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
Jan 22, 2016
Availability and usage of information technology resources by students at BICU and URACCAN universities in
Bluefields, Nicaragua
Martín PernaEDCI6300 Spring 2009
University of Texas-Brownsville
Where is Bluefields?
Faces of Bluefields
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
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
Research locations
• BICU (Bluefields Indian and Caribbean University)
• URACCAN (Universidad de las Regiones Autónomas de la Costa Caribe Nicaragüense)
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)
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)
Preliminary SourcesCampbell, 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.htmlRobb Taylor, D (ed.) (2005). The times and life of Bluefields. Managua: Academia de Geografía e Historia
de NicaraguaShapiro, 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
Further reading
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluefields
Image sources
• http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dartlife/archives/17-4/images/nicaragua2.jpg
• http://www.conicyt.gob.ni/ActividadesConicyt/Octubre/Estudiantes_Uracanpre.jpg