Information and Communication Technologies for Development. Strengthening Southern-Driven Cooperation as a Catalyst for ICT4D

This paper suggests that the dominance of northern research paradigms in ICT4D may be viewed as a continuation of colonial sway over the endeavors of the global South. The notion of Southern Theory - as introduced in the work of Raewyn Connell, the Comaroffs, and others - may be a route by which researchers in the global South can reclaim the intellectual territory of ICT4D, with indigenous and regional research paradigms and theories rather than those simply absorbed from the global North.

ICT4D research is strongly oriented to practice but hardly ever explicitly uses the research paradigm of pragmatism. We argue that, though highly-relevant to ICT4D, pragmatism suffers some shortcomings in terms of its philosophy of the world, explanatory power, truth-testing, and values. We suggest that “pragmatist-critical realism” – a novel research paradigm combining pragmatism and critical realism – can address these shortcomings and provide a valuable foundation for ICT4D research; particularly action-oriented research. We outline a four-step operational methodology for pragmatist-critical realism based on a research project that created an “e-resilience” action plan applying ICTs to strengthen resilience of farming communities in Uganda. We hope other action- and design-oriented ICT4D researchers will be encouraged to assess whether pragmatist-critical realism could form a useful basis for their future research.

In recent years, critical research literature in ICT4D has grown. It is widely accepted that theory is to inform practice. However, the inverse directionality, practice informs theory, is much less present in ICT4D, including in critical research. In this paper, we discuss ways how ICT4D research and theory may be better informed by practice—in terms of (i) recognizing praxis-oriented research paradigms and integrating their results, (ii) development of foundational theories, (iii) critical analysis of ICT4D emerging policies, and (iv) positioning ICT4D in the wider development debate. This suggests several elements or directions in which critical research has the potential to push current boundaries of ICT4D in terms of content as well as relevance.

This paper examines an ongoing mobile health (mHealth) initiative in Sierra Leone. The objective is to describe the ontological perspective and methodological approach used which relies on critical realism and Archer’s morphogenetic approach. Such a critical realist-based approach addresses many of the concerns associated with the interpretivist and positivist philosophical duopoly that has dominated the ICT4D field for many years. The approach allows the mechanisms that determined what caused the events associated with the mHealth case to be hypothesized, thus making clear why this mHealth case has sustained through many challenges.

The paper examines two concepts that have been frequently used in Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D) research, capabilities and affordance. We seek to delineate their similarities, their differences, and their accurate application in ICT4D. Both concepts connote a space of opportunities, both are relational between artefact and human agency when applied in ICT4D, and both entail potential rather than actualisation of possibilities. By comparing the two at some length, we hope to generate a more refined understanding of both capabilities and affordance, as well as how they could be more accurately applied in ICT4D.

In this paper, we suggest a framework to better explain the relation between ICT and development. The framework combines two theories: The Capability Approach and Affordances. The capability approach defines development as freedom of choice; and the affordances explains the relational aspects of people and technology. These two theories complement each other by connecting the means (technology) to the ends (development). A case study of ICT and study-circle education in rural areas of Kenya is used to illustrate the framework. Using the framework, the study revealed how actualization of affordances of internet-cafe enhanced income capabilities of marginalized people; however, at the same time, shows perception and actualization of affordances were contingent on the availability of resources, skills, socio-cultural norms, and infrastructure.

This paper paints a picture of how a method of research in an African we-paradigm looks like. The paper describes living research, where the researcher is an integral part of a community, being a recipient of communal grace and partaker in, and reporter of, the communal development of embodied knowledge.

Information and communication technology is said to provide paths to empowerment, yet the current ICT4D literature weakly conceptualises how this occurs. This article questions the conceptual alignment between the empowerment concept and the actual empowerment outcome attained through technology. We use Alsop and Heinsohn’s measuring empowerment framework and Zimmerman’s individual empowerment framework to analyse the missing links between empowerment and technology within current ICT4D research. We argue that research on empowerment in ICT4D needs to (1) be more specific about what type of empowerment takes place; (2) take into account both agency level changes and socio-institutional structures, (3) consider the dual effect of both empowerment and disempowerment.

