There are, of course, numerous innovative initiatives emerging worldwide that make use of mobile technologies. To date, mobile devices have already been used to encourage learning, monitor elections, organize protests, play games, share images, and share vital health information. But sometimes the issue is figuring out how to identify what’s right for a specific community. The sheer magnitude of information, not to mention the constant stream of new technologies (that often require new literacies) make it difficult to find out what new ideas are out there–or how to connect with the groups behind these ideas.
A new initiative called ShareIdeas.org is trying to accomplish just that by offering up what it calls “Mobile Knowledge for Social Change.” The site is organized as a wiki that encourages individuals and organizations to share ideas and collaborate online about innovative mobile technology applications, and offers how-to guides for implementing projects like these in other communities. The site’s first attempt at generating ideas across organizations–an information web seminar with Ken Banks of Kiwanja who spoke, in part, about the barriers in a community to using mobile technology.
Real community response on the site is, as of yet, unclear. The site feels a bit “top down” in some ways; the central categories are locked to prevent edits by a community and the site lacks a community section intended to address questions about the website itself, perhaps because Nokia and Vodafone provided financial and technical support for the site. That said, if ShareIdeas.org becomes as community-driven as the founders hope, it could be a terrific venue to exchange ideas.
ShareIdeas.org’s most powerful features are the case studies and how-to guides. The guides offer valuable practical information that help organizations incorporate mobile technology; users can learn how to collect field data and distribute information, among other tasks. Some guides are basic, like “How to send SMS messages step-by-step guide” and others offer more complicated instruction such as “How to establish a remote monitoring network,” but they provide through instruction in media literacy. These sections are still in need of additional content development but they are already quite informative and worth checking out.
The case studies on ShareIdeas.org, organized by topics such as civic engagement, education, and economic empowerment, are another great learning tool on the site. Most of the highlighted projects focus on issues in developing countries, which might appear unrelated to US-based programs. Even so, these case studies should prove useful for anyone thinking about civic engagement and social behaviors surrounding new technologies since most highlight how the program was developed as well as the technologies used. The explanations of the technologies are clear and simple, perfect for those unfamiliar with integrating technologies to a community.
One interesting project highlighted on ShareIdeas.org is the MobilED audio wiki. Intended to improve learning in resource-poor environments through the use of mobile technologies, this project will connect phones to a server designed to access Wikipedia content.
The designers piloted the project in early 2006 for a classroom of 15-16 year old South African students who were asked to examine the issues surrounding HIV/AIDS. The group researched Wikipedia on their mobile phones, gathered information about the disease, and created audiocast programs. These programs were then uploaded onto the Wiki site where it could be shared with their community by using their mobile phones as playback devices. Although I have reservations about using Wikipedia content exclusively, this project is inventive and presents a possible model for learning in places that lack access to books or the Internet.
Other case studies illustrate another real strength of collaborative spirit of ShareIdeas.org–the ability to learn from failure. Many projects, even innovative projects, don’t always succeed the first time, often because they fail to sufficiently account for the community’s needs or conditions. Warana Unwired is the second incarnation of a project that was initially conceived in 1998 by researchers from the Technology for Emerging Markets group at Microsoft Research India. The initiative sought to help farmers in rural India find and share information central to their livelihood, from tracking fertilizer use and sugarcane output. The project initially set up about 50 computer-equipped kiosks to connect 40,000 farmers. Initial response was encouraging, but in the end, the program’s success was limited by the technology itself. Maintaining computer equipment in rural areas that often lack power or access to outside help proved costly and ultimately unfeasible. Microsoft Research India is now replacing computers with SMS-enabled phones in the hope that this cheap, portable technology will prove to be more practical.
Of course, a civic technology’s very success–that it is well-suited to the particular needs of a community–may make it inappropriate for another communities. ShareIdeas.org’s strength will depend on its ability to generate enough community interest to begin real collaboration across organizations.