New Strategies for Integrating African Perspectives into Human-Computer Interaction and Information and Communication Technology for Development Curricula

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Information Communication Technology and Development (ICTD) courses often center Western perspectives and overlook African contributions and design contexts. This paper presents a case study describing the development and pilot evaluation of a design course that centers African perspectives. We achieved this by integrating technology into the class in novel ways (e.g., Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL)) and by developing a "Technologists-in-Residence" (TIR) program that supported meaningful collaboration between students at Kenya's Egerton University and those in the U.S. A pilot qualitative assessment of course activities suggests that these virtual interactions, along with a human-centered design project, deepened students’ understanding of designing technology for African contexts. This case study offers scalable, and cost-effective strategies to diversify HCI education and strengthen international engagement in design pedagogy.