A compendium of impact assessment (IA) frameworks are available to understand the impact of ICT4D initiatives in Low Income Countries. However, existing frameworks do not adequately address the unique challenges of IA for ICT4D, especially the multi-level and time variant characteristics of the IA. To address these challenges, we propose the use of Theory of change (ToC) as a generic framework for IA of ICT4D projects. Based on the seminal work by Weiss [8], we argue that ToC can be viewed both as a methodology and a deep critical reflection process. We demonstrate the ToC approach for IA using a case study of an ICT4D project for LICs.

To inform program development in health in the rural areas of Masvingo Province in Zimbabwe, Ministry of Health and Child Care authorised cooperating partners to execute participatory video projects in rural districts in Masvingo Province. The Participatory Video process was a result of the desire to go beyond prescribed, non-participative or cultural insensitive data gathering methods. Two videos were produced that significantly shaped thinking of stakeholders being informed on health-seeking behaviours and utilisation of services. This use of Information and Communication Technologies proved a fruitful way to engage, interact, and develop public conversations, giving a voice to formerly disenfranchised groups (e.g. ostracised religious groups or ‘closed’ communities’). Participatory Video is recognised as a culturally aligned method appropriate for a setting other than the West.

The paper explores the misuse of information systems for corrupt practices in the Nigerian public sector as a phenomenon under study. Routine Activity theory, Model of Emergent IT Use, and Normalization theory were used as lenses. Danermark et al.’s six stage framework with a single case-study was adopted as the critical realist methodology. The anti-corruption and regulatory agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of Nigeria, is the case in focus. Semi-structured interviews, archival documents and press media were used as data sources. By analyzing the data, we identified motivated offender, suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian as the entities/factors that characterized the phenomenon. Political clientelism patronage, socialization, embeddedness of corrupt routine into IT artifacts and rationalization were identified as causal mechanisms with culture as the enabling conditions. Dysfunctional structures of the Nigerian public sector were also identified as structures that breed the mechanisms. The study findings contribute to theory, practice, and the methodology of critical realism.

Although development studies/theory is critical in all areas pertaining to global development, Information and Communication Technology for development (ICT4D) studies have been argued to have paid little attention to the controversies around development. I argue that all ICT4D research uncover the meaning of development but this is often implicit; and this meaning can be revealed using techniques such as discourse analysis (CDA). The study is a CDA of World Bank Report 2016 on Digital Dividends (WDR16) to illustrative how CDA can be applied to expose implicit views of development embedded in ICT4D studies. The study is centred on the recent growing emphasis on ICTs for development focusing on contemporary processes of social transformation which are variously identified within the critical discourse analysis (CDA) by such terms as ‘neo-liberalism’, ‘globalisation’, ‘information society’ and ‘knowledge-based economy’. Although the report can be critiqued for over-emphasis of positive contributions of ICT4D, it needs to be applauded for taking development not as merely market related but as a holistic process covering other socio-economic development issues like poverty eradication, human development and human dignity. It resembled major shifts in ICT4D thinking from 2000 to 2010 which was a move from technocentric view.

This paper examines the nexus between the context of a developing country and external actors’ influence in the formulation of a national Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy. It questions whether context of a country affects the way external actors influence formulation of a national ICT policy following that external actors have mostly influenced policy formulation in Africa. Drawing on Bourdieu’s concepts of field, habitus, capital and practice, the study uses eighteen interview transcripts, three draft policy documents, two copies of minutes of policy meetings and three reports to analyse the relationship. The paper finds that external actors overtly influence the formulation of a national ICT policy in developing countries with limited economic, social and cultural capital. This finding offers stakeholders of public policy and government important insights into how they can effectively manage external actors during the policy process in developing countries.

