Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Mobile-aware

How mobile-aware is WikiEducator? Can we do things with formatting or display technology to provide a reasonable good user experience to those with mobile devices?

I had an opportunity to chat with a colleague who has recently spent 10 weeks in Africa.

Computers and broadband are rare, BUT everyone has at least 1 cell phone - often several handsets and/or chips because they access multiple services depending on signal and current rate deal.

This sounds like a great opportunity for WikiEducator if it is something we can provide.

Following along with that, including / embedding audio would be a very good feature. Video would be nice to have, and certainly a requirement in the future.

My colleague was really sad and frustrated to be shown whole storage rooms full of donated computers that could not be used for a variety of reasons. Such a  waste. All the while, mobile phones are in constant use.

I'm sure most of the donors of the computers would have redirected their contributions of money, equipment and resources if they knew that their donations provided no benefit to the intended recipients. The useless computing equipment couldn't even be disposed of because that cost was too high.

It would be interesting to collect information about the actual utility of computers and technology donations - either cash or in-kind donations as compared with the anticipated benefits that prompted the original donations.

Women & Mobile: A Global Opportunity
http://tech.ashoka.org/Women_and_Mobile_publication
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