Verso un framework per il disegno di ambienti socio-tecnici per l’apprendimento intergenerazionale nelle comunità

This article introduces a reflection and practical insights for the design of intergenerational learning environments for community settings or spaces of border learning: spaces standing mid-way between the formal structures of scholarly institutions and the informal and fluid spaces of interaction characteristic of local communities. The paper is written from a theoreticalstandpoint informed by experiential education and critical pedagogy, drawing in particular on the insights of John Dewey and Paulo Freire. It focuses on the potential of cyclic models of inquiry for informing the design of socio-technical environments in which intergenerational groups are involved in bi-directional learning practices. A framework for the design of intergenerationallearning environments is introduced, and its application is exemplified with data from a participatory content creation project involving two rural communities.Questo articolo introduce una riflessione e spunti pratici per la progettazione di ambienti di apprendimento intergenerazionale in contesti di comunità o comunque spazi di apprendimento oltre il confine: spazi a metà strada tra le strutture formali delle istituzioni accademiche e gli spazi informali e fluidi di interazione caratteristici delle comunità locali. Il lavoro si è basato, dal punto di vista teorico, dalle idee della formazione esperienziale e la pedagogia critica, attingendo in particolare da John Dewey e PauloFreire. La ricerca si concentra sul potenziale di modelli ciclici di ricerca basata su progetto come base alla progettazione di ambienti socio-tecnici in cui i gruppi intergenerazionali sono coinvolti in pratiche di apprendimento bidirezionali. Viene introdotto un quadro di riferimento per la progettazione di ambienti di apprendimento intergenerazionale esemplificando i concetti o con i dati di un progetto di creazione partecipata di contenuto culturale, che coinvolge due comunità rurali

Participatory, Visible and Sustainable. Designing a Community Website for a Minority Group

This paper tackles three aspects of community-based technological initiatives aimed to support minority groups’ public expression and communication: participation, visibility and sustainability. Participation requires\ud the active involvement of the community members in various project phases (from design to evaluation), sharing decisional power with project leaders. Visibility\ud refers to the capacity of community messages to reach a relevant audience outside the boundaries of the community itself. Sustainability indicates the capacity of a project to continue, under the control and management of the local community, beyond its “supported” lifetime. The mutual influence of these three dimensions is examined in general and also in the light of a specific case study: an initiative involving a Romani community in rural Romania, having as main outcome the development of a community website (www.romanivoices.com/podoleni)

Narratives and counter-narratives in the representation of The Other. The case of the Romani ethnic minority

Narratives and counter-narratives in the representation of The Other. The case of the Romani ethnic minorit

Symbolic Narratives and the Role of Meaning: Encountering Technology in South African Primary Education

This article draws on the results of a long-term, design-based research study with South African primary school teachers to discuss the role of subjectively assigned meanings and symbolisms of technology, as key factors affecting the adoption, appropriation and use of educational technology in urban poor and under-resourced environments. The paper examines how teachers’ engagements with technology are framed, conditioned, and embedded in multi-levelled “technology encounters”. These encounters give rise to meaningful representations of technology that ultimately transform both the teaching and learning process, and culminate in the emergence of “symbolic narratives”: complex assemblages of symbolisms, meanings and interpretations that arise through and therefore come to influence further technology engagements. We argue that a closer examination of teachers’ symbolic narratives can shed light on the motivations that underpin the appropriation, integration -- or conversely, rejection -- of educational technology in urban poor and under-resourced environments.CA2016www.wits.ac.za/linkcentre/aji

Symbolic narratives and the role of meaning: Encountering technology in South African primary education.

This article draws on the results of a long-term, design-based research study with South African primary school teachers to discuss the role of subjectively assigned meanings and symbolisms of technology, as key factors affecting the adoption, appropriation and use of educational technology in urban poor and under-resourced environments. The paper examines how teachers’ engagements with technology are framed, conditioned, and embedded in multi-levelled “technology encounters”. These encounters give rise to meaningful representations of technology that ultimately transform both the teaching and learning process, and culminate in the emergence of “symbolic narratives”: complex assemblages of symbolisms, meanings and interpretations that arise through and therefore come to influence further technology engagements. We argue that a closer examination of teachers’ symbolic narratives can shed light on the motivations that underpin the appropriation, integration -- or conversely, rejection -- of educational technology in urban poor and under-resourced environments

Towards a framework for the design of socio-technical environments for intergenerational learning in community settings

This article introduces a reflection and practical insights for the design of intergenerational learning environments for community settings or spaces of border learning: spaces standing mid-way between the formal structures of scholarly institutions and the informal and fluid spaces of interaction characteristic of local communities. The paper is written from a theoretical standpoint informed by experiential education and critical pedagogy, drawing in particular on the insights of John Dewey and Paulo Freire. It focuses on the potential of cyclic models of inquiry for informing the design of socio-technical environments in which intergenerational groups are involved in bi-directional learning practices. A framework for the design of intergenerational learning environments is introduced, and its application is exemplified with data from a participatory content creation project involving two rural communities

