Overview
The goal of these projects is to build IT education and capability in
Kenyan public high schools to meet international standards. Bearing in
mind that financial constraints are an important consideration for
public schools in Kenya, it is planned to use Open Source Software,
which is free. The software applications will be run on the Linux
Operating System. Linux is a very stable operating system employed by
major software companies like Oracle and IBM, and also widely used by
businesses and governments across the globe. The projects will involve
collaboration between IT professionals, High Schools in Kenya,
individuals playing liaison and mobilisation roles, and key officials
in the Education Sector in Kenya.
 

Background
The Alliance High School IT initiative was started in August 2001 as a
volunteer initiative by alumni of the school who are graduates of
Harvard and MIT with backgrounds in computing and engineering. The
main goals were to assist in the computerisation of the school, create
a means to keep up to date with various projects at the school, and to
network with other alumni. The Alliance High School IT List, was
created on Yahoogroups to allow e-mail collaboration on projects by
list members who are based principally in the U.S., U.K. and Kenya.
Friends (primarily MIT graduates) involved in similar initiatives in a
few other African countries have also joined the list. Some project
milestones include:
- Java training by members of MIT AITI at Alliance High School and
  Strathmore in Kenya, at a university and two High Schools in Ghana,
  at Addis Ababa University and a private college in Ethiopia.
- Development of a Windows Academic Records Database Application
  for Alliance High School.
- Development of a Web-based alumni database for Alliance High School.
Building on the groundwork that has been done with these projects, it
was decided by list members to expand the initiative and collaborate
with the Education Sector in Kenya, and hopefully play a role in the
broader computerisation of Kenyan schools and in establishing an IT
curriculum that meets international standards. This document is a
summary of suggestions presented by various members of the Alliance
High School IT List, broken down into specific project areas that can
be separately acted on.
 

IT projects planned
The type of IT training and capability envisioned can be divided into
five general areas listed below. Some schools will already have some of
this capability but most will have none. The implementation of various
IT areas can be incremental -- as the overall IT capability of a
particular school increases, larger projects requiring more technical
knowledge to maintain can be put in place.

1. Training on basic computer use and Office Productivity Software.
This would invovle training on Word Processors, Spreadsheets,
E-mail/Web Browsing with a modem connection, etc. This would be based
on Open Office (which is very similar to Microsoft Office) and works
with various Microsoft Office files. Open Office can run on Windows or
Linux. Initially, such training can be provided to teaching staff who
can in turn provide it to students, as appropriate, based on the
availability of computers for students at the school. It is likely that
computers a school acquires will initially have some version of the
Windows Operating System installed. To run Linux these can be
configured to be dual-boot (i.e. able to run both Windows and Linux) so
users familiar with Windows would still be able to run Windows
applications, if needed.

2. Training on Linux System Administration and hardware maintenance.
This would be for schools with networked computers. It would involve
training a few members of the teaching or IT staff on Linux System
Administration: adding users to a network, creating new e-mail
accounts, adding new computers to the network, performing backup and
other general network maintenance routines. In addition to this,
training on hardware maintenance (memory upgrades, hard disk
upgrade/replacement, etc), handling viruses, and so on, can be
provided. All hardware will eventually age and fail, needing to be
repaired or replaced. The goal is for schools to be as self-reliant as
possible in maintaining and upgrading their computer systems, and even
be able to assemble computers from component parts.

3. Training on modern programming languages and software tools.
This would involve training students at an introductory level in
programming languages like C/C++, Java, JSP and SQL databases. The
emphasis will be on programming languages widely used in academia, the
software industry and business, as applied to real-world problems. A
specific curriculum will need to be prepared or adopted. This would
then be used by teachers to train students on the selected topics.
Appropriate books and/or training materials would also be needed. As
these are programming languages that are widely used in developed
countries, it is likely that free training materials are available on
the Web, or that permission can be obtained to use existing materials
from a variety of sources. Rather than duplicate efforts, such
resources could be used wherever possible and appropriate. All the
software needed for such IT training is available for free on the Web.

4. Development of custom applications specific to schools operational and
administrative functions.
Deployment of a Linux-based Academic Records Database Application
for maintaining school academic records. Currently, a Windows-based
Academic Records Database Application, developed on a volunteer basis,
is being used as a pilot at Alliance High School. The long-term goal is
to deploy an Academic Records Database Application (with the same
database design) running on Linux, accessible using a Web-browser,
developed in Java and MySQL Server Database, which will provide
superior performance, more functionality and is more easily integrated
with other software such as e-mail. Also, a Server database is the
general model most widely used by businesses today and would be the
most ideal for a school to be knowledgeable in. However, it also
requires somewhat more expensive hardware and more technical
knowledge to deploy and administrate. Ideally, such applications should
be designed to be as user-friendly and intuitive as possible, so that an
experienced computer user can train themselves on how to use the
software simply by reading the user documentation. A fully functional
demo of the Windows Academic Records Database Application can be
downloaded here. Other software can include accounting software for
keeping school accounts. Additionally, software to enhance training for
various subjects like Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, etc could
developed or obtained (as available). These can be used as aids in
teaching various topics like iteration, matrices, vectors, waves,
electric circuits, etc.

5. Establishing high-speed Internet access for a school.
To fully tap the many educational resources available on the Web, there
is a need for high-speed Internet access at schools. Project is to
determine technical and non-technical considerations (permits, etc) in
establishing high-speed Internet access using technologies presently
available in Kenya, and associated costs.
 

Educational value of Open Source Software
The use of Open Source Software is itself a valuable learning tool for
future software developers, and as students learn foundation languages
like C/C++ and Java they can later study the design and coding of
various general-purpose Open Source Software like Linux (for an
Operating System), MySQL (for a Server Database), Open Office (for Word
Processors, Spreadsheets, etc), plus many other popular software tools.
 

Project resources
Potential resources to support these projects through grants, computer
equipment or skilled manpower include: Corporations, Foundations, Donor
Agencies, and volunteer IT professionals (software developers or
consultants) with knowledge in the relevant IT areas. In the case of
volunteers, there is a need to build a critical mass of individuals to
be able to carry forward specific projects, in a similar manner as has
been accomplished with various Open Source projects like Linux, MySQL,
etc, which this IT initiative will rely heavily on.
 

Collaboration with Education Sector in Kenya
There will be a need to collaborate with key officials in the Education
Sector in Kenya to make such IT training ultimately part of the
curriculum provided by the government in high schools, and raise IT
education in Kenyan schools to international standards or higher. This
collaboration would be primarily through e-mail lists (Yahoo groups),
which would maintain archives for future reference. Also,
correspondence can be done by postal mail, if needed.
 

Networking opportunity for IT professionals
The initiative will also be an opportunity for IT professionals based
abroad (primarily in the U.S. and U.K.) and those based in Kenya and
possibly other countries, to network with other IT professionals and
gain exposure to different areas, tapping on the knowledge and
experience of others with different IT specialisations and operating in
different environments.
 

Document compiled by:
Aziz Mboya
Server Technologies Division
Oracle Corporation
10 Van de Graaff Drive
Burlington, MA, 01803, U.S.A.
Work e-mail: Aziz.Mboya@oracle.com
Alternate e-mail: aziz@post.harvard.edu

Document date: September 15, 2003.