Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD)

CS491/591 • Spring 2026 • University of New Mexico

Course Overview

Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD) meets Humanitarian Free Open Source Software (HFOSS) in this project-based course. Students critically analyze how technologies succeed (or fail) across diverse sociocultural, political, and economic contexts, then engage with HFOSS communities through code, design, documentation, outreach, or community-defined contributions that align project needs, student interests, and course learning outcomes.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze technology through ICTD frameworks
• Apply HCI/human-centered design principles
• Contribute to HFOSS projects (code/docs/design/outreach)
• Reflect on open source governance & sustainability

Texts

All readings and materials provided via Canvas and/or course GitHub repo. No textbook purchase required.

Assignments Summary

For undergraduate students

For graduate students

Assignment Descriptions

Reading Reflections

• Purpose: To connect readings on ICTD, HCI, and FOSS to real-world applications and weekly discussions
• Format:300-500 word submitted on Canvas each Sunday night
• Prompt: Choose an idea, quote, or argument from the readings that stood out to you. Explain why and connect it to a real example or your HFOSS project. You must engage with all of the assigned readings/materials for the week. You may focus most of your reflection on just 1-2 of them, but make sure you still say something about the others.
• The goal is not to summarize the reading. Please provide your own thoughts on the material. What did you find interesting? Did anything surprise you? Find connections. What does this mean to you?
• Reflections due weekly, Sundays 11:59pm (16 total, lowest dropped)
• After the due date, you'll be able to access a shared document with reading notes for that week (hosted on UNM's OneDrive) to support class discussions and your project development

Individual HFOSS Exercises

• Purpose: To gain early familiarity with open collaboration tools and ways of engaging with FOSS communities
• Exercise 1: GitHub setup and forking practice (Week 2)
• Exercise 2: HFOSS “field trip” & short report on 2-3 communities (Week 4)
• Exercise 3: Paired Code Review (Week 6)
• Exercise 4: Stakeholder mapping for one project (Week 11)
• Each is graded for completion and thoughtful effort (4 total).

Midterm Critical Review Paper (graduate students only)

• Purpose:Graduate students will engage deeply with foundational scholarship at the intersection of ICTD, HFOSS, and critical technology studies. This assignment develops your ability to synthesize theoretical frameworks from class with broader scholarly conversations about technology and development.
• Format:
  • 1,500-2,000 words (approximately 6-8 pages, double-spaced)
  • 12pt font
  • APA or IEEE style citations
• Prompt: Select one book from the curated book list and write a critical review that demonstrates your ability to connect scholarly work with course concepts. You may choose to either:
  • Read the entire book and review it as a whole, OR
  • Read a minimum of 4 substantial chapters (or approximately 100-150 pages) and focus your review on those sections
• Requirements:
  1. Clearly identify which chapters/sections you read
  2. Summarize the main arguments, contributions, and key themes in the book or book chapters
  3. Connect the book's ideas to at least 3 major concepts, theories, or discussions from our course
  4. Reflect critically on how the book's arguments relate to HFOSS communities and/or ICTD practice
  5. Include appropriate citations, even when referencing course readings
• Evaluation Criteria (100 points total):
  • Choice (25 points): Relevance and appropriateness of the book selected for course themes
  • Connection (25 points): Meaningful integration of at least 3 course concepts, theories, or frameworks
  • Clarity (25 points): Clear, concise writing with logical organization and proper structure
  • Cogency (25 points): Strength and coherence of critical analysis and argumentation
• Due: End of Week 8

Group Project: ICTD + HFOSS Community Study

• Purpose: To analyze and contribute to a real HFOSS community, applying ICTD concepts and human-centered design methods.
• Team size: 2-3 students.
• Deliverables:
  • Project Proposal (Week 10): 3-4 page proposal outlining community background, team roles, and goals.
  • Presentation (Week 16): 15-20 min group presentation with slides and/or demos.
  • Final HFOSS Community Paper (Final's Week): 15-20 pages describing the community's mission, governance, inclusion issues. You will also document your engagement throughout the semester.
• Grades based on depth of analysis, creativity, and clarity of presentation—not on community response success.

Project Diary

• Purpose: To document ongoing work and reflection on collaboration and community interaction.
• Progress Logs (5 total): 6-question Canvas quizzes, covering weekly progress, interactions, challenges, and next steps (Weeks 11-15).
• Project Self-Reflection (1 total): Structured reflection on project outcomes and peer evaluation of teammate(s).

