Comparing Capacity Building Frameworks for Computer Science Education in Underdeveloped Countries: An African and Asian Perspective Jandelyn PlaneIsabella Venter University of Maryland College ParkUniversity of the Western Cape Department of Computer Science

ITiCSE Purpose of this Presentation Summary of the state of Computer Science Education in underdeveloped countries as we have seen it in our work Introduction of programs we have been involved with Frameworks used in these programs for comparison

ITiCSE Current Computer Science Education challenges in these countries Less technological background as students enter a program Wider variety needed within a program Stricter university wide rules on what else needs to be taken Lack of required practice, due to emphasis on theoretical

Teaching Who to teach Who to teach Curriculum choices Curriculum choices Technique Face-to-face Distance Education Support Institutional questions Institutional questions Framework options

ITiCSE Review of projects and programmes that we participate in: Rwanda Afghanistan South Africa AVOIR

ITiCSE Summary of the project: Rwanda

ITiCSE Teaching and support Teaching of courses Course support Curriculum design The University of Maryland College Park – one-on-one support

ITiCSE Expanding the Support

Technique Committee design of curriculum with consultation from UMD Face-to-face meetings Asynchronous distance education methods – , web page. … –DVDs with “tutor assisted video instruction” ITiCSE 20089

ItiCSE Summary of the project: Afghanistan

ItiCSE Support Curriculum development Faculty member development support from a worldwide alliance of universities

ItiCSE KU CS Faculty Members and me (Kabul, October 2005)

ItiCSE Afghanistan professors, Johnson and me at UWC, South Africa

ITiCSE Face-to-face classes were given in both Kabul, Afghanistan and Cape Town, South Africa. Alliance members presented classes in programming skills, engineering principles, research, etc. Teaching

( Worst case scenario is during the winter in Maryland, USA) Meeting time is at: 3:30 am (EST) in USA 11:30 am in Cape Town 1:00 pm in Kabul 7:30 pm in Sydney Support Synchronous communication through video conferencing and the web

ItiCSE Support - graduate seminars through desktop video conferencing Weekly seminar on Thursday afternoon (Kabul Time) –thesis writing skills –computer science content –schedule and events –presentations by all participants Branches were created later for a weekly –seminar for English language development –meetings with thesis supervisor and individual student

ITiCSE Summary of the UWC programme: South Africa

ItiCSE Teaching The three year (taught) BSc degree is followed by an Honours degree Students are taught core and elective courses at Honours level The elective courses are chosen to inform the topic of the student’s Honours research project

ItiCSE Teaching –Course work is not, per se, part of the MSc, program. –The graduate program is very individualized and students do the necessary course work needed to fill in the gaps in knowledge considered essential for their research project.

ItiCSE Masters at UWC To be accepted into the masters program, offered at the UWC computer science department, a student must have completed a four year degree. In South Africa this will typically mean that a student would have passed both a Bachelors degree and an Honours degree. The requirement for the UWC MSc is a successfully accepted, externally reviewed thesis.

ItiCSE Technique Students with different backgrounds are accepted into the Honours and Masters programme. Course requirements are personalised depending on the topic of research.

ItiCSE Support in language and writing skills development as workshops which reflect expressed academic needs from students and staff The Post-graduate Enrolment and Throughput project (PET project) offers support:

ItiCSE Support Individual coursework requirement, and research/writing support make it possible for students from much less technologically advanced countries to pursue a master’s degree

ItiCSE AVOIR African Virtual Open Initiatives Resources (AVOIR) Network Yellow Red: AVOIR nodes Blue: Collaborating partners Yellow: Supporting partners

ItiCSE AVOIR Continent-wide support for the AVOIR Masters

ITiCSE What is AVOIR? African Virtual Open Initiatives Resources (AVOIR) Network

ITiCSE AVOIR vision A pan-African Free and Open Source Software ecosystem originating in Africa so that African IT professionals can respond - with local solutions - to the needs of African universities, businesses, government and civil society while also tapping global business opportunities. To achieve this vision, AVOIR was established as a network for capacity building in Free and Open Source Software engineering

ItiCSE Teaching and Support All participants will teach courses AVOIR node universities, collaborators and supporting parties will provide the necessary support

ItiCSE Technique Each university will accept students into the AVOIR Masters programme according to their own entrance requirements Course requirements depend on the university that will confer the degree All collaborating universities will provide courses to participating universities

ItiCSE Comparisons – Lessons Learned Technique Progress in Internet reliability Distance Education Methods allow Constant Interaction Teaching Curriculum – maintainability and consistency More widely spread effect Retention of Students Support Individual relationship Remote alliance Local alliance

ItiCSE Thank you Questions…