Inspiring Students From NJIT to Africa

Finding Keith Williams in a classroom isn’t unusual. He’s taught at NJIT for years, but this summer he taught somewhere quite different.

Williams traveled more than 7,400 miles to teach at ZCAS University in Zambia, invited by the Zambian government to teach a course on mobile technology and set up a degree program to help students develop software solutions.

At ZCAS, Williams taught a software development workshop called Progressive Web Apps, designed to teach students to create mobile apps. Participants in the workshop included university staff and students. The course itself was intense, six hours a day for eight days, over two weeks. 

Zambia’s decision to focus on technology is part of a larger plan to diversify the nation’s resources and job market. Currently, the nation’s economy is heavily dependent on the export of copper and emeralds. 
    
Williams said the idea to teach in Zambia was sparked by a conversation with one of his graduate students at NJIT, Benjamin Mpolokoso, who hails from Zambia and was intrigued by what he heard about Williams’ work outside the classroom with startup companies. 

That discussion led to a deeper conversation about how similar assistance was greatly needed in Zambia. It was Williams’ passion for education and interest in traveling to Africa that led Mpolokoso to take steps to bring Williams to ZCAS University.

“Keith’s natural ability to engage with students and his great sense of humor made him a natural fit,” said Mpolokoso. “His style of instruction is very easy to follow and he has the ability to explain content in a way that’s very easy to understand.”

Mpolokoso, who previously worked in the U.S. as an ICT Trainer at Marywood University in Scranton, PA, is pursuing an online M.S. in Business and Information Systems at NJIT. He currently works as an ICT manager at ZCAS University.

Williams viewed the opportunity to teach overseas as an adventure. “I’ve never done anything like this before in my life.” 

Beside the opportunity to travel to an area of the world he had never seen, Williams was attracted by the chance to help a country build its IT infrastructure from the ground up. It also rekindled his desire to give back and help the community. Prior to joining NJIT, Williams served in Americorps. 

From an educational perspective, it was a unique opportunity to help a country that is considered a third-world country or a developing country, make the jump to 21st century technology. 

“It’s fascinating because they are skipping steps in the way we did it,” Williams said. “A few years ago, they didn’t even have Wi-Fi.”

Now, they are developing software or mobile applications. 

Summer 2019 will be the first in a long-term relationship for Williams with ZCAS University. While in Zambia, Williams learned that his work was being recognized and he expects to  receive a Fulbright Scholarship to continue working with ZCAS over the next few years.

For the first year, Williams’ travel was funded through BongoHive, which is Zambia’s first technology and innovation hub. Established in 2011, and based in Lusaka, along with ZCAS University, the innovation hub seeks to address gaps they have encountered when working with the local technology industry.

Through partnerships, such as the one that brought Williams to Zambia, BongoHive hopes to assist startup companies by enhancing skills, strengthening networks and providing a forum for idea exchange.

Williams’ visit has already produced one practical result for the university. Through the workshop, Mpolokoso and others began work on a mobile application for students to use to register at the university.

“The class has been well received and we have students that have already started working on projects,” Mpolokoso said. “I have been supervising the registration app project and it is going well so far.”