Class Participation

• Discussion is a major component of this course. You will practice engaging in productive discussion with one another on challenging topics.
• Your participation grade includes active engagement in discussions and completion of short in-class activities.

Evaluation and Policies

Evaluation Criteria

• Effort and Consistency: Students who keep up with reflections, exercises, and check-ins will find the workload steady and manageable
• Thoughtful Engagement: High marks go to students who connect course readings to concrete ICTD or HFOSS examples and actively participate in discussion
• Collaboration: Collegial, reliable teamwork is essential for the group project and peer review process
• Creativity and Initiative: Innovative or well-documented attempts/contributions to open source projects are rewarded, even when technical outcomes are modest

Late Work Policy

• Reading Reflections: 24-hour grace period for partial credit (up to 80%). No late submissions accepted after grace period.
• HFOSS Exercises and Progress Logs: 10% penalty per day.
• Group Presentations and Paper Due dates are firm due to end-of-term scheduling. Extensions are rare and must be approved at least one week in advance.
• Technical Issues: Students should communicate promptly about GitHub or access problems—technical difficulties are not penalized. Please report issues as soon as you can.
• Extenuating circumstances: If you run into any issues during the semester, please reach out as soon as possible so we may work out appropriate accommodations and a timeline for making up missed work.

Attendance Policy

You are allowed two unexcused absences. Absences resulting from conference presentations, job interviews, family emergencies or incapacitating illness are considered excused and do not factor into your two unexcused absences allowance. Make sure you submit appropriate documentation in those cases so that they can be adequately accounted for.

Professional Conduct

• Respect for colleagues, classmates, and HFOSS community members is expected at all times.
• Cultural sensitivity, humility, and openness to diverse perspectives are essential values in ICTD and collaborative design work.

Academic Integrity & Collaboration

Collaboration Guidelines

• Teamwork is central to the group project. You should coordinate clearly on shared deliverables but maintain individual responsibility for your written reflections and logs.
• Seek feedback from classmates or the instructor during class workshops, office hours, or on Canvas discussions.
• Transparency in documenting sources, contributions, and collaborations is essential for fair evaluation.

Use of Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI Tools

You may use AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Copilot) to understand readings, brainstorm ideas, or brainstorm structure for your group project, similar to peer collaboration. However, please note the following restrictions:

• Reading Reflections: Must be entirely written by you without AI assistance. These serve as your authentic voice and thinking space.
• Early HFOSS Exercises: Should be completed independently as much as possible. Please do not use any AI or code-completion tools. Use discussion boards, in-class workshop time, or office hours for support instead.
• Writing for Group Deliverables: Must be substantially your own. AI may be used to refine clarity or check grammar but cannot create original sections of text, analysis, or argumentation on your behalf.
• Disclosure Requirement: For every assignment where AI tools are used in any way, include a short note at the end explaining how and why you used it. For example: “I used ChatGPT to outline my main points but wrote all paragraphs and examples myself.”
• Expectation: During the first half of the semester, please refrain from AI use unless absolutely necessary and always disclose if you do.
• Hallucinations and Fake References: Please be very careful and double check all references. Using fake or hallucinated references will result in up to a 50% reduction in the corresponding assignment grade.

Failure to disclose AI use or misrepresenting AI-generated content as your own constitutes academic misconduct and may result in grade penalties or university-level disciplinary actions.

Accommodations

UNM is committed to providing equitable access to learning opportunities for students with documented disabilities. As your instructor, it is my objective to facilitate an inclusive classroom setting, in which students have full access and opportunity to participate. To engage in a confidential conversation about the process for requesting reasonable accommodations for this class and/or program, please contact Accessibility Resource Center at arcsrvs@unm.edu or 505-277-3506.

Credit-hour Statement

This is a three-credit-hour course. Class meets for two 75-minute sessions of direct instruction for sixteen weeks during the Spring 2026 semester. Please plan for a minimum of six hours of out-of-class work (or homework, study, assignment completion, and class preparation) each week.

This syllabus borrows extensively from those by: Vishal Sharma, Neha Kumar, and Amy Bruckman at Georgia Tech.

This syllabus was written with the help of Claude and Perplexity.