News

October 19, 2015

Are you interested in the effects of technology on economic and social development? Do you wonder if mobile phones will replace PCs? Interested in the role libraries play in communities and development? Curious about open data and open research? Passionate about access to technology, communication, and information resources? Well, we have a great event for you! Come learn about us and the U.S. IMPACT Study on November 12th, 2015! At this event, we will introduce TASCHA and the U.S. IMPACT Study, two research groups focused on issues like digital inclusion, impact & evaluation, and access to information, communication, and technology resources.

October 14, 2015

Earlier this summer, Thomas Fuller of the New York Times published a memo from Yangon lamenting the lack of political vocabulary in the Burmese language, in which words like “democracy,” “institution,” and “privacy” lack direct translations. Even more notable than Fuller’s nuanced sociolinguistic discussion is the way he ends it: with a conclusion that leaves…

October 6, 2015

As part of the Advancing MOOCs for Development Initiative (ADMI), TASCHA is excited to announce the launch of an Expert Committee. The Committee, comprised of non-profit, academic, and corporate member organizations from around the world, will work to further help the Advancing MOOCs for Development Initiative.

August 25, 2015

As part of the Advancing MOOCs for Development Initiative (AMDI), we are conducting a short survey to understand how young people (ages 18-35) around the world participate in massive open online courses (MOOCs). Some MOOC providers include Coursera, edX, Udacity, MiriadX, UP Online Program, and TESDA, that work in partnership with universities and other institutions.

June 24, 2015

The American Library Association (ALA) is holding their annual conference June 25-June 30, 2015 in San Francisco. This year, TASCHA collaborators Samantha Becker and Stacey Wedlake from the U.S. Impact Study group will be attending and highlighting some of their great work on library measurement and evaluation. So, if you’re heading to ALA, be sure to join them as they represent two of their projects, the Impact Survey and the Edge Initiative.

June 15, 2015

Until mid-2011, Myanmar was very much closed off from the rest of the world. As the government continues to liberalize media and open up telecommunications markets, mobile phone use is skyrocketing across many parts of Myanmar. The country is on pace to make a giant leap in the digital divide, with mobile penetration rates expected to jump from about 4% in 2014 to 80% by the end of this year. For many in Myanmar, using a mobile phone marks their first experience with the internet and digital technology, not to mention having a wealth of information at their fingertips, which is a far cry from the once heavily censored and government-controlled media environment.

May 27, 2015

A component of the Global Impact Study was the The Amy Mahan Research Fellowship Program, led by Universitat Pompeu Fabra, which aimed to deepen the capacity of emerging scholars with the goal of increasing the quality and quantity of research on public access to ICT produced in developing countries. The findings from this work have been compiled into a new book publication, Public access ICT across cultures: Diversifying participation in the network society. The book, edited by Francisco Proenza, is co-published by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and MIT Press and is available online in PDF freely through a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY 4.0) license.

On Tuesday, June 9th, 2015, GlobalWA will host a panel of social entrepreneurs in a discussion about new products, tools, and ideas for global development. The conversation will challenge participants to think about the role of technology in creating a more equitable, healthy, and prosperous world. TASCHA Director Chris Coward will moderate the panel, which includes Ali Arjomand (Director of Global Good), Beth Kolko (CEO of Shift Labs), and Laura McLaughlin (Director of Global Health at Mountain Safety Research). A reception will follow the panel discussion. More about the event on GlobalWA’s website.

May 13, 2015

TASCHA kicked off field research for the Regional Study & Resource Center Evaluation project in Namibia in March 2015. Fieldwork is crucial to research success, particularly when performing evaluation work. Principal Investigator Araba Sey and Research Analyst Michelle Fellows visited Namibia to conduct research activities that comprise part of the first component of the project. Over the period of a few weeks, the researchers went to Windhoek, Gobabis, Oshakati, Helao Nafidi, and Eenhana to visit the Regional Study & Resource Centers (RSRCs), conduct interviews, and observe staff and patrons in the RSRCs.

May 7, 2015

During winter quarter 2015, TASCHA held a research seminar open to University of Washington students. The research seminar was originally designed to get students involved with our Information Strategies for Societies in Transition project. So many students registered for the seminar, though, that we expanded the seminar to include other TASCHA projects, like the current evaluation of library-like resource centers in Namibia and our recently launched MOOCs for development project.