Making the Link – providing mobile media for novice communities in the developing world

In this paper we investigate the media needs of low-income mobile users in a South African township. We develop and deploy a system that allows users to download media at no costs to themselves, in order to probe future media requirements for similar user groups. We discover that, not only are the community interested in developmental information, but are just as interested in sharing local music or videos. Furthermore, the community consume the media in ways that we did not expect which had direct impacts on their lives. Finally, we conclude with some reflections on the value of media and the most appropriate ways to deliver it in developing world communities

Making Technology Invisible in the Developing World

Those of us who live in the developed world dwell in an ecology where information is literally everywhere. Besides physical forms such as newspapers, books and magazines, the air around us is crammed with signals carrying information that we can access and use almost without thought on our smartphones and other devices. Information, and the technologies that allow us to access it, are so convenient that we scarcely think about them. They are mostly invisible to our conscious mind. However, for those living in the developing world, information is less than ubiquitous. Although many of people in the developing world have a cellular handset, issues around cost of access and user literacy barriers mean that accessing information is a deliberate, complicated and expensive undertaking. People living here cannot effortlessly pluck invisible information from the air but must go to great lengths to find the information they need. In the rest of this article we shall explore three separate projects that seek to make access to information ubiquitous for these users. We will highlight systems that fit naturally into their ecologies effectively making the technology invisible and allowing users natural, convenient access to information sources

PaperChains: Dynamic Sketch+Voice Annotations

In this paper we present a novel interface for collaborative creation of evolving audio-visual documents. PaperChains allows users to sketch on paper and then augment with digital audio, allowing both the physical and digital objects to evolve simultaneously over time. The technique we have developed focuses on affordability and accessibility in its design, using standard cameraphones and telephone connections, which allow it to be used in regions where literacy, technological ex-perience and data connections cannot necessarily be taken for granted. The main use-case that we focus on in this paper is for collaborative storytelling, an area which has been well studied and previously proven to be of value in resource constrained environments. To investigate the relevance of the approach in these contexts, we undertook two usability evaluations in India and South Africa. Results from these investigations indicate users ’ ability to both create and interpret stories using the software, as well as demonstrating high overall usability and enjoyment. We end with a discussion of the implications of our design and opportunities for use in other contexts. Author Keywords Sketching; audio; photographs; cameraphones

Más tecnología, más cambio? Investigating an educational technology project in rural Peru

Providing access to and training in ICTs is seen as key to bridging the digital divide between technology-rich communities and those with poor IT infrastructures. Several projects have focused on providing ICTs for education in developing countries, of which the best known is One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). Although, there has been significant criticism of some of these projects, in particular OLPC, due to its use of a top-down implementation strategy and the limited evidence for its educational benefits, there has been comparatively little analysis of what underlies successful approaches. We aimed to address this deficit by conducting an ethnographic study of community-based projects organised by Blue Sparrow, a small charity that donates refurbished desktop computers to schools in rural Peru, as this organisation has experienced both successes and failures when implementing its educational technology projects. The relative success of Blue Sparrow highlights the benefits of: Understanding local contexts; using a bottom up approach; involving stakeholders in setting programme objectives; and empowering communities. We argue that the educational impact of such projects can be improved by: Providing teacher training; integrating computers into the wider curriculum; and providing teaching materials and clear objectives for volunteers