About: Sharing the Knowledge
Sharing the Knowledge is a conceptual and theoretical media design project created by Zhengxin Xi and Dustin York for a class entitled The New Ecology of Things, taught by Prof. Phil van Allen for the Graduate Media Design Program at Art Center College of Design. The project brief was to rethink how people learn, by applying the ideas of NET, including productive, embodied, and mythological interaction. When approaching the topic of ubiquitous computing as an aid to the process of learning, the project addresses the realization that sensors and electronic communication tools are already increasingly ubiquitous on a global scale. The spirit of Sharing the Knowledge is to envision unique but appropriate design solutions toward the cause of reducing illiteracy. Because of their enthusiasm for the potential of innovative learning interactions in developing countries, Dustin and Zhengxin entered a research paper describing this project to CHI, which was accepted to the Conference's 2011 Student Design Competition in Vancouver. An account detailing the presentation experience can be found here.
THE POWER OF COMMUNITY
Examples exist that reinforce the notion that community and cooperation has the ability to step in when access to formal education is lacking. A real-life example of how a disadvantaged population can learn with scant educational resources is illustrated by the story of a young girl named Bharti Kumari. At the age of twelve, Bharti is the head teacher for her impoverished village located in the Bihar province of India, teaching Hindi, English, and math to some 50 children. She learned the subjects she teaches by also finding the time to attend a state school two miles away. The children she teaches would have no other access to education.
THE NEAR-UBIQUITY OF MOBILE PHONES
If viewing India as a use case on reducing illiteracy, the nation is home to 35% of the world’s total illiterate population (roomtoread.org). When factoring in technology for possible solutions, the number of internet users in India is only 7% of the population (actually falling slightly from the year before) (internetworldstats.com). However, India is home to one of the fastest growing mobile markets, and is predicted to surpass the one billion user mark within five years (indiatimes.com). The presence of inadequate literacy rates, and yet a continual rise of mobile phone ownership is common in many other developing countries worldwide. For instance, 2010 saw the total number of mobile phones eclipse the five billion mark (cbsnews.com). Sharing the Knowledge views these conversant communities as a profound and expedient resource for improving aptitude.