Updated 24 January 2008)[1]
CONTACT DETAILS:
Class time: TR 12.30 to 13.50
Class place: 4/101
First class Thursday 24 January 2008
Last class Tuesday 8 May 2008
Total 31 classes
Supervisor: Mohammed Ibahrine
Office: Building 6, Room 9
Tel.: (212) 0 35 86 24 42
Email: ict4devauispring2008@gmail.com
OFFICE HOURS:
Tuesday: 11.00-12.30 am
Tuesday: 14.00-15.00 am
Wednesday: 08.30-12.30 am
Thursday: 11.00-12.30 am
Thursday: 14.00-15.00 am
COURSE SYNOPSIS
The course examines the major issues in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The course will use a wide range of illustrative case studies methods, success stories, best practices and field visits.
The course will help students to learn how to realistically assess the experiences, trends, and outlook on the ICT. The course will attempt to track and analyze global ICT development trends, and will provide empirical evidence of the benefits that ICT is providing in terms of economic growth and poverty reduction.
THE AIM OF THE COURSE
The aim of the course is to introduce students to the main concepts, theories, practice and controversies of the ITC. The overall objective of this course is to develop the knowledge for understanding and critically assessing the role of ICT in promoting sustainable development. With the assistance of illustrative case study approach, key indicators of ICT development, including access, quality, affordability, efficiency, sustainability, and applications will be introduced. The course will use comparative methods to compare trends in national e-strategies.
THE COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course presents a comprehensive examination of significant issues in the exciting field of ICT and development. The course also deals with the issues of how, why, and with what consequences the ICT affects society, politics, culture, economy in developing countries. The ICTs is fraught with tensions, paradoxes, and contradictions. How do we make sense of these? In this course, we will address such concerns and gain a comprehensive overview of ICT and development.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
The lecturer will follow lectures and seminars format. The student’s participation in class and seminar discussions is expected and encouraged and will be considered in final course evaluations (30%). Broad understanding of participation includes the preparation of outline before the class and a detailed content outline after the class, the maintenance of a blog and contribution to the Wikipeida. Students should also be prepared, during each class session, to discuss current media events and news as they relate to the subject. Each student has to present two required chapters of the textbook (25%) and one research paper (20%). Six tutorial quizzes (12%) and final exam (13%).
One of the major requirements for this course-seminar is the research paper. It should be from 2500-3,000 words, excluding notes and references. It should be typed, double-spaced with one inch margins, 12-point font, and consistently adhere to an accepted style, such as Harvard or American Psychological Association (APA). The papers will be presented in class, prior to the final session, and discussed from time to time throughout the term. The paper could take the form of a proposal for future capstone. Deadline, March 2, 2008.
The research paper should be based on desk research, conducted in the library and over the Internet, including the readings central to this course. However, students should move beyond this base, where feasible in the context of a one semester course. For example, they might include a limited number of interviews, a pretest or pilot of a survey or questionnaire, secondary analysis of an existing database, content analysis, direct observations, participant observation, ethnography or other approaches that involve you directly in researching your topic.
ACADEMIC HONESTY:
If you expect others to respect you, please respect yourself. So if you feel desperate, don’t make things worse by acting out of desperation: please come and talk to me about your problems before you do anything foolish. We will find a way. Office hours are of great value for intellectual and educational exchange, please respect the office hours. This is useful for the professionalism.
Please note that the intellectual involvement in the co-creation process of the lecture (attendance + participation) has the lion’s share of this class’s grade. And since there is no class participation without attendance; attendance is highly encouraged to increase your grade. The university’s new attendance policy will be enforced in this class.
READINGS:
Do the readings before class and come to class. You will come to class having completed the assigned readings and participate fully in class discussion. I expect you to be a fully contributing member of the class by being prepared, taking responsibility for having productive discussions, helping yourself and others understand the material, and generating interesting ideas. I want to avoid the “professors teach, students learn” view of this enterprise.
Please note: The course requires a minimum of 8-10 hours of outside work per week (e.g., reading, analysis, group meetings, writing assignments).
REQUIRED READINGS
There is no basic textbook reading, there are many sources of reading for this course:
The online resource contains links to all the useful sites and other resources
TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE AND READINGS
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Week 1. |
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January 24 |
Introduction |
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Week 2. |
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January 29 |
ICTs for Development: Contributing to the Millennium Development Goals |
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January 31: |
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Week 3. |
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February, 5 |
ICTs, Poverty and Development: Defining the Issues |
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February, 7: |
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Week 4. |
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February 12: |
ITU and ICTs |
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February 14: |
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Week 5. |
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February 19: |
UNESCO and ICTs |
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February 21: |
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Week 6. |
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February 26: |
World Bank and ICTs |
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February 28: |
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Week 7. |
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Deadline for the submission of the research paper, March 2, 2008. |
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March 4: |
Info Dev and ICTs |
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March 6: |
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Week 8. |
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March 11: |
Digital Divide |
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March 13: |
Mid Semester Exam |
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Week 9. |
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March 18: |
Social Transformation in the Information Society |
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March 20: |
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Week 10. |
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March 25: |
ICTs and Governance
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March 27 |
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Week 11. |
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April 1: |
ICTs in Education |
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April 3: |
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Week 12. |
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April 8: |
ICTs in Health |
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April 10: |
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Week 13. |
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April 15: |
ICTs and Youth |
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April |
(free) |
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Week 14. |
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April 22: |
ICTs an Gender |
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April 24: |
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Week 15. |
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April 29: |
India and ICT |
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May 1: |
(Holiday) |
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Week 16. |
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May 6: |
Morocco and ICT |
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May 8: |
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Week 17. |
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May 10: |
Final Exam
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