(Interspersing my ongoing write up and reflections based on my experience at ASIS&T, here’s a recent reflection on why I get excited about the intersection of ‘sociological research’ and technology. The first creative use of my new BlackBerry, and I am proud to say that it does not involve twitter or facebook.)
Online learning systems cannot replace direct transmission of embodied knowledge, but it can present a way of achieving legitimate peripheral participation. This is a model of socially situated learning that is both tightly yet loosely (no, really, it is) packed in a skinny handbook, a close and frequent reading of which always inspires new insight. Based on recent concatenation of various ideas in my studies, I would like to consider the idea that utilizing online communities to allow remote or marginalized parties to engage legitimately should be the primary objective of successful long distance education systems.
In real life, of course, there are practical considerations. Ultimately, I am interested in the issues of long-distance facilitation of embodied knowledge such as musical knowledge, but for the purpose of this post, let’s presume we are trying to execute the On-Demand Book Services (ODBS) to serve isolated native communities in Northern Ontario. Some general questions to help scope out the nature of the project might involve the following:
1. What existing “community of practice” wants to do outreach?
In this case, no specific institution or organization comes to mind, although Prof. Caidi was one of the initiators of the project. At large there are general areas which has potential interest such as librarians, NGOs/charities that deal with literacy, social justice groups, archivists, social workers, First Nations advocates, public school teachers, book publishers, writers, etc.
2. Who are they (the ODBS project) trying to reach? Why?
The ODBS project wants to outreach to isolated communities that do not have enough population to sustain their own libraries, hospitals, and other essential services. This is based on accumulating evidence that there is a desire to read and learn to read, and this system would be facilitating that existing need by helping the communities overcome their barriers to access.
3. Do they have the self-motivation and drive necessary to participate?
There exists a motivation and drive to want books and want to read, and while it is not 100% of the population, there is enough of it to warrant testing a pilot project. Whether they want an on-demand system as a solution (that is an assumption on our part I think), or a proposal for community feedback and input has not been fully determined.
4. How is reading socially situated? How can a system facilitate legitimate peripheral participation to the larger culture of reading that exists?
This is perhaps the most interesting question, because it questions the fundamental assumption that a ‘book on-demand’ system is what will satisfy the need to promote literacy in the community. Where does the larger reading culture exists? Especially for school-aged children? I remember in my day it was the scholastic book order sheets, mini-libraries in our classrooms filled with novels, reading time with teachers, and writing book reports. How much of this is realistic to achieve in First Nation communities? What unique challenges are they facing (i.e. high levels of illiteracy) and what unique resources do they require to overcome them (i.e. graphic novels)?
I am contemplating using the ODBS project as my final KMDI portfolio pieces. They are not looking for a paper, they are looking for something tangible. Perhaps a collaborative system design approach? Put together wireframes and diagrams of what a working system might look like? Finding potential partners, and finding a pilot community to test it out in?
As an aside, I have also recently been inspired to see what the literature and insight in that field may offer. A comment made by my classmate John, who is a Ph.D. student at the faculty, summarized what service science means in a brief sentence: “It is not by accident that organizations offer great services.”
Indeed, so how do we offer great ‘library’ service to those in remote and isolated communities?
