Enabling access to participation
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This document discusses the concept of participatory culture in developing countries. It argues that while access to information is important, the goal should be providing access to participation. Participation looks different in developing countries, where it is largely mobile-based due to differences in technology infrastructure. Participation can take many forms, from rich media creation to simple contributions through tools like Ushahidi. Even small acts of involvement, connectedness, and conversation, such as question-and-answer sessions over mobile messaging, can foster a sense of participation.
Editor's Notes
- #5: From 2003-2006 I was the Usability Project Leader on the Cape Gateway portal, which provided access to government information and services for the citizens of the Western Cape, South Africa.Very successful project; won awards; 3 languages, 3 channels of access; grew from 40,000 to 60,000 pages.Two problems we encountered: 1) some information, especially around services and contact details, would quickly become outdated, and 2) while we pointed people to the correct place to, e.g. renew their car license, the actual service they received might not have been good enough.What to do? Park that thought.
- #6: In 2006/07 I spent a year at Stanford University, in the heart of Silicon Valley. Stanford alumni have founded Google, Yahoo and Cisco.For a South African who had been on dial-up at home it was mind-blowing.It was here that I really began to understand what web 2.0 was all about.Image of Stanford's Hoover Tower by Brian's Tree http://www.flickr.com/photos/briantree/421094976/sizes/l/ CC-BY-NC-ND-2.0
- #7: O'Reilly, T. (2005). Web 2.0: Compact Definition? http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2005/10/web-20-compact-definition.htmlImage of Tim O'Reilly by gkpsecretariat:http://flickr.com/photos/globalknowledgepartnership/463483918/sizes/o/ CC-BY-NC-2.0
- #8: Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A. J., & Weigel, M. (2006). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Retrieved October 31, 2007, from http://www.digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF“A participatory culture is a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations ...”A participatory culture is also one in which members believe their contributions matter, and feel some degree of social connection with one another (at the least they care what other people think about what they have created).” Focus on online social networks, blogs, podcasts, video production, fan fiction, remixing, MMORPGs, etc. Largely about “widespread participation in the production and distribution of media.”Pew study from 2005: one-half of all teens have created media content, and roughly one third of teens who use the Internet have shared content they produced. That figure is now much higher. The United States is a PC-based web society, so the experience is in rich multimediaImage of Henry Jenkins by Joi Ito:http://www.flickr.com/photos/joi/2258124778/sizes/l/. CC-By-2.0
- #9: As I headed back to South Africa, I asked: “is this applicable to us, a developing country?” Our technology landscape is vastly different. Our cultural context is different. Are we 5 or 10 years behind the USA in technology as well as our approach to it? I was caught up in the allure of Facebook and YouTube and all things new, shiny and needing broadband, and struggled to see a participatory culture in the developing world.I have spent just over a year looking at projects in SA and other developing countries, having conversations with practitioners ... and the answer I have arrived at is an overwhelming ...Image of Gugulethu by teachandlearn http://www.flickr.com/photos/teachandlearn/2845916518/sizes/l/ CC-BY-NC-SA-2.0
- #10: Yes! The desire to participate and the benefits of participation are the same.But it looks different ...Image of yes by (michelle) http://www.flickr.com/photos/eyefruit/179553810/sizes/l/ CC-BY-NC-SA-2.0
- #12: It's mobile Online: 1bn (source:http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10149534-93.html). Mobile: 4bn (source: http://www.thetelecom.co.uk/20081001/un-4bn-mobile-users-by-2009/) In South Africa: 72% of 15-24 year olds own a cell phone. Only 17% ever used the Internet. 6% use it (almost) daily. 9% have Internet access at home. Source: Young South AfricAnS, BroAdcASt MediA, And hiV/AidS AwAreneSS: Results of a NatioNal suRvey by the Kaiser Family Foundation & SABC (MaRch 2007)Mobile phones and teens in South Africa: the authors call it a “social revolution.” Oelofse, C., De Jager, A., & Ford, M. The Digital Profile of a Teenage Cell Phone User. Short paper at the mLearn 2006 conference. October 2006. Banff, Alberta, Canada.Image of mobile phone by ICT4D.at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ict4d/3000017623/sizes/l/ CC-BY-SA-2.0
- #14: ContributionsNot only about media creation, e.g. Wikipedia ...
