ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to stimulate discussion on the capacity development dimension of microcomputers in development. Metaphors have been important in helping people understand how to use microcomputers. The spreadsheet metaphor has been a powerful vehicle for understanding an important class of uses for the microcomputer. The microcomputers allowed the Tunisian planners to take greater control in attempting to understand their agricultural situation. The microcomputers legitimized a role in fi-nancial decision-making for those who could use it, therefore making it easier for certain reform-minded individuals to participate actively. The chapter utilizes the framework provided by some fundamental learning principles to construct meaning about a project involving microcomputers to make sense of observed outcomes. A central objective of many technical assistance projects in the developing countries is increasing human capacity, defined in Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary as “the power to grasp and analyze ideas and cope with problems.”
