MobiComm: Peer learning about community through shared ethnographic experience via mobile devices
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Linda Levitt
Sep 23, 2012, 11:37:56 AM9/23/12
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I didn't realize that projects posted in the previous forums did not come over to Google Groups. I'd like to repost this here, because there was an engaging discussion among people with similar project interests in mind.
MobiComm: Peer learning about community through shared ethnographic experience and documentation via mobile devices.
This project is based in higher education but applicable to peer learning in any context.
The project is intended to create an mLearning opportunity for students to use the available technologies to learn more about themselves, their culture, and the culture of those they interact with in the course.
College and high school instructors interested in implementing a mobile learning project would be the primary target audience for adoption. The project would also be useful in any context where peer to peer cultural exchange is a desired outcome (Sister Cities, service groups).
Any mobile device capable of communicating via text, voice, or video in the field will be effective technology. Participants are likely to want to record video and/or audio as part of their ethnographies. The course will be delivered primarily asynchronously and peer students will arrange communication times convenient to them, so if electricity or connectivity are not stable, there will be workarounds.
MobiComm will be designed primarily for implementation as part of a university classroom or online curriculum. Sustainability will require a host university for implementation, maintenance, and promotion of the online material, along with server space. I am hopeful that I can arrange for this at my home institution.
Stakeholders include university administration at the hosting institution, as well as information technology staff. Because the project involves a cooperative endeavor between various universities or organizations, faculty interested in the collaborative project are primary stakeholders: without their buy-in, the project cannot succeed.
I am hoping to develop the project in time to promote it during Summer 2013 for implementation in Fall 2013.
I see MobiComm as having some structure in place with regard to readings and core concepts, where instructors could select what portions of the fixed content they would use in course delivery. The focus of the course is to have students pair up and work together to create what we might call ethnographic portraits of each other. Participants would carry their mobile devices through their daily lives, reflecting on how to provide information for this portrait. Home, work, play, third places, as well as data about my community: taking my device, and my ethnographic partner, to a rally before a football game, or a festival in my town, or my yoga class to help create this portrait. The ethnographic profiles would then be presented in the classroom to complete an assignment and also collected on a website.
I need to begin by drawing up a proposal that I can share with faculty at various institutions globally that may have an interest in such a project. I will share the proposal with them and seek feedback to refine the project. I would then select two classes/instructors/institutions for a pilot launch.
This feels enormous and intimidating but exciting. I lack a lot of technical skills (html, coding, web design) but am hopeful to find collaborators who can both contribute their expertise and teach me a bit along the way.
This project is based in higher education but applicable to peer learning in any context.
The project is intended to create an mLearning opportunity for students to use the available technologies to learn more about themselves, their culture, and the culture of those they interact with in the course.
College and high school instructors interested in implementing a mobile learning project would be the primary target audience for adoption. The project would also be useful in any context where peer to peer cultural exchange is a desired outcome (Sister Cities, service groups).
Any mobile device capable of communicating via text, voice, or video in the field will be effective technology. Participants are likely to want to record video and/or audio as part of their ethnographies. The course will be delivered primarily asynchronously and peer students will arrange communication times convenient to them, so if electricity or connectivity are not stable, there will be workarounds.
MobiComm will be designed primarily for implementation as part of a university classroom or online curriculum. Sustainability will require a host university for implementation, maintenance, and promotion of the online material, along with server space. I am hopeful that I can arrange for this at my home institution.
Stakeholders include university administration at the hosting institution, as well as information technology staff. Because the project involves a cooperative endeavor between various universities or organizations, faculty interested in the collaborative project are primary stakeholders: without their buy-in, the project cannot succeed.
I am hoping to develop the project in time to promote it during Summer 2013 for implementation in Fall 2013.
