Information and Communication Technologies in Community Development
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this practicum on building information systems for community development, developed around a real partnership with Lawrence Community Works, Inc. in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Students study the digital divide, e-government, public participation GIS, and neighborhood information systems, then design and evaluate an information infrastructure meant to support democratic participation in local planning. The course pairs this technical work with a reflection component examining race, class, and gender dynamics in community engagement. Final projects are presented at a public forum, where community members and stakeholders respond directly to student proposals, feeding results back into the city's actual development process. Materials include syllabus, readings, and assignment descriptions as published by MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning. The course is free to audit through MIT OpenCourseWare, with no certificate offered.