Capacity building with a difference

Abstract

Information Technology (IT) has come to the classroom faster than most Ministries of Education in developing countries ever anticipated, resulting in ad hoc approaches to the implementation of IT in the school system. The major problems have been the lack of prerequisites to successful integration of IT in the school curriculum, for example a lack of qualified teachers, a lack of understanding of what curriculum to teach and whom to teach in the face of so many pupils in one school with limited equipment.The Zimbabwe Midlands Information Technology in Education Project (ZiMITEP) is a pilot research project which is meant to lay a foundation for a systematic implementation of IT in schools in developing countries. The pilot project focuses on factors that have been identified as constraints to the introduction of IT in the schools’ curriculum including: trained personal; technical support; and appreciation of IT in education. The pilot project seeks to: identify appropriate IT implementation strategies in developing countries; bring together, coordinate and harmonize IT activities in the schools; cooperate with other local and outside organizations for the purpose of exchanging ideas and share experience; promote and coordinate in-service training for teachers in IT education in Zimbabwe; provide possible solutions to problems experienced in the introduction of IT in developing countries; and provide a foundation for IT policy in schools.KeywordsCase studiescurriculum policiesdistance learningresourcesteaching materials