This paper probes research being carried out by researchers foreign to Africa. From an assessment of decennia of research, we address the many and varied ways in which the work of foreign researchers, often from countries with unresolved colonial baggage, cast their normalising shadows over African realities. From experiences in Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, among others, through the exposit of the complex and expansive array of influences and coloniality, we paint a picture how foreign researchers benefit from enshrined and ongoing practices that dominate research scenes. These practices depreciate African research and development done by Africans, in Africa for utilisation in Africa. We propose the need to mainstream decoloniality and communiversity as to affect the primacy of African researchers researching in, on and for Africa.

Innovation is increasingly portrayed as central to social and economic development. Models of innovation from the global North are often applied uncritically in the global South. Doing so may unwittingly silence indigenous knowledge, ways of knowing, and cultural values. Santos (2014) has argued that this form of epistemic violence is committed when actors from the global North are insufficiently mindful of ‘Epistemologies of the South’. Neither Santos nor the authors of this paper believe that there is nothing of value to be learned from the global North – only that there is as much to be learned from the global South – and everything to be gained from a skillful combination of different ways of knowing. This theoretical paper proposes a future line of research to examine in what ways Epistemologies of the South might inform innovation processes to produce different outcomes. We use the example of innovation hubs and although we might have used the philosophies of Ubuntu from Southern Africa or Swaraj from India, in this paper we use the lens of Buen Vivir (living well) from Andean and Amazonian communities in South America to suggest that another innovation is possible.

This paper reports on the gap on perceptions of e-government for indigenous inclusion in Tanzania. E-government provisions in developing countries are linked with the use of ICT4D to support development plans. Literature indicates that development issues, cultural context and consideration of local communities’ requirements play a crucial role in facilitating adoption of e-government systems. Use of mobile phones in local communities and sharing mobile device facilities presents a unique phenomenon on utilizing e-government services in Tanzania. Drawing from in-depth interviews from government officials and citizens, the paper argue that perceived gap between central government and local communities is caused by a number of issues. The results indicate that even with few available e-government services, citizens are still keen to use them. It also emerged that there is a gap on computing facilities, central government was found to have all required minimum devices and support to access e-government services and the same was missing to the local communities. Among citizens, mobile phones were preferred way of accessing e-government services as compared to other means since they are convenient and are more personal and hence providing feeling of ownership. For the e-government services to benefits indigenous communities there is a need to address problems associated with the lack of available key e-government services in rural areas, lack of skills among government officials on public administration and development issues as well as underutilization of mobile phone for e-government services.

The present article addresses how smart city initiatives can positively impact development, with a special emphasis on developing countries. Extant definitions and maturity models on smart cities have a very strong focus on the mere use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), thereby ignoring the special needs and factors to be considered in developing countries. Thus, by using the extant literature on Smart Cities and Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D), a comprehensive Smart City for Development (SC4D) model is introduced. The article argues that a favorable ecosystem for SC4D is one that is backed by both national and local sustainability, infrastructure, human capital, services, apps, and data. Moreover, successful SC4D initiatives include bottom-up approaches, citizen participation, a fit with both the national and the local culture, as well as a fit with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Capability Approach.

Cultural heritage embodies and carries the stories and values of our ancestors that define our understanding of who we are today. A society’s heritage serves an important purpose for educating people about their own culture and aiding in understanding their traditional values. In Tonga, where this research has been conducted, the historical knowledge and cultural values have been usually transferred orally from generation to generation. However, due to the pressures of globalisation, westernisation and migration, cultural heritage is under threat. These threats can potentially impede the transferring of societies’ idiosyncratic identity to future generations and erode cultural life. ICT as an option to preserve cultural heritage offers opportunities to not only capture and immortalise tangible and intangible cultural artefacts but also enables the accessibility of those artefacts to a wider audience through the internet. It is against this background that we explore how digital technologies are utilised in the process of preserving cultural heritage.

