D-lab i: development
Master
In Maynard (USA)
Description
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Type
Master
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Location
Maynard (USA)
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Start date
Different dates available
D-Lab Development addresses issues of technological improvements at the micro level for developing countries—in particular, how the quality of life of low-income households can be improved by adaptation of low cost and sustainable technologies. Discussion of development issues as well as project implementation challenges are addressed through lectures, case studies, guest speakers and laboratory exercises. Students form project teams to partner with mostly local level organizations in developing countries, and formulate plans for an IAP site visit. (Previous field sites include Ghana, Brazil, Honduras and India.) Project team meetings focus on developing specific projects and include cultural, social, political, environmental and economic overviews of the countries and localities to be visited as well as an introduction to the local languages.
Facilities
Location
Start date
Start date
Reviews
Subjects
- Quality Training
- Team Training
- Technology
- Project
- Quality
- Meetings
Course programme
Classroom sessions (mix of lectures and labs): 3 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Evening film screenings: once every 2-3 weeks
Project team meetings: as arranged
D-Lab: Development is part of the D-Lab series of courses and field trips that prepare students to respond to the basic needs of low-income households and communities in developing nations with technological solutions that are inexpensive, ecologically sustainable and able to be implemented within the local context.
This course introduces various notions of development, and explores several technological innovations that enhance the quality of life in these communities. The course also prepares students to focus on specific issues, such as the need for potable water, low-cost agricultural processing equipment, basic sanitation, and affordable energy, specifically in communities where students will travel during IAP [MIT's Independent Activity Period, a month-long intersession between fall and spring terms.] Students will develop working relationships with partnering institutions in developing nations to ensure that the field trips provide both a learning opportunity and an international social network to test the viability of technological solutions jointly crafted by the students and the hosting communities.
D-Lab: Development begins with a historical understanding of why conventional developmental efforts have not universally enhanced the quality of life of low-income households and communities. This is followed by a series of hands-on workshops in which students learn practical approaches towards addressing these issues. These workshops are interspersed with discussions and case studies, led by the course staff and guest speakers who have developed and implemented technological solutions in specific topic areas such as: energy, lighting systems, agricultural technologies, low-cost housing, water, sanitation, micro enterprises, and health. The discussion of case studies also provides students the opportunity to select problem areas for deeper engagement during the IAP field trip. The third part of the course is focused on the preparation for the field trip by sensitizing students to the realities of fieldwork in unfamiliar settings, and discussing how to build enduring institutional relationships with communities for future collaboration. Students will work in small groups studying the history, culture, language, economy and politics of the communities they plan to visit during IAP to understand the context within which their particular technological innovations must be embedded.
Graduate students taking the course for graduate credit will select a technology and/or an implementation strategy within a community organization and perform in-depth research and analysis to prepare a case study on the topic.
Paul B. '11. "Introduction to D-Lab." October 2008.
Office of Experiental Learning. "Greetings from Honduras: D-Lab students in the field." January 18, 2012.
Office of Experiental Learning. "Greetings from Cambodia: D-Lab students in the field." January 25, 2012.
Smillie, Ian. Mastering the Machine Revisited: Poverty, Aid and Technology. Practical Action, 2000. ISBN: 9781853395147.
Readings in this book will be supplemented by additional papers, book chapters, websites and films.
This is a twelve-unit class: four hours and a half each week will be spent in class, two hours per week will be spent in project team meetings and the remaining five hours will be spent working on readings, homework, and developing the field projects. Because much of the work for this class will be done during class time, attendance is essential. Students missing a class meeting should contact the TAs to make up the work. No more than two unexcused absences are allowed. This class is graded on an A/B/C/F basis; furthermore, it is a class where your work is impacting the lives of people around the world and we expect an appropriate level of commitment.
Session Key (SES)
# = Classroom session (Lecture/Lab/Activity)
F# = Evening film screening
D-Lab philosophy of development
Stakeholder analysis and participation
Homework 1
Homework 2
History of development: (1970-1990)
Appropriate Technology
Intermediate Technology
History of development: (1990-present)
UN Millennium Development Goals
Participatory development
Co-creation
Guest Speaker: Mitch Resnick (MIT Media Lab)
Entrepreneurship, government, and development in Africa
Guest Speaker: John Kufuor, (former president of Ghana)
Homework 4
Homework 5 (1 day later)
Homework 6
Homework 7
Agricultural focus groups:
- Green Revolution
- Agriculture and External Aid
- Agriculture and Human Rights
Project 2
Project 3
Energy: Sun
Guest Speaker: Jim Bales (MIT Edgerton Center)
Homework 6
Homework 8
Energy: Wind and water
Guest Speakers: Shawn Frayne (Humdinger Wind), Peter Haas (AIDG)
Village energy assessment
HOMER (Bring laptops to class)
Quiz 1
Project 4
Project 1
Project 2
Project 3
Homework 9
Water Issues in the developing world
Guest Speaker: Susan Murcott
Harnessing the wind
Guest Speaker: William Kamkwamba
Institutions of development: World Bank and IMF
Guest Speaker: Rachel Glennerster
Institutions of development
Role of NGOs in development
Micro-enterprise case study: Grameen Phone
Guest Speaker: Iqbal Quadiir
Discussion of Drowned Out
Guest Speaker: Balakrishnan Rajagopal
ICT4C
Guest Speaker: Mitch Resnick
SCRATCH (Bring laptops to class)
Creative capacity building
Concrete
Homework 15
Project 7
Homework 13 outline
Homework 15
Health issues in the developing world
Guest Speaker: Jose Gomez-Marquez
Valuing Indigenous knowledge
Cultural taboos
Cultural implications of development
Market approaches to development
Supply chains
Guest speaker: Paul Polak, IDE
What works: Lessons from JPAL
Guest Speakers: Kamilla Gumede (Jameel Poverty Action Lab)
Climate change
Sustainability
Guest Speaker: Ben Linder
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D-lab i: development