Sara Vannini

Using Photo-Elicitation to Explore Social Representations of Community Multimedia Centers in Mozambique

Ten Mozambican Community Multimedia Centers (CMCs) were investigated by analyzing Social Representations of users and staff members. Photo‐elicitation, an underexplored methodological approach in the domain of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D), was employed to conduct the study, and a three‐step qualitative content analysis was performed on both visual and textual data. Results tend to confirm and build upon outcomes from the existing literature on Public Access Venues (PAVs). Local communities value these centers because they bring social recognition to people working or learning there. The venues are associated with a symbolism that extends from the social recognition of the individual to the development and social inclusion of the whole community, which, because of the presence of the venue, does not feel left behind. In this vein, the study also shows that the importance of CMCs is often not related to the newest technology available, but to the technology that reaches the most of the community. The study also highlights neglected dimensions of CMCs, such as the importance of the exterior appearance of the venue, and the perception of a switch in their nature from static centers funded by third parties towards more entrepreneurial‐driven ones. The presented research also contributes to the ICT4D field by proposing a promising research protocol, which is able to elicit representations otherwise difficult to obtain.

Is mobile learning a resource in higher education? Data evidence from an empirical research in Ticino (Switzerland)

Nowadays mobile devices are highly present and well integrated in students’ everyday life. People use them for communication, information retrieval and exchange, entertainment, and even for business. But what can be said about learning? This article tries to figure out the importance of mobile devices for students in their learning experience: on one side by giving an insight into current researches in the field of mobile learning, and on the other side by providing data evidence collected in two higher education institutions of Ticino in Switzerland. By analyzing questions such as, which mobile devices do students use for learning, what for, how do they use them and how keen they are to adopt their mobile tools to support their formal learning activities at university. We also explore whether a transfer from informal usage of mobile devices in students’ everyday life to more formal applications in learning processes has taken place. So far, this does not seem to be the case. Most students use mobile devices to communicate with peers for learning-related purposes and very little to directly learn through them.

Security and activism: using participatory photography to elicit perceptions of information and authority among hispanic migrants in the u.s.

This paper presents results of a participatory photography research where we explore Information, culture and identity in the lives of disenfranchised groups such as undocumented migrants in the U.S.. Information behaviors of undocumented migrants are difficult to uncover, given their legal status. Migrants experience complex relations with authority, security and social activism, and their Information behaviors are mediated by the transience of their life experiences while at the border, the constant fear of detention and deportation in their daily lives, and their growing involvement with protests and activism for their rights as they become more established in their host country. We compare migrants’ experiences at the U.S.-Mexico border with experiences in Seattle, Washington, and we uncover four migrants’ information behavior types, corresponding to different stages of transience in their lives, while reflecting on participatory photography as a methodological framework suitable to a social group at the fringes of mainstream society.

“When words become unclear”: unmasking ICT through visual methodologies in participatory ICT4D

Across the globe, our work and social lives are increasingly integrated with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), yet massive disparities in the values, uses and benefits of ICT exist. New methods are needed to shed light on unique and integrative concepts of ICT across cultures. This paper explores the use of visual methods to facilitate critical engagement with ICT—defined as situational awareness, reflexive ICT practice and power and control over ICT. This definition of critical ICT engagement is informed by a cultural identity lens, and intends to improve participatory methods in ICT for Development (ICT4D) and community technology design and application. Our notion of critical ICT engagement is developed through an analysis of three case studies, each employing visual methods to shed light on concepts and practices of ICT cross-culturally. This paper makes three contributions to the ICT4D literature. First, it establishes a cultural identity lens to chart out cultural differences between researchers and participants, and to develop situational awareness of ICT in context. Second, it defines the conceptual domain of reflexive ICT practice and establishes the key role of researchers in facilitating it. Third, it argues for the need to support participants to develop capacity to engage critically with ICT as a means to influence social and organizational structures. This paper offers a way for researchers and practitioners to engage with cultural issues in community-based research and design using visual methodologies.

