Entertaining situated messaging at home

Leisure and entertainment-based computing has been traditionally associated with interactive entertainment media and game playing, yet the forms of engagement offered by these technologies only support a small part of how we act when we are at leisure. In this paper, we move away from the paradigm of leisure technology as computer-based entertainment consumption, and towards a broader view of leisure computing. This perspective is more in line with our everyday experience of leisure as an embodied, everyday accomplishment in which people artfully employ the everyday resources in the world around them in carrying out their daily lives outside of work. We develop this extended notion of leisure using data from a field study of domestic communication focusing on asynchronous and situated messaging to explore some of these issues, and develop these findings towards design implications for leisure technologies. Central to our discussion on the normal, everyday and occasioned conduct of leisure lie the notions of playfulness and creativity, the interweaving of the worlds of work and leisure, and in the creation of embodied displays of affect, all of which may be seen manifested in the use of messaging artefacts. This view of technology in support of leisure-in-the-broad is strongly divergent from traditional entertainment computing models in its coupling of the mechanics of the organisation of everyday life to the ways that we make entertainment for ourselves. This recognition allows us to draw specific implications for domestic situated messaging technologies, but also more generally for technology design by tying activities that we tend to regard as purely functional to other multifaceted and leisure-related purposes

Molto+Media: Digital Culture Funding

This report profiles nine organizations identified by grantmakers and independent research as adventurous in their use of digital media. They represent a mix of arts disciplines, geographies, organizational sizes and media purposes. Some are using digital tools to extend organizational capacities in new ways while others are creating, documenting and disseminating the art itself.Conversations with these nine organizations revealed common themes:Organizations describe the work as building capabilities, not "doingprojects." Digital tools and platforms are now essential building blocksin an organization's work and need to be created accordingly.Leading digital culture entrepreneurs want grantmakers to makebigger bets on organizations with strong track records. Building newcapabilities is expensive, particularly at the scale of large culturalinstitutions.There is a sense that, globally, U.S. organizations lag. The E.U. hassupported open culture, digital initiatives aggressively, making Europe,in particular, a hotbed of digital cultureOrganizations are looking for much greater risk-taking from thefunding community. "Grantmakers still expect only home runs," saidmore than one organization, and they point out that in for-profitindustry many tech projects failDigital culture projects are helping organizations reach massaudiences as well as niches. Both are important.Several of the organizations in our profiles had received no dedicatedfunding for their work. "Our funders are not ready to do this, so wehave to do it ourselves," said interviewees.The most important theme of this report, though, is the incredible creativity and energy of these digital culture entrepreneurs. Cultural organizations and artists are using digital media to invent new ways to create and distribute art and to reach and engage audiences

Services as Materials: Using Mashups for Research

Using existing services as development and research materials can greatly reduce development burdens. However, using mashups and existing services has consequences that go beyond the technical realm. We present our ongoing experience with developing and promoting a mobile mash-up implemented in the mobile web browser: Spotisquare. Spotisquare is a mash-up of the location-based service foursquare and music streaming service Spotify. We discuss advantages and tradeoffs of using existing services and the mobile mash-up process, including interaction model choices, as well as validity and representational issues

The emergence of a public good through online social capital activation

This paper examines how consumers activate online social capital, characterizes the resources which they elicit, and considers of the resulting good’s properties. Content analysis of the initial posts of 975 publicly available threads of an online community reveals six forms of activation, based on whether the activator seeks convergent or divergent responses; and seeks factual information or subjective viewpoints, or mobilizes action. The findings suggest that the network is used in three ways: to (1) source a ‘rare’ resource possessed by at least one member, (2) generate a form of consensus among several members, or (3) combine the divergent resources possessed by different members into a ‘knowledge or action bank’. Hence, the network may be used in a search for ‘unity’ or ‘additively’. An emergent, public good develops in the process. Of particular value for a public good is the unfolding richness that comes from the diversity of resources

Key Competences in Europe: Opening Doors For Lifelong Learners Across the School Curriculum and Teacher Education

The aim of the study is to provide a comparative overview of policy and practice concerning the development and implementation of key competences in the education systems of the 27 Member States of the European Union. In particular, the study assesses the implementation of the 8 key competences contained in the European Reference Framework of Key Competences in primary and secondary schools across the EU as well as the extent to which initial and in-service education and training of teachers equips them with the skills and competences necessary to deliver key competences effectively.key competences, lifelong learning, cross-curricular, competence

Evaluation of the Community Leadership Project 2.0: Midpoint Report

The Community Leadership Project (CLP) is a collaborative effort between the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to build the capacity of small, community-based organizations (community grantees) serving lowincome people and communities of color in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Central Coast, and the San Joaquin Valley regions of California. Now in its second phase, CLP 2.0 is specifically investing in increasing the sustainability of nearly 60 community-based organizations by focusing on common outcomes in three areas: resilient leadership, adaptive capacity, and financial stability. CLP 2.0 is characterized by integrated and intensive support for community grantees in the form of multi-year general operating support, selfdirected capacity building, coaching and mentoring, and a structured menu of leadership development and technical assistance options. These supports and opportunities are provided through partnerships with five regranting intermediaries and five technical assistance (TA)/leadership intermediaries

“It gave me something big in my life to wonder and think about which took over the space … and not MS”: Managing well-being in multiple sclerosis through art-making

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2014 Informa UK Ltd.Background and aim: Individuals living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) often face progressive loss of function, uncertainty and disruption to self-image and valued roles. Previous studies show that creative self-expression is valued by some people living with long-term illness, yet its meaning for people living with MS is unclear. This research study explored the meanings of leisure-based visual art-making for people living with MS. Method: This qualitative study followed guidelines for Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Single semi-structured interviews were conducted with five adults (2 males; 3 females; 40–65 years), recruited from MS Ireland. Findings: Participants valued art-making for contributing to a more satisfying way of life; for filling occupational voids and using time well. Deep immersion offered respite from worry about illness. Creative classes offered social camaraderie and opportunities for learning and development. Art-making processes and products were highly affirmative, increasing emotional well-being and promoting self-worth. Most felt that they expressed valued aspects of self through their art. Art-making appeared to assist with identity maintenance, accommodating functional losses associated with MS whilst opening “new doors”. Conclusion: Art-making offered a multi-faceted means of supporting identity and increasing fulfilment in lives that were restricted in many ways by MS

Footnotes, December 2013, Vol. 38, no.10-12

Monthly newsletter of State Librar

Opening Anthropology: An Interview with Keith Hart at Savage Minds

This interview is part of an ongoing series about open access (OA), publishing,communication, and anthropology. The first interview in this series was with Jason Baird Jackson. The second interview was with Tom Boellstorff. The third installment of this OA series is with Keith Hart (See Part 1, Part 2,and Part 3on Savage Minds). Full text also posted onThe Memory Bank