Ethical value exchange is moving to the forefront of the global challenges that HCI will have to address in the coming years. We argue that applying a context-sensitive, socio-technical approach to HCI can help meet this challenge. The background is that the life of marginalized people in contemporary society is challenging and uncertain. The marginalized can face health and cognitive issues as well as a lack of stability in social structures such as family, work and social inclusion. Three questions are of concern when innovating together with people ‘at the margins’: how can we describe users without stereotyping badly, what socio-technical HCI methods fit the local context, and how to make the design sustainable in the face of current planetary challenges (e.g., climate change)? We discuss a socio-technical HCI approach called human work interaction design (HWID) to meet the challenges of designing for ethical value exchange where value extraction is not dominated by one party but equally shared across all stakeholders. We introduce an ongoing case of a digital service to support fishers in Alibaug, India. As a multidisciplinary team of researchers we evaluate the socio-technical infrastructure surrounding a mobile app to support sustainable fishing. This is done through the lens of HWID by highlighting inwardly and outwardly socio-technical relations between human work and interaction design. We conclude by highlighting the value of a context sensitive, ethical socio-technical framework for HCI.

Usability is widely recognized as a desired attribute of technology, referring to how usable it is to the intended users. As health information systems in developing countries are increasingly digitalized, interaction with familiar analog technologies is replaced by digital user interfaces for many health workers. An array of literature documents usability problems in such initiatives, arguing for their adverse effects on the users, and the system as a whole. What makes it challenging to achieve usability in this context has, however, not been explored extensively. This empirical paper attempts to bring focus to this gap, by defining the concept of usability design obstacles, which refer to aspects that complicate the usability design process. The relevance of the concept is illustrated through three empirical vignettes based on two action research projects in Uganda and India. Three concrete obstacles are outlined. These are (1) constraints introduced by software, (2) constraints introduced by legacy design, and (3) scale and heterogeneity of user groups. It is argued that to address the usability problems commonly outlined and discussed by existing literature, more focus on how to overcome such usability design obstacles is crucial. The obstacles identified in the empirical case of this paper also represent avenues for further research, which are discussed.

Human-Computer Interaction for Development (HCI4D) research aims to maximise the usability of interfaces for interacting with technologies designed specifically for under-served, under-resourced, and under-represented populations. In this paper, we provide a snapshot of Southern African HCI4D research against the background of the global HCI4D research landscape. We commenced with a systematic literature review of HCI4D (2010–2017) then surveyed Southern African researchers working in the area. The contribution is to highlight the context-specific themes and challenges that emerged from our investigation.

Accounting for the ways in which ICT initiatives are worked into local communities is part of rendering “the local perspectives” within ICT4D. This paper is part of that. Based on in-depth fieldwork, we investigate the integration of an agricultural information service into a rural community in Bangladesh. We find that it takes work beyond the initial design and cursory introduction of the service to make the service work in a low-income rural community: it takes the strength of the farmers self-help groups to circulate the messages by word-of-mouth, it takes posters placed at key junctions according to a socio-geographic understanding of the village manifest in a map, and it (ideally) involves the support of the elite of the community via the broadcast of messages at places of high symbolic value. It takes all this in addition to a well-made information service delivering relevant and timely messages on for example agricultural matters. Hence, reducing the issue to one of technical delivery mechanism does not tell the full story.

Financial transactions are intimately bound with social interactions and woven into everyday economic lives. In this paper we focus on PayTM, a digital wallet, and a specific set of users of PayTM, street vendors in urban India. Through an ethnographic investigation we offer to unpack two questions: 1. Can digital forms of money create financial inclusion by opening up access to the marginalized 2. Can digital platforms amplify socio-economic capacities of low literate users enhancing financial literacy? We argue that digital and financial literacy are an immersive component of digital wallet use acquiring ‘everyday life’ in specific socio-economic ecosystems. Our study captures daily practices of digital money staking a claim in advancing the understanding of financial inclusion as a lived process accumulating habits, practices and stakes to expand socio-economic capabilities.