Collective Digital Storytelling in Community-based co-design projects. An Emergent Approach

Digital storytelling (DST) can play a critical role in co-design initiatives involving local communities, as a method for bridging exploratory phases and co-design processes. The paper draws on three case studies of collective DST in underserved locations. While DST enabled groups to present themselves and their communities, its evolution showed that activities crystallized into creative concepts and community-driven projects that generated new ideas, new collaboration pathways and new networking capabilities. The structured analysis of these case studies can be used by researchers looking to spur grassroots initiative and encourage local participation and engagement in community-based design.La narration numérique peut jouer un rôle essentiel dans les initiatives de co-design avec des communautés locales, en tant que méthode pour passer de la phase exploratoire de la recherche au processus de co-design. L’article se fonde sur trois études de cas de narration numériques collectives dans des communautés défavorisées. La narration numérique a donnée aux groups la possibilité de se présenter tandis que son processus génératif a cristallisé dans des concepts créatifs et des projets communautaires porteurs de nouvelles idées, voies de collaboration et capacités de réseautage. L'analyse structurée de ces études peut être utilisée par les chercheurs intéressés à stimuler l'initiative locale et à encourager la participation et l'engagement communautaires

Community design: a collaborative approach for social integration

This paper describes a successful case of collaboration among a south-north project team, a Community Multimedia Centre (CMC), and community beneficiaries, for the design and implementation of a small-scale project to improve CMC services for the local community of Quelimane, in Mozambique. The project is part of RE-ACT, a broader scale research and development project which aimed to investigate the social meanings and understandings attributed by different stakeholders to Mozambican CMCs, and use these insights to co-design and implement CMC services with inherent relevance for the local communities. The case reported is considered the most successful of nine action research and co-design projects implemented through RE-ACT. The services designed for the Quelimane CMC can be considered a success not because of perfect alignment with initial goals but rather due to responsiveness and flexibility in the implementation approach: activities and goals were constantly revised by teams to cope with emerging challenges, while at the same time keeping a clear orientation towards set targets. The paper discusses five underlying factors thought to heighten the chances of success of action research and co-design projects involving local communities, ranging from local proactivity and initiative, to commitment to project success, and high perceived self-efficacy of local stakeholders

Collective digital storytelling in community- based co-design projects: An emergent approach

This paper contributes a critical examination of the role that digital storytelling (DST) can play in co-design initiatives involving local underserved communities. We argue that DST brings value as a method for bridging initial, exploratory phases and co-design processes. The paper draws on three case studies of collective DST in two townships of Cape Town, South Africa. The research adopted a participatory ethnographic approach to involve groups socially active in their respective communities. DST was employed initially as a means to enable groups to present themselves and their communities and to deepen the ongoing process of data generation. During the creative processes, the activities evolved and crystallized into something more than a short video production: self-contained and community-driven projects, generation of new ideas and the development of new collaboration pathways and new digital networking capabilities. Through the analysis of these case studies the article advances considerations that can be used by researchers and practitioners looking to spur grassroots initiatives and encourage local participation and engagement in community-based co-design. In particular, we offer a series of design principles, proposed as sensitising concepts that can inspire and guide researchers and designers, or local communities, to engage in DST activities within community co-design projects

Local ownership, exercise of ownership and moving from passive to active entitlement: a practice-led inquiry on a rural community network

In this paper, we aim to shed light on local ownership from a double practical and theoretical perspective, and examine its meaning as well as the factors that are bound to influence its development in community based interventions. The questions we intend to answer are: How can 'local ownership' be defined in a way that facilitates its investigation in CI practice, and enables at the same time its theoretical examination and relation with other CI key conceptual constructs? What key factors contribute to fostering local ownership in CI initiatives, taking the case of an externally initiated rural community network? To answer these questions, the paper reports on a study which assessed the development of local ownership in a rural community network in South Africa and singled out the factors found to delineate the development of a sense of ownership in local people, as well as driving the exercise of ownership towards autonomous local action. Based on a detailed analysis of the development of community ownership in this project, and in constant dialogue with the community informatics and social science literature, the paper makes three key contributions to CI theory and practice, as well as more specifically to future practice in community networks: An operational definition of local ownership and a conceptual model which highlights relations to other constructs such as responsibility, power and control and emphasises the role of local ownership in moving from passive to active entitlement towards community assets or CI interventions An empirical analysis of the development of local ownership in a community network in rural South Africa, highlighting the critical factors that led to fostering ownership An examination and critical discussion of factors that are positively related with the development of ownership, carried out in dialogue with CI scholarship and highlighting the bearing of and relations with other critical constructs in CI research, such as participation, empowerment, and capacity building These contributions come at a critical stage in community informatics development as a discipline, in which, we argue, a more solid and critical engagement with theory is required to firmly establish its place and the premises for dialogue with other sociotechnical disciplines.Web of Scienc