Hi Katy and all, In class that is not about mobile communication per se, but IS about user-centered design (for computer scientists) and using observation in the world as a way to uncover design problems, opportunities, and inspirations, I have students use the cameras on their mobile phones to capture visuals while they are out and about in the world, as a form of a visual diary. I call it the "Technoculars" assignment---it lasts 1/2 a semester, and there's a theme every week to help guide observation for novices. They upload their images to a Ning site that we use for class, and by the end, we have a huge catalog of usability and other design problems that everyone can share. The user-generated content also is displayed on the main course page--I think the students like that.
It has been a helpful way to use mobile tech instructively. I speculate that the lens of the camera helps more quickly focus the "ethnographic eye" that I try to help my (sometimes unwilling) computer science ugrads develop. Best Leysia On Aug 15, 2012, at 5:44 PM, Katy P wrote: > What sort of activities do you do with undergrads regarding mobile > communication? > > Some things that I've done: > > - diaries of their day and then have them reflect upon their technology, and > specifically mobile technology, use > - exercises where they imagine life in 1980 or have them watch a tv show/read > a short story pre-mobiles and reflect on how things are different with mobile > tech > - figure out how much their mobile bill is and then make up a pretend budget > for a 1st/2nd-year-out-of-college person and see how much their > telecommunications cost relative to the rest of their budget > - playing around with GapMinder > > Any other mobile-related in-class activities that people have tried? > > Thanks! > Katy ============================ Leysia Palen Associate Professor Computer Science University of Colorado, Boulder Connectivity Lab Project EPIC: Empowering the Public with Information in Crisis http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~palen/ http://epic.cs.colorado.edu/ Twitter: @palen, @epiccolorado -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "mobile-society" group. To post to this group, send email to mobile-society@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to mobile-society+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/mobile-society?hl=en.
