Calls for papers

 

International Journal of Web Based Communities

 

Special Issue on: "Road Map for IT Education in East Africa"

Guest Editor: Dr. Matti Tedre, Tumaini University, Tanzania
Editor: Dr. P.A.M. Kommers, University of Twente, The Netherlands

Many international development visions explicitly emphasize the importance of modern information and communication technologies for development. The same visions frequently state that sustainability is essential for development. In the field of IT/ICT, education is one of the cornerstones of sustainability. IT education has the potential to reduce a country's dependence on foreign IT experts, to foster a widespread adoption of ICTs for varying societal functions, and to empower people to produce suitable applications that meet each society's unique set of needs.

The role of ICTs differs between countries, regions, and social groups. ICTs play different roles in developing countries and in industrialized countries. Between societies there are varying needs, expectations, and hopes concerning technology, as well as fears, concerns, and barriers concerning technology. Even the professional profile of an ICT expert differs between countries, regions, and societies. Hence, IT/ICT education must respond to local needs and to local circumstances.

This special issue focuses on the special characteristics of East Africa that may make a difference in IT education, such as environment, culture, climate, and society.

Subject Coverage
Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:

Theoretical and practical concerns in IT education in the developing world
• Ethical and societal issues
• Culturally sensitive dimensions of IT education
• IT education research
• Theoretical and practical aspects of IT education programs in East Africa
• The professional identity and necessary skills of an IT professional in developing countries
• Contextualization: whether, why, where, when, what, and how to contextualize IT education in the developing world, as well as negative and positive impacts of contextualization on the level of syllabi, content, pedagogy, learning outcomes, professionalization, etc.

We welcome theoretical and practical articles that elucidate unique aspects of IT education in East African countries.
Potential contributors to the special issue who wish to inquire if the topic of their submission is within the scope of the special issue may contact the editors by email at ijwbcsi@tumaini.ac.tz. Please provide a paragraph describing the topic and potential title in any inquiries.

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere

All papers are refereed through a peer review process. A guide for authors, sample copies and other relevant information for submitting papers are available on the Author Guidelines page

Important Dates

Submission deadline for proposal and abstract of article: 31 March, 2008

Editors' response to the proposals and suggestions on their modification: 30 April, 2008

Deadline for first full drafts of the article, sent for peer-reviews: 30 June 2008

Peer reviews back to authors (accept/reject/accept conditionally): 31 July, 2008

Deadline for revised and corrected articles; editors' response to authors: 31 August, 2008

Final versions to the editors: 30 September, 2008