- #15: It can also be about contributions. Not necessarily Wikipedia. It can be a much simpler, faster form of contribution, e.g. Ushahidi, as used by AlJazeera Labs as they document the war on Gaza through citizen journalism. http://labs.aljazeera.net/warongaza/Ushahidi (http://www.ushahidi.com), “which means “testimony” in Swahili, where we are building a platform that crowdsources crisis information. Allowing anyone to submit crisis information through text messaging using a mobile phone, email or web form.”
- #16: Txteagle (http://txteagle.com): “There are over 1.5 billion literate, mobile phone subscribers in the developing world, many living on less than $3 a day. Corporations pay people to accomplish millions of simple text-based tasks. txteagle enables these tasks to be completed via text message by ordinary people around the globe.”See also: Crowd-Sourcing the World: A startup hopes to tap into the expertise of developing nations via cell phones. By Kate Greenehttp://www.technologyreview.com/business/21983/?a=f
- #18: InvolvementUS-style participation often involves blogs, videos, letters, etc.In developing countries, participatory campaigns involve forwarding an SMS to self-organise for mass action (often in person).See examples by Howard Rheingold: http://www.thefeaturearchives.com/topic/Culture/Political_Texting__SMS_and_Elections.html SETI is actually a developed country example of enabling minimal effort participation It elicits a sense of involvement, of being part of a project, a quest. Image of Howard Rheingold by Joi Ito:http://flickr.com/photos/joi/2121483378/sizes/l/in/photostream/ CC-By-2.0
- #20: ConnectednessIn the US, connectedness is through Facebook. The thinking is big. But of course, connectedness can also be about small.In rural Mexico it is through project Zumbido. Groups of only ten people providing HIV/AIDS support for each other through SMS and voice. See http://event.stockholmchallenge.se/project/2008/Health/Project-Zumbido
- #22: ConversationsYouTube videos that are “in response to” other videos are a “conversation.”Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx5KDyvlG3Q
- #23: Dr Math is a maths tutoring service to school learners that uses MXit, a South African mobile instant messaging service. 2-8pm, Sunday-Thursday, with some 20 tutors.1 tutor can handle about 100 kids an hour.3,200 learners have used service (from grade 3 up)Tutoring mostly done in English, but some Afrikaans cases are occurringLearners contact Dr Math from their homes, while on buses, taxis and on the sports field. Even from the bath!LATEST: Text-adventure game (interactive fiction)See: http://innovatingeducation.wordpress.com/conference-notes/schools-ict-conference-2008-notes/ Text for the image: Butgereit, L. (2007). Math on MXit: Using MXit as a Medium for Mathematics Education. Presented at Meraka INNOVATE Conference for Educators, CSIR, Pretoria, 18-20 April 2007. http://researchspace.csir.co.za/dspace/handle/10204/1614
- #24: A “participatory” approach is not new to development, e.g. participatory community development, participatory design of projects. It is an inclusive, bottom-up approach.More empowered conception of citizenship (Jenkins et al., 2006)
- #25: But in a web 2.0 world, it is different ...
- #27: Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky, 2008Image of Clay Shirky by Joi Ito:http://www.flickr.com/photos/joi/1397946225/sizes/l/ CC-By-2.0
- #28: Let's get back to Cape Gateway.I should've asked: access to information for who? For the citizens, or for government? Both of course. I should've enabled citizen participation. They could let us know about incorrect information and to comment or rate this service.I should've realised that we were no longer the gatekeepers to information.
- #29: My conclusion:Participation is goodIt is very much a developing country thingIt just looks differentWe need to ask ourselves: are we enabling access to participation?