Martín Perna EDCI6300 Spring 2009 University of Texas-Brownsville

1. Availability and usage of information technology resources by students at BICU and URACCAN universities in Bluefields, Nicaragua Martín Perna EDCI6300 Spring 2009 University of Texas-Brownsville

2. Where is Bluefields?

3. Faces of Bluefields

4. Research Proposal • To determine the status and usage of instructional technology by students at URACCAN and BICU University • Identify in what context students use instructional technology • Identify models used for development of instructional technology by instructors

5. Research Plan • No published research accessible through my information resources in US • Contact rectors, information tech specialists at university (qualitative research) • Determine questions for students • Create online and print survey for sample population of students (quantitative research) • Conduct research, process and document findings

6. Research locations • BICU (Bluefields Indian and Caribbean University) • URACCAN (Universidad de las Regiones Autónomas de la Costa Caribe Nicaragüense)

7. Bluefields, Nicaragua • RAAS-South Atlantic Autonomous Region • Became formally part of Nicaragua in 1998 • Nicaragua: second poorest country in hemisphere • Official languages: Spanish, English, Creole English, Indigenous languages • Ravaged by civil war, US-funded contra war in 1980s • Suffered massive destruction by Hurricane Joan (1988), Mitch (1998)

8. Population demographics • Creole (Afro-descended-English and Creole spoken at home) • Miskito (Indigenous, Suma, Rama languages, Spanish, English) • Mestizo (mixed European/indigenous/African, English speaking) • Garifuna (Afro-indigenous people with separate language, may speak English and/or Spanish)

9. Preliminary Sources Campbell, M. (2006, September 22). In Latin America, new universities for indigenous students flourish. Chronicle of Higher Education, 53(5), A40-A43. Gershberg, A.I. (Mar., 1999), Education 'decentralization' processes in Mexico and Nicaragua: Legislative versus ministry-led reform strategies. Comparative Education, 35 (1), 63-80. Gershberg, A.I. (Jul., 1999), Decentralization, citizen participation, and the role of the State. Latin American Perspectives, 26 (4), 8-38. Gershberg, A.I, Meade, B. (Aug., 2005), Parental contributions, school-level finances and decentralization: An analysis of Nicaraguan autonomous school budgets. Comparative Education, 41, (3), 291-308. Modelo Pedagogico del Uraccan (9/2004) retrieved Feb 6, 2009 from http://www.uraccan.edu.ni/documentos/publicaciones/modelo_pedagogico.pdf Oferta académica. (2009) Retrieved Feb 6, 2009 from http://www.bicu.edu.ni/carreras.html Robb Taylor, D (ed.) (2005). The times and life of Bluefields. Managua: Academia de Geografía e Historia de Nicaragua Shapiro, M. (Winter, 1987) Bilingual-Bicultural Education in Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast Region. Latin American Perspectives, 14 (1), 67-86. Sujo Wilson, H. (1998). Oral history of Bluefields. Nicaragua: CIDCA-UCA

10. Further reading • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluefields

11. Image sources • http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dartlife/archives/17-4/images/nicaragua2.jpg • http://www.conicyt.gob.ni/ActividadesConicyt/Octubre/Estudiantes_Uracanpre.jpg