GRND Lab

http://www.grndlab.com/

Built solar system developed and installed in southern Kenya to provide power for the new Living with Lions research camp. (see 'work' link)

W3C Workshop on the Role of Mobile Technologies in Fostering Social and Economic Development

held in Maputo, Mozambique on 1-2 April 2009. This workshop was organized by the W3C Mobile Web for Social Development Interest Group, part of the EU FP7 project Digital World Forum. During the two day event, the 70+ participants held discussions regarding the potential of mobile technologies in the development sector. The key outcomes that are expanded in this document can be summarized here

randomised evaluation of dumping computers (+training) on schools in Columbia: no effect

Barrera-Osorio, F. & Linden, L. (2009), 'The use and misuse of computers in education : evidence from a randomized experiment in Colombia', World Bank Policy Research Working Paper (WPS4836)

This paper presents the evaluation of the program Computers for Education. The program aims to integrate computers, donated by the private sector, into the teaching of language in public schools. The authors conduct a two-year randomized evaluation of the program using a sample of 97 schools and 5,201 children. Overall, the program seems to have had little effect on students' test scores and other outcomes. These results are consistent across grade levels, subjects, and gender. The main reason for these results seems to be the failure to incorporate the computers into the educational process. Although the program increased the number of computers in the treatment schools and provided training to the teachers on how to use the computers in their classrooms, surveys of both teachers and students suggest that teachers did not incorporate the computers into their curriculum.

- thanks Yishay for this info

IoE links

Institute of Education connections.

Article in IoE Life magazine about International Development unit, Summer 2008.

Human Centered Design toolkit

In collaboration with Gates Foundation and IDE, IDEO created a Human Centered Design toolkit. This resource was created to help organizations working with smallholder farmers better understand the needs of the farmers and design appropriate tools, technologies, programs, or services for and with them.

Please feel free to download the toolkit and share your comments about it here.

Cross cultural partnerships

Includes template for partnerships, on open source model, drawn up by lawyer and anthropologist. Intended for nontraditional legal or commercial agreements.

Stanford-Ericsson mobile learning collaboration

Stockholm (SE), July 2007 - Ericsson announced at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in Geneva (05-06 July) that it is collaborating with Stanford University to explore the innovative use of mobile technologies in distance eLearning. Ericsson will work with Stanford University's International Outreach Program to bring distance learning to countries in Africa.

The program offers students on different continents the opportunity to learn from researchers in environmental sciences from several countries and perspectives, as well as contribute to lively discourse and debate through Internet and mobile phone interaction.

Further details here.

AfricanClimate@home

The mission of AfricanClimate@Home is to develop more accurate climate models of specific regions in Africa. This will serve as a basis for understanding how the climate will change in the future so that measures designed to alleviate the adverse effects of climate change can be implemented. World Community Grid's tremendous computing power will be used to understand and reduce the uncertainty with which climate processes are simulated over Africa.

See also Africa@home

Reflect and ICT Project

This DFID-funded project is exploring potential applications of ICTs for poor and marginalised people, linking to existing Reflect groups in Uganda, Burundi and India.

Workshop on Ubiquitous Sustainability: Technologies for Green Values

Workshop in Conjunction with the Ninth International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp 2007)

Nature's Benefits in Kenya: An Atlas of Ecosystems and Human Well-Being

This report provides a new approach to integrating spatial data on poverty and ecosystems in Kenya. It is endorsed by five Permanent Secretaries in Kenya and with a Foreword by Wangari Maathai (recipient of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize).

ESRC/DFID funding scheme

The Department for International Development (DFID) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) have formed a strategic partnership to provide a joint funding scheme. This scheme aims to enhance the quality and impact of social science research addressing the key international development goal of reducing poverty amongst the poorest countries and peoples of the world. The scheme will fund world class scientific research on issues relating to economic development and quality of life in less developed countries with the potential for impact on policy and practice for poverty reduction.

Deadline 5 June 2007

more

DFID-ESRC Joint Scheme - Third Call

The Department for International Development (DFID) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) are pleased to announce the third call of the joint ESRC-DFID scheme. Launched in August 2005, this £13 million joint research grants scheme aims to fund world class scientific research on issues relating to economic development and quality of life in less developed countries with the potential for impact on policy and practice for poverty reduction. To this end, both sponsors wish to invite applications from researchers based in recognised higher education institutions, research organisations or organisations with a credible research capacity in both the UK, and also worldwide.

Further information here

The deadline for applications is 4pm UK time on 5th June 2007. Important Reminder: Any UK and non-UK applicant(s) and their institutions intending to apply to the third call must register with the Joint Electronic Submission System (Je-S).

If you and your research organisation are already registered for Je-S, electronic applications can be accessed via the central Je-S web site here.

The Bloomsbury International Development Centre

We should keep an eye (google) on The Bloomsbury International Development Centre due to launch early 2007 this is a collaboration between:
- Birkbeck
- Institute of Education
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
- Royal Veterinary College
- School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
- School of Pharmacy

which aims to:
- facilitate high quality and relevant interdisciplinary research between staff of the various colleges and other partners
- develop new teaching programmes, with a focus on postgraduate and continuing education
- inform national and international policies on development by generating and synthesizing appropriate evidence and working with policymakers to promote linkages between research, policy, and practice
- build capacity in low- and middle-income countries to address the needs of partner higher education and research institutions, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and government departments