Douala as a "hybrid space": Comparing online and offline representations of a Sub-Saharan city.

Abstract This study investigates the complex relationship between the physical and digital spaces of the city of Douala, Cameroon by comparing its online representation with the social representations emerging orally by locals. Using the results of two existing studies reporting on the online image of the city, we investigate the social representations foreigners and locally relevant people have of Douala and uncover similarities and discrepancies of the two resulting representations. Outcomes from the analysis permit reflection on the implications of these and show an unripe, intermediate stage of the “hybrid Douala,” where the virtual space seems still not to be affecting the way the physical space is experienced, as well as where the gaps in the digital divide are perpetuated. At the same time, strong local ownership of certain digital activities suggests how the online image of the city is in the process of being constructed and developed locally. As the spaces of the city start appearing online, the process of hybridization between physical and digital Douala is slowly taking place and offline and online narratives, now rather separated, will possibly communicate a different image of the city to global online narratives.

Public access venues and community empowerment in Mozambique: a social representation study

Abstract This article uses the theoretical construct of Social Representations to investigate how Community Multimedia Centers (CMCs) – venues that offer public access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to underserved communities – are perceived by communities in Mozambique, and it discusses how the local population understands these venues as means to foster community empowerment and socio-economic development. In total, 113 participants took part in the study, from six CMCs in different towns of Mozambique. Participants were represented from three different social groups, according to their use of the CMC: staff members, users of both CMC components – telecenter and radio – and radio-only users. The article analyses the Social Representations’ structure, using a Prototypical approach. Findings show that CMCs are seen by local communities as places at which they can receive and exchange information, and also as learning spaces, with the telecenter part focused on the delivery of ICT training and the radio component engaging with educational activities and services in a broader sense. Furthermore, CMCs are perceived as places dedicated almost exclusively to children and young people. The results of this study can help policy makers, practitioners, funding agencies and other relevant stakeholders to improve Mozambican CMCs and leverage their community empowerment potential.

Argumentation in participant-driven photo interviews: A case in ICT for development in Mozambique

Abstract Argumentation is essentially dialogical, hence based on verbal disputation. Nonetheless, other semiotic resources than language may play a substantial role in argumentative circumstances. In this article, different argumentative functions played by photographs are explored, based on an unusual corpus for the field. People working in Mozambican Community Multimedia Centers (CMCs) were interviewed, in order to reconstruct the social meaning they confer to such places. To facilitate the exchange of meanings between interviewees and interviewers, who had different cultural and experiential backgrounds, interviewees were requested to take pictures of something they liked, something they didn’t like, and something they perceived as particularly representative of their CMC. Pictures were then presented and commented by participants during their interview. By means of analytical reconstructions, the major argumentative roles played by photographs in the interviews were identified, as well as their semiotic function in respect to interviewees’ words. Argumentative analysis also broadened and enriched the method of photo-driven interviews, and added a further interpretative access to analysis of social representations.

The Power of Participatory Photography in ICTD Programs: Freedom to Explore beyond Images

We discuss the contribution of participatory photography as a method to elicit lived experiences from the perspectives of participants, a valuable tool in ICTD research. Building on a participatory photography research project with Latino migrants in Seattle, Washington (USA) and at the US-Mexico border, we analyze the differences between descriptive accounts and interpretations of photographs offered by participants. By opening new possibilities for selfexpression, participatory photography offers a powerful tool that allows participants to add not just description but also context, representations, meanings, feelings and memories, among other interpretations. Different effects of the participants’ photographs are also analyzed, to encourage further exploration of participatory photography in ICTD research.

Information and learning: trust, place, and migration

Migrants face many barriers related to economic opportunities, language, and information needed not only to survive but thrive. This poster highlights findings of Fotohistorias, a participatory photography research project spanning three countries and two years. This research helps to better understand migrant’s values, learning and information needs, in particular the building of trust and its relation to place, which emerge as critical issues in the experience of migration.