I see MobiComm as having some structure in place with regard to readings and core concepts, where instructors could select what portions of the fixed content they would use in course delivery. The focus of the course is to have students pair up and work together to create what we might call ethnographic portraits of each other. Participants would carry their mobile devices through their daily lives, reflecting on how to provide information for this portrait. Home, work, play, third places, as well as data about my community: taking my device, and my ethnographic partner, to a rally before a football game, or a festival in my town, or my yoga class to help create this portrait. The ethnographic profiles would then be presented in the classroom to complete an assignment and also collected on a website.
I need to begin by drawing up a proposal that I can share with faculty at various institutions globally that may have an interest in such a project. I will share the proposal with them and seek feedback to refine the project. I would then select two classes/instructors/institutions for a pilot launch.
This feels enormous and intimidating but exciting. I lack a lot of technical skills (html, coding, web design) but am hopeful to find collaborators who can both contribute their expertise and teach me a bit along the way.
ET Russell replied:
Hi Linda.
I am currently developing a project in my spare time along similar lines. I work for the a Health Department in Australia currently with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Unit. The health of Indigenous people in Australia is horrific and all the states in the country have committed to a National Partnership to Close the Gap in Indigenous health outcomes by 2033 an enormous challenge.
The project I am creating is targeted at kids (unsure about the specific target age group but looking at 5 to 15 years old). My personal challenge is that I have so many ideas in my head that the project keeps growing. But seriously I will probably do it in phases and target the different age groups. I have done a huge mind map with the various mlearning and social medial tools including iBooks in traditional language, also storytelling in Traditional language and using Avatars with images of remote communities. I have done some mock ups so happy to do some screengrabs and show you.
The key aim is to develop a safe place where kids can eMeet (ha ha) just made a new term... a social medial/mLearning place that is fun, yet provides information, education, mentoring and inspiration to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids. A place where they are exposed to their language, their culture, messages on social health determinants.
I want this project to be driven by the kids and the community, to deliver information and education in the way they want it. The message deliverers from my end will be Indigenous Champions and mentors. These champions will play the key role to motivate to inspire and to pass on their culture with the aim to give these children hope, self-believe, self worth.
In time I want the kids to be content providers and part of my plan is to have a space where we can develop the kids capability so they become the content developers and mobile journalists in their own communities. Therefore bridging a gap between the Elders and the youth. (this is becoming a bigger issue, since many kids in remote communities are sent to boarding schools for high school, at the critical time when the Elders would be teaching them lore, culture, men and women's business)
It's been a bit busy at work and I do this after hours but I am hoping to have the project draft uploaded by the end of this coming week. Happy to share what I know and more than happy to get feedback.
P.S. I come from a career in TV as producer-director, cinematographer and editor and the past 14 years been working with whole of government agencies, but primarily health. Primary role in health has been managing the satellite broadcast network to deliver information, education and training to staff statewide via 200 sites as well as national and international programs.
My passion is to find solutions that enables us to engage, connect and provide equity of access to info, education and training by supporting, enabling and empowering the end user.
Chao (yep, Spanish born, leaving in Australia and working in Indigenous Health...I think I can cover a few cultures, ha ha)
ET
I am currently developing a project in my spare time along similar lines. I work for the a Health Department in Australia currently with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Unit. The health of Indigenous people in Australia is horrific and all the states in the country have committed to a National Partnership to Close the Gap in Indigenous health outcomes by 2033 an enormous challenge.
The project I am creating is targeted at kids (unsure about the specific target age group but looking at 5 to 15 years old). My personal challenge is that I have so many ideas in my head that the project keeps growing. But seriously I will probably do it in phases and target the different age groups. I have done a huge mind map with the various mlearning and social medial tools including iBooks in traditional language, also storytelling in Traditional language and using Avatars with images of remote communities. I have done some mock ups so happy to do some screengrabs and show you.
The key aim is to develop a safe place where kids can eMeet (ha ha) just made a new term... a social medial/mLearning place that is fun, yet provides information, education, mentoring and inspiration to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids. A place where they are exposed to their language, their culture, messages on social health determinants.
I want this project to be driven by the kids and the community, to deliver information and education in the way they want it. The message deliverers from my end will be Indigenous Champions and mentors. These champions will play the key role to motivate to inspire and to pass on their culture with the aim to give these children hope, self-believe, self worth.
