A colleague of mine, Dr. Payal Arora, recently published an article in the British Journal of Educational Technology where she questions the fundamental assumptions underlying the Hole-in-the-Wall (HiWEL) project, which seeks to ‘create a new paradigm in the learning process by providing unrestricted computer access to groups of children in an open playground setting.’ Why does this article make such interesting reading? Well, at the same time Dr. Arora submitted her critical article fo...   read more >>

Online research collaboration can take many forms: data sharing, collaborative writing, or more informal methods of peer review. But what if you could get an inside look at a researcher’s resources, and see all the materials that inspired them to create a current project? Step one: digital references. About five years ago, I first discovered the joys of digitizing academic references. I was introduced to Endnote, a software tool for publishing and managing bibliographies. Beyond the co...   read more >>

I'm currently teaching a BA-level course called Communication Technologies and their Impacts. It provides an overview of the historical development of media and communication technologies (newspapers, radio, television, the internet) and covers a variety of impacts of communication technologies (think social, political, cultural and economic). But there's one thing I keep struggling with: the textbook! The content is never quite right, and books often have a US or primarily Western perspect...   read more >>

My field isn’t development, but since I started blogging at The Broker I’m more tuned into relevant events in this field, particularly relating to new media use. I’ll take this opportunity to mention a couple of recent events and resources that may be of interest to readers: - On Thursday, 4 March, the LIDC hosted an evening on “Development 2.0: How The Guardian is Using New Media to Report Development.” This event focused on development work being carried out by the NGO Amref in Katine...   read more >>

I just heard about an interesting adjustment made by the True Heroes Films international conference on “Human Rights & New Media.” This conference, to be held on April 19-20 in The Hague, was to host an international audience. But with volcanic ash grounding most European flights, more than 25 attendees / human rights defenders were not able to attend. Because of the unforeseen travel difficulties, they may have lost the chance to protect human rights via the use of images and new media...   read more >>

Recently I've been hearing about cutting-edge initiatives that aim to make development aid more transparent. Part of this transparency is related to technology, in that more and more data sets are being made open source or accessible to a larger public. One upcoming example highlights the interest in a push for more transparency, which I will describe here. A number of key individuals like data analysts, developers and designers will meet at the Guardian offices in London on the 10th of...   read more >>

While perusing the latest issue of a journal that I try to follow regularly (Information, Communication & Society), I came across a piece entitled “NGOs, the Internet and Sustainable Rural Development: The Case of Indonesia.” It was written by Yanuar Nugroho, a research associate at the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, and published in February 2010. Nugroho mentions the importance of sustainable rural development in Indonesia, and praises the role that NGOs have played i...   read more >>

The recent tragedy in Haiti left citizens in other parts of the world eager to help. Most people, unskilled in disaster relief and not possessing emergency medical training, turned to donations of either money or goods. Aid and development organizations have well-established methods of facilitating online donations, but they are also incorporating Web 2.0 applications into the process. For example, Oxfam America made it possible for online donators to publish a news update on their Face...   read more >>

The journal Development in Practice recently released a special issue on Citizens’ Media and Communication. The publisher, Routledge, has granted free access to the 20 articles plus a guest editors’ introduction (written by Jethro Pettit, Juan Francisco Salazar, and Alfonso Gumuncio Dagron). The issue is divided into seven subject areas, many of which may be of interest to The Broker readers, such as Media and Communication as Methods of Transformation (section III) and The Role of Medi...   read more >>

Here’s a recent press release that The Broker readers may be interested in: The Center for Global Communication Studies is pleased to announce the launch of an online essay series on NGOs and the News: Exploring a Changing Communications Landscape. 

 The series, produced in collaboration with the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University, seeks to explore the increasing activity of civil society actors such as NGOs and advocacy networks and in the news media sphere. 

To what ex...   read more >>

Recently, Richard Lalleman wrote an opinion piece on The Broker website, discussing why organizations should adopt social media tools to create a social learning environment. Richard makes a number of interesting observations. He is right to point out the informal nature of communication via social media tools. He takes the optimistic view that social media equals a social learning environment. However, I’d like to point out a number of barriers that organizations may face. First, there...   read more >>

Signing up to popular social media websites is all the rage. For example, infoDev, a “global development financing program among international development agencies,” recently expanded into the world of social media. According to a recent press release (thanks Frans!), they state “This venture is part of a larger effort by infoDev to communicate effectively with a wide range of audiences and stakeholders. We aim to showcase infoDev's development impact and keep fans up to date on our project...   read more >>

I’m back from the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) conference, which was held last week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This annual conference presents the latest research in Internet studies, which according to Wikipedia can be defined as “the interaction between the Internet and modern society, and the sociological and technological implications on one another.” The full program can be found online, and a number of papers stand out that may be particularly interesting for The Broker re...   read more >>

I recently discovered the blog AfriGadget. With the tagline “Solving everyday problems with African ingenuity,” the content focuses on African-created innovations for every day life, often with a focus on innovative technology. As the About section puts it, “AfriGadget is a website dedicated to showcasing African ingenuity. A team of bloggers and readers contribute their pictures, videos and stories from around the continent. The stories of innovation are inspiring. It is a testament to Afr...   read more >>

For those interested in learning more about eResearch and curious to hear details on some successful eResearch projects, a noteworthy webcast on this topic will take place soon. On Friday September 18 at 1:15pm ET, The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University will host a talk by Lee Dirks, the Director of Education and Scholarly Communication (Microsoft External Research). It is possible to join the webcast by following this link. A bit more about the topic, from the...   read more >>

Through online communication, there are new opportunities to provide information and interact with individuals on a wider scale than ever before. How can technology be used to enhance various types of communication? How can it be used to improve the spread of information within and between organizations, and how can it help to mobilize citizens? I am happy with the opportunity to share my thoughts on these issues with the online audience of The Broker. I recently authored a special repor...   read more >>