COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING AS AN INCLUSIVE EDUCATIONAL MODEL IN THE LIGHT OF COMPLEX REALITIES

An educational method that prepares the student to face the real-world complex realities in solidarity and equity is found in the pedagogy and is known as Community Service Learning (CSL). This pedagogy combines academic learning with real-world community service tasks. In CSL students actively participate in innovation projects, collaborating with communities in order to meet their needs within the complex reality of their multi-faceted environment. In this article, we discuss CSL as a pedagogical model for inclusive education in the academic curriculum in information and communication technologies. This model has two objectives: (i) to train students in socio-technical development methods, making them aware of their social and civic responsibility to face complex realities of the real world; (ii) to develop inclusive technologies that serve the needs of underprivileged communities and connect them to the computerized society. We exemplify this by discussing the design, experiences, results and evaluation of CSL postgraduate courses in Information Sciences ("ICT4D In The Field") in rural areas of Sarawak, Malaysia. Community service learning as an inclusive model of education 194 Community Service Learning and ICTs The inclusion of people and communities from less privileged regions to the digitally connected and computerized world is a social responsibility that touches higher education in order to move towards a more inclusive and equitable society. One way to realize this responsibility is in the training of professionals and academics in the area of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) such that they are capable of developing technologies that are properly adapted to the needs of underprivileged communities and their low-resource contexts. For this type of education, Community Service Learning (CSL) is a pedagogy that offers an appropriate methodology (Duffy et al., 2000). In the CSL pedagogical model, students actively collaborate with local communities in social innovation projects in order to respond to some aspect of their needs. We discuss a novel type of teaching based on the CSL idea, in the area of education in Computer Science and ICTs, in particular Information Systems (IS) engineering. In this type of education, students at the postgraduate level learn and develop through co-creation, design and implementation of ICT services focused on providing value to less privileged communities in a thoroughly collaborative fashion. As a real-life case we present a course organized jointly by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA) and the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) in Sarawak, Malaysia, for students of computer science, information science and artificial intelligence (case materials coming from Bon et al., 2019). The design of this course, its theoretical framework, the experiences of the courses organized in Sarawak, Malaysia, in June 2018 and 2019, student results and evaluation are discussed in this Chapter. Technologies for inclusion In recent years a large number of projects, usually financed by states or international agencies, in the field of ICT for socio-economic development, have been considered failures (Group, 2011). The failure of these projects is generally attributed to a lack of adaptation of these technologies to the real needs of local users and their context (e.g., Bon, 2019). In terms of social inclusion, the design of adapted technologies is essential for their success (Waugaman, 2016). In communities with low levels of education and limited resources in terms of economic development and infrastructure, adapted ICTs may lead to greater inclusion. For this reason, attention must be given to the collaborative design and development of ICTs so that they are Culture, citizenship, participation – Comparative perspectives from Latin America on inclusive education 195 relevant and meaningful to their users in those communities in low-resource contexts (Bon et al., 2016). However, the design and development of ICTs in low-resource environments is a challenge, for several reasons (de Boer et al., 2012): low-resource contexts may be variously characterized by lack of infrastructure (physical, digital, energy), high illiteracy rates, low purchasing power or a variety of complex adverse social, economic, cultural and environmental factors (Gyan, 2016). In the area of innovative ICT systems engineering (in the connected and highly computerized world), new socio-technical methodologies have been developed in recent years, with greater focus on the user and his needs (e.g., Doerflinger et al., 2013). These methodologies allow the development of information systems more adapted to local needs and environments (Ferrario et al., 2014), thus respecting the autonomy of their users. However, in order to bring these methodologies to the service of underprivileged communities in low-resource environments, a new generation of professionals with socio-technical skills and knowledge and an active citizenship attitude is needed. Technical curricula in higher education need to train professionals with these skills (Lago and de Boer, 2019). Engineering technical training such as computer science, artificial intelligence and information science is traditionally focused on the developed and "connected" world (the Global North or more precisely NorthWest) . In the Netherlands, for example, active citizenship and social awareness are not yet part of these education spaces. Social inclusion policies demand an innovative education, combining the technological with the social, and training professionals with a reflective attitude. This is a practical and reflective education, centred on the users, their objectives and community, in ICTs for Community Development. Reflective social theoretical frameworks For the design and implementation of a practical and reflective education in the area of ICTs for Development, focused on the users and their community, a framework is presented that combines service learning (Bringle and Hatcher, 1996) with a theoretical framework that comes from socio-technical action research, called "ICT4D 3.0". (Bon et al., 2016; Bon, 2019). ICT4D 3.0 is based on the participatory action research (PAR) methodology and philosophy, see for example (Freire, 1970/2005; Fals Borda, 1979). To guide the course design, we have formulated some principles that support an inclusive approach to teaching, learning, and research, see Table 1. Community service learning as an inclusive model of education 196 Table 1: Principles guiding Participatory Action Research (Bon and Akkermans, 2019) No. Principle 1. Principle of Critical Investigation of Concrete Situations (field, professional practice); 2. Principle of Value: Developing/Taking a Value Position (democracy, emancipation, autonomy, social and economic betterment) 3. Principle of stakeholder Collaboration (involving Co-Investigation, Co-Design, CoCreation, whereby goals and interests as seen by stakeholders themselves are central) 4. Principle of Dialogue (between multiple actors and stakeholders (to be) involved) 5. Principle of Action: Discovery and subsequent Realizing Change for the Better 6. Principle of Reflection and continuous Learning in Action Community service learning as educational theoretical framework Community service learning (CSL) is an educational model designed to connect theory and practice in order to solve challenging social problems by training students for a life as responsible citizens (Duffy et al., 2000; Bringle and Hatcher, 1996)). CSL uses an experiential learning methodology that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, assume civic responsibility, foster civic engagement, and strengthen communities for the common good (Lopez et al., 2015). CSL combines two interrelated objectives: (i) an educational objective based on learning through practice and reflection (ii) a social objective set in the service of the community. ICT4D 3.0 as a theoretical framework for socio-technical design For the sociotechnical education, a theoretical framework has been developed, called ICT4D 3.0 (Bon et al., 2016; Bon, 2019). This framework has similarities with CSL, offering methods that contribute to inclusion, innovation (Von Hippel, 2005), and socio-technical development. These include agile and user-centred methods (Gottesdiener, 2003; Dingsøyr et al., 2012). The ICT4D 3.0 framework consists of five cyclic stages that cover the full life cycle of information systems development: (i) context analysis, (ii) needs assessment, (iii) analysis of use cases and requirements, (iv) sustainability assessment, (v) engineering, development, evaluation (Bon, 2019). Context analysis. Consists of obtaining knowledge about a real-world environment. Sociotechnical engineers (in this case students) must dedicate sufficient time to familiarize Culture, citizenship, participation – Comparative perspectives from Latin America on inclusive education 197 themselves with less privileged environments, of low resources, with their limitations and their demands. Conversely, potential users need to achieve a certain level of knowledge of what ICTs can bring them in terms of benefits. Analysis of community objectives and needs. The ultimate goal of any socio-technical engineering is to develop services that meet the needs of its users. Therefore, explicit attention has to be paid to local needs. In general, users with little ICT experience are not aware of what kind of needs can be met by ICT-enabled services. Demonstrations of successful ICT prototype services can contribute to this knowledge. Requirements analysis. Once the needs of the users in terms of information and communication have been identified, and the most viable ideas have been selected, the requirements analysis must be carried out. In order to validate the requirements, prototypes or designs are prepared and tested to