Having begun this course expecting to hear about technologies being developed “for” development (as opposed to “with”, “in” or “and”), it’s exciting to see so much careful reflection about the most appropriate and sustainable ways to approach the ICTD field. The enthusiasm and creativity being fostered by Tap and colleagues is really inspiring and hopeful. I appreciate the opportunity to have met and talked with some brilliant, dedicated fellow students working on the frontiers of technology applications in underserved communities.

Specifically, I’m interested in strengthening contacts and collaborations between the iSchool and the School of Public Health to promote multidisciplinary approaches to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public health in the developing world. A co-listed seminar in “eHealth for a global context” or something like that would be a great start – a curriculum that I’d love to part of developing.

For a next go at this seminar, I would suggest forming topic area/field specific interest groups early in the semester (health, education, agriculture, finance for example) and dedicating ½ hour of each seminar session to those groups meeting and discussing relevant current events or a particular article. This may help to bring together people from the various disciplines represented around those interest areas – forming interdisciplinary teams. Another suggestion is to include interest area review or summary papers as orienting references. Again, this could help to orient students to what’s out there in their interest area (health, agriculture, etc.) but also to identify relevant publications, journals, and communities to be tuned into.