Urgent efforts are needed to address climate change and changing climate variability. Solutions are needed at economic, political, scientific, educational, as well as technological domains. Our previous research in Tambuu, Tanzania, shows that the acute information needs of the community are credible and trustworthy weather information, knowledge in best uses of weather information, and education about best farming practices. Delivering the information for end users in Tambuu is a challenge in itself. Based on these results and following the principles of System Action Design Research, we developed prototypes for future climate services together with local farmers in Tambuu community. These prototypes and our future plans are presented in this research-in-progress paper.

Participation or engagement in unhygienic cyber practices could ultimately harm an organization’s information and communication technologies, if unchecked. This present study used concepts from the theory of planned behavior and organizational control theory to examine the effects of factors such as attitude, subjective norms, organizational facilitators, monitoring, and self-efficacy on workers’ participation in unhygienic cyber practices. A cross-sectional survey of Nigerian professionals was used to test the formulated hypotheses. Partial least squares technique of structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for data analysis. The results indicate that attitude toward cyber hygiene has a negative effect on worker’s participation in unhygienic cyber practices; similarly, subjective norms have a negative effect on engagement in such acts. The data did not show that organizational facilitators, self-efficacy, and monitoring had a meaningful impact on Nigerian workers’ participation in unhygienic cyber practices. Implications of the study were discussed and contribution to the extant literature noted.

Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) have been proposed to improve the quality of services in healthcare organisations. However, sometimes, the design contexts of these systems tend to be different from the use contexts. This and other factors have been reported to cause failures of EMR adoptions. By focusing on factors from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model, we use interviews and questionnaire as data collection instruments to study the adoption of an EMR which was locally developed in rural Uganda; to generate lessons that would sustain the use of the EMR.We found out that all of the following factors, from the UTAUT model, significantly affected the usage of the system and, consequently, facilitated the adoption of the EMR at Kisiizi Hospital: expected improvement in job performance, the easiness with which the system can be learned and used, support and influence from management and peers, and the availability of organisational and technical infrastructures to support the use of the system. All of these were largely due to the fact that physicians from Kisiizi Hospital initiated and drove the system development and implementation processes, making sure that correct requirements were captured, and championing the use of the system by staff at the hospital. The in-context explanations for the findings are also provided.

HCI4D is context-oriented. Literature highlights that successful implementation of HCI solutions in developing countries needs deeper understanding of the context. Despite numerous literatures pointing the importance of context-oriented HCI4D, there is no holistic method that guides researchers and implementers of HCI solutions in analysing different contexts of countries. To bridge this gap, this paper introduces the PESTELMO (Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological, Environmental, Managerial and Organisational) analysis method for holistic analysis of contexts in which HCI4D is researched or implemented. PESTELMO analysis method is proposed in this research as an integrated approach to analyse the external and internal environment surround HCI4D research or deployment, as a suitable method for analysis of dynamic political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, environmental and legal parameters in long-term planning and finally as a holistic approach to assess relations, interactions and interdependences among the PESTELMO factors and sub-factors.

This paper is an attempt to position Information Systems (IS) education within the Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D) research and practice discourse. The motivation for the study comes from an understanding that, while the research on ICT4D theories and practice has grown in popularity, there has been very little effort directed towards establishing the link between university education and ICT4D practices. IS education literature is still preoccupied with discussions on curriculum and pedagogies focused on equipping students with instrumental knowledge grounded on the ‘catching up’ and ‘conformist’ IS practices. As a result learners, especially at the undergraduate level, are left with little to no exposure to the IS discourses of reformists and transformists that have been identified as critical to the success of ICT4D. By drawing parallels to other patterns in ICT4D research and practice, this study hopes to shed light on a gap in IS education that, if not addressed, will continue to be a major obstacle to ICT4D initiatives in developing countries.

