Fear of the mouse: And other ICT4D Change projects in developing countries

Summary form only given. The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) funds an advanced training program for key decision makers who can influence the implementation of ICT in education in developing countries. The program started in 2012 and runs for 3 years, with an optional extension of up to S years. The participants from 2012 to 2014 were from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Kosovo, Bolivia, Uruguay, Ethiopia, Liberia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The program educates and coaches approximately 30 participants in a course (6 courses so far) that lasts 16 months. Four course weeks are located in Sweden and the remaining period is focused on the change project implementation in the home country with coaching from Sweden using distance technology. The course modules are: 1) Visions for learning: International, national, and regional policies for education, 2) Managing change in education: Leadership, processes, and evaluation, 3) Interactive learning environments and digital inclusion, and 4) Support and tools for change. The department of computer and systems sciences at Stockholm University and Life Academy Sweden jointly run the program. Each participant is selected based on the change project suggested, personal qualifications, and the status of the work organisation The ICT in Education change projects initiated so far have been categorized into the following themes: Management, Human rights (children\´s and women\´s rights), Language Learning, and Open resources and Teacher Education The study analyses the relevance, implementation and impact of these change projects, highlighting contextual and universal obstacles when introducing ICT for teaching and learning on a national or local scale. This project have created a large international network of key people who will impact development in these regions. Master and PhD students from Stockholm University have been connected to this research and development project provi- ing added capacity and facilitating power. This work in progress outlines multi-disciplinary and international issues using a comparative perspective At the time of the FIE conference in October 2014 180 change projects have been initiated and are ongoing and two "half time" follow up meetings have been held, one in India and one in Uganda. The lessons learned, critical challenges and ideas for the future regarding the use and implementation of ICT in developing countries will be presented, discussed and reflected upon at the conference "Fear of the mouse" is a quote from a change project in Bangladesh, with the purpose of introducing computers in rural schools. "The teachers are afraid of the (computer) mouse, they don\´t dare to touch it, fear they will destroy something, but once they feel the mouse, move it and learn how to use it, they realize they need it!". A lot of cases from the real world will be presented both as examples of the needs for specific contextualisation and as general cases highlighting worldwide problems. Video documentation, surveys, field studies and interviews are the primary data sources.