In time I want the kids to be content providers and part of my plan is to have a space where we can develop the kids capability so they become the content developers and mobile journalists in their own communities. Therefore bridging a gap between the Elders and the youth. (this is becoming a bigger issue, since many kids in remote communities are sent to boarding schools for high school, at the critical time when the Elders would be teaching them lore, culture, men and women's business)
It's been a bit busy at work and I do this after hours but I am hoping to have the project draft uploaded by the end of this coming week. Happy to share what I know and more than happy to get feedback.
P.S. I come from a career in TV as producer-director, cinematographer and editor and the past 14 years been working with whole of government agencies, but primarily health. Primary role in health has been managing the satellite broadcast network to deliver information, education and training to staff statewide via 200 sites as well as national and international programs.
My passion is to find solutions that enables us to engage, connect and provide equity of access to info, education and training by supporting, enabling and empowering the end user.
Chao (yep, Spanish born, leaving in Australia and working in Indigenous Health...I think I can cover a few cultures, ha ha)
ET
Would love to continue conversation...especially because the project I'm considering requires collaboration with others for cultural exchange.
Sylvia Moessinger
Sep 23, 2012, 1:38:03 PM9/23/12
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Hallo Linda,
I read about your idea in the general forum and liked it a lot. It is a great idea and it can be readily applied in the classroom which is even better. I experience that students self-evaluation is different from external perception. This project would raise awareness and I think a final presentation would reveal similarities in students life as well as differences. As a teacher I would find it as well very interesting to get a deeper insight into my students life. It would be as well intersting if the students could comment what they move, what their motivations are, their hopes, their fears and their plans for the future, but I am sure you had that in mind.
Great project idea, I love it a lot and will apply it my teaching as soon as possible :-)
Sylvia
I read about your idea in the general forum and liked it a lot. It is a great idea and it can be readily applied in the classroom which is even better. I experience that students self-evaluation is different from external perception. This project would raise awareness and I think a final presentation would reveal similarities in students life as well as differences. As a teacher I would find it as well very interesting to get a deeper insight into my students life. It would be as well intersting if the students could comment what they move, what their motivations are, their hopes, their fears and their plans for the future, but I am sure you had that in mind.
Great project idea, I love it a lot and will apply it my teaching as soon as possible :-)
Sylvia
Linda Levitt
Sep 23, 2012, 1:57:16 PM9/23/12
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Hi Sylvia! I would love to collaborate with you and others to find ways to put together so it is appropriate for students in different cultures. Are your students high school, university, vocational or other? My initial intent is to create something for college-level students but there could be a framework useful for implementation in different environments.
Best,
Linda
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Lutz Siemer
Sep 28, 2012, 8:10:32 AM9/28/12
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Hi Linda,
I'm fascinatied by your idea of ethnographic portraits. I'm lecturer at the department of social work at Saxion University of Applied Sciences. Currently i'm experiencing that your idea accompanies me in my everyday work. Last week I asked my studentes to describe the stages of groups dynamic (that was the topic of the module) by using fotos they found in their tablet/smartphone. I also think I should talk to our teacher for "cultural diversity" about your idea. It could enrich their methods. Your idea also reminds og our module about "music-agogic methods" where students have to presents their favorite music as a c.v./résumé, often vombined with fotos and storys. ... so their is lot of connection. To give your idea more substance and go into the direction of a module for higher education I think about defining the competences (Knowledge, skills, atitude) that can be achieved by using ethnographic portaits in a cerstain area. ... its really inspiring.
Thank you!
Best, Lutz
Linda Levitt
Sep 30, 2012, 9:09:00 AM9/30/12
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Lutz,
I am so grateful for your comments here. The idea for ethnographic portraits was inspired by MobiMOOC, and despite my inability to be active in the discussions, just reading along and seeing projects take shape has been extraordinary. As the MOOC comes to a close, I want to share my gratitude and my hope to develop working relationships with those who have common project interests.
Best,
Linda
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