Several studies indicate that there are no enough people in the market with data science skills and even those graduates in ICT from universities do not possess skills required by employers. Thus, researchers have suggested the urgency for universities to review their curricular as the world is heading towards data era. The aim of this research was to analyze the current skill-gaps needs from stakeholders and opportunities to establish data science postgraduate programme that reflects the current technological trends and market demands at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). A questionnaire was administered to 85 identified organizations to solicit information on the needs for data scientists and existing skill gaps. A total of 61 filled questionnaires response were received out of the 85 that were administered to selected organizations indicating a turn out rate of over 70%. Overall the analyzed data articulated a compelling evidence for the local industry growing need for data scientist. The survey that was conducted was followed up by conduct of various workshops and meetings to solicit inputs from different experts and stakeholders on different versions of the developed curriculum. Finally, a new programme in MSc in data Science was approved and established from April 2018 at UDSM. Despite its late approval and without formal advertisement on the public media, the programme attracted a large number of applicants for 2018/19 academic year, compared to other several postgraduate programmes in ICT offered at UDSM.

As the world advances rapidly and economic conditions continue to change, issues such as globalization and changing labour markets are putting a huge pressure on youth worldwide. There is an urgent need for young people to be trained with flexible set of skills that will allow them to take the front seat and actively contribute to initiatives directly affect their development. The first step towards addressing the pressing concerns of today’s youth, especially in Africa, involves improving the existing education systems. This paper elaborates curriculum improvement in education systems by adapt a human centered design (HCD) and Challenge-Driven Education (CDE) approaches that encourages students to work on projects that address real challenges solicited from industry partners. Youth for Children (Y4C) innovation hub, a partnership between UDSM college of ICT (CoICT) and UNICEF Tanzania, was established in 2016 to promote child rights and provide the design skills and social context to support students in developing products and solutions with real social value. Y4C Hub provides unique value in its emphasis on HCD and CDE approaches where projects are undertaken for a period of one year and are directly linked to solving real challenges facing the society in collaboration with the challenge owners and mentors. In the year since launching the hub, 173 CoICT students, 36 supervisors, and 50 secondary school girls have been trained on HCD. A Final Year Project course curriculum has been reviewed to reflect a more challenge driven approach, offering a chance for promising projects to be incubated.

Feasibility study is the first and important stage in any planning of introducing a new solution for overcoming existing challenges. It saves a lot of resources that could be lost if such solution fails to solve the intended problem. On the other hand, it gives a proper way to go ahead with the plan of introducing the solution. The purpose of this study is to establish necessary and basic requirements as possibilities and pitfalls for deploying cost effective interactive multimedia content for enhancing an ineffective provision life skills education at primary school level in Tanzania. Ten primary schools were randomly selected and surveyed from which 65 teachers and 407 pupils participated in the study. Questionnaires, interviews, and documentary reviews were used as data collection tools. It was found that the Internet penetration is 45% of the population with 82.6% of Internet users are smartphones users. Number of computers and tablets at schools are still limited to 1:1036 computer pupils ratio, 96% of pupils had access of computers and smartphones from parents. Moreover, 77% of teachers used conventional and lecturing style in teaching, 100% of life skills content was static found in inadequate textbooks. Based on these results, deployment of self-learning enabled interactive multimedia content is possible and will bring positive impact if it will be developed to operate in ICT devices available in both primary schools and pupils’ parents as well. This study informs the proper way of introducing cost-effective interactive multimedia content at primary school level in Tanzania.

The growing demand for user-centered, sustainable, collaborative and ecosystem-aware ICT4D programs and projects brings requirements for education of a new generation ICT4D professionals. This paper presents a post-graduate field-based course in ICT4D that teaches how to co-create and deploy community-centered ICT services. The course has been jointly organized and deployed by Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) for a mixed group of computer science, information science and artificial intelligence students from VU and UNIMAS. The course design, experiences, outcomes and evaluation are presented in this paper.

During development of health information systems, local specialists were needed to take the local lead and train others. Through external funding, nine master programmes in health information systems were set up in developing countries in collaborations between a local university and the University of Oslo. While development efforts tend to fade out after initial project funds have been spent, keeping the programmes running was crucial for the upkeep also of the health information systems. Their planning, running with external funds and continuation has been analysed by means of a Collaborative Governance Model, which was made more specific through literature on higher education. The specifics concerned initial planning, where bringing in relevant stakeholders, include local knowledge, network globally and have an interdisciplinary approach to learning were confirmed. During the implementation with project funding, small wins kept the collaboration going, and face-to-face dialogues for common problem definition helped solving emerging issues. The outcome has been that all nine programmes continue running, and local, regional and international collaboration help keeping the academics flourishing. More than 500 master students have graduated.

The use of ICT tools in mathematics instructions has been proved to have a positive impact on students’ success. However, little is known about the ICT readiness of both teachers and students to incorporate these tools in mathematics teaching-learning process. This study investigates the readiness of teachers and students to integrate ICT in mathematics teaching and learning at a higher education institution in Tanzania. Specifically the study assesses the device, skills and psychological readiness of teachers and students to integrate ICT tools in mathematics instructions. The study employs both qualitative and quantitative methods whereby data are collected through interviews and questionnaires respectively. Seven teachers and 129 bachelor degree students pursuing business studies, form the study population. Descriptive statistics are used to analyze the quantitative data while qualitative data are analyzed through content analysis. Results show that teachers and students have device, skills and psychological readiness to integrate ICT in teaching and learning of mathematics. This is significant as it provides information that will be useful in planning the use of ICT tools to benefit teaching and learning. This study contributes to transfer and diffusion of technology discourses.

This paper discusses eLearning in contemporary times in an African place. While the paper acknowledges the importance of eLearning in that it facilitates distance learners’ activities and bridges geographical gaps across the world, it notes that in convoluted environments such as those of Africa, eLearning raises a lot of critical questions, some of which are cultural, and others are ethical and epistemological. This ambiguity emerges largely because eLearning, as it is understood in Africa, comes in foreign packages. The paper argues for the decolonisation of eLearning – that external practices of eLearning, particularly those ‘imposed’ on Africa from Europe and North America, fail many environments in Africa. This failing is because such practices rubberstamp the long-criticised philosophy of one-size-fits-all which has been blamed for impoverishing Africa besides underestimating the potential contribution of the African continent to the global world. On this note, the paper concludes that unless we decolonise eLearning and consider the issues of sensitivity, inclusivity, and attainability, eLearning will not be palatable or at least beneficial for most in Africa.

It is estimated that more than two-thirds (70%) of all the 35 million people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in the world are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Tanzania as one of the country in sub-Sahara region is no exceptional, more than 60% of all new HIV infections in Tanzania occur among young people. While almost all children in Tanzania aged 15 years and below have heard about HIV/AIDS, less than half have enough knowledge to protect themselves against infections. It is known that HIV/AIDS is taught in primary schools, although majority of the pupils demonstrated a very low level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS. This raised a concern on the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS and life skills education in primary schools. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has a great potential for HIV/AIDS education to children because they like and enjoy to use ICT resources for entertainment, learning, networking and communication. Hence, it is important to apply technology for educational in teaching HIV/AIDS through the use of multimedia contents in accordance to the local context of Tanzanian curriculum for primary schools. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to develop multimedia enhanced contents to raise HIV/AIDS awareness to children. ADDIE model, Adobe Flash Professional 5, Action Script programming language and articulate storyline2 authoring tool, were used in the development of multimedia enhanced contents. Results show that level of HIV/AIDS knowledge among pupils after using the interactive multimedia has been enhanced in the tested three knowledge areas (causes, prevention and effects). Results in this paper suggest that, multimedia enhanced contents can be used to complement text book based learning approach in enhancing HIV/AIDS awareness for children in primary schools in Tanzania.