{"title":"Community informatics in pandemic times","authors":"Colin Rhinesmith","doi":"10.15353/joci.v17i.4720","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/joci.v17i.4720","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":280460,"journal":{"name":"J. Community Informatics","volume":"40 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117176120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Digital Justice","authors":"Suguna Chundur","doi":"10.15353/joci.v16i0.3485","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/joci.v16i0.3485","url":null,"abstract":"As technology use permeates many parts of society there are still groups where the penetration of technology is low: adults with little exposure to technology during their traditional learning years, users from lower SES, lower education levels, resulting in a digital divide between the digital haves and have-nots. This paper presents a community-based, mixed methods research project that endeavored to study the phenomenon of digital divide through a set of theoretical frameworks: Rawls’ principles of justice as fairness provided the overall social justice umbrella, Sen’s capability approach grounded the study in the specificities of learners’ lives and acknowledged learner diversity, and Horton’s cultural education, Freire’s critical consciousness, and Eubanks’ critical technology education provided the pedagogical lens to understand the importance of the critical learning process in digital education. The findings from the study support the concept of situated or contextual technology that seeks to increase the benefits of technology for adult learners while providing them the tools to manage complex digital environments through relatable instruction, user-centric design for technological tools and interfaces, and more robust government action in alleviating the digital divide through well-designed digital literacy programs.","PeriodicalId":280460,"journal":{"name":"J. Community Informatics","volume":"324 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125784762","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bridging Digital Divide in a Remote Elementary School","authors":"Kenzen Chen","doi":"10.15353/joci.v16i0.3496","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/joci.v16i0.3496","url":null,"abstract":"This case study is a teacher’s reflection of invisible work when I initiated an instructional technology project that aimed to close digital inequality in a remote elementary school in Taiwan. 13 One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) XO laptops were deployed to 2nd and 5th grade children and I taught their science classes during June 2011 to January 2012. My field reflections revealed that invisible work was necessary in order to sustain, protect, and expand students’ opportunity to use their XO laptops in the school. In conclusion, public awareness about teachers’ invisible work is critical and should be studied, reported, and recognized by the field of educational research.","PeriodicalId":280460,"journal":{"name":"J. Community Informatics","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134074803","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A legacy to continue","authors":"Colin Rhinesmith","doi":"10.15353/joci.v16i0.3498","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/joci.v16i0.3498","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":280460,"journal":{"name":"J. Community Informatics","volume":"86 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133510981","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"ICT Framework to Support a Patient-Centric approach in Public Healthcare","authors":"Richard Pankomera, D. Greunen","doi":"10.15353/joci.v16i0.3494","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/joci.v16i0.3494","url":null,"abstract":"Although Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the healthcare sector are extensively deployed globally, they are not used effectively in developing countries. Many resource poor countries face numerous challenges in implementing the ICT interventions. For instance, many health applications that have been deployed are not user-centric. As a result, such ICT interventions do not benefit many health consumers. The lack of an ICT framework to support patient-centric healthcare services in Malawi renders the e-health and mhealth interventions less sustainable and less cost effective. The aim of the study was therefore to develop an ICT Framework that could support patient-centric healthcare services in the public health sector in Malawi. The comprehensive literature review and semi-structured interviews highlighted many challenges underlying ICT development in Malawi. An ICT framework for patient-centric healthcare services is therefore proposed to ensure that eHealth and mobile health interventions are more sustainable and cost effective. The framework was validated by five experts selected from different areas of expertise including mhealth application developers, ICT policy makers and public health practitioners. Results show that the framework is relevant, useful and applicable within the setting of Malawi. The framework can also be implemented in various countries with similar settings.","PeriodicalId":280460,"journal":{"name":"J. Community Informatics","volume":"2009 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129623294","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Lessons from the field","authors":"Thato E. Foko, N. Mahwai, C. Phiri","doi":"10.15353/joci.v16i0.3470","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/joci.v16i0.3470","url":null,"abstract":"The field of information and communication technology for development is a field constantly changing as new ICT tools emerge and new knowledge gained by field researchers while performing their duties. The research problem: The field ICT field is littered with examples of failed projects because field researchers did not know the best way to carry out their work. The paper is about knowledge imparted by six monitoring and evaluation field researchers after working for almost eight years, from 2010 to 2018, in ICT platforms projects. These platforms were deployed across South Africa’s remote rural areas. The work followed interpretivism as its philosophy and was underpinned by qualitative research methods. Written projects reports, face-to-face interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data and also to triangulate the findings. The participatory evaluation formed the basis for the complete understanding of the finding. (i) Planning; (ii) Deployment; and iii) Usage were found to be critical elements for a successful implementation of ICT platform. Although well planned, numerous lessons were still learned for the benefit of future projects.","PeriodicalId":280460,"journal":{"name":"J. Community Informatics","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130272768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Actionable Open Data","authors":"Lucia Lupi, A. Antonini, A. Liddo, E. Motta","doi":"10.15353/joci.v16i0.3492","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/joci.v16i0.3492","url":null,"abstract":"Open Data are recognised as invaluable resources at the city level for improving local services, community engagement and businesses initiatives, but their use still struggle to have the desired impact. This work addresses the underuse of Open Data by exploring the connection between data and actions in everyday urban activities implemented by local governments, public agencies, businesses, non-profit organisations and research institutions operating in the city. The empirical results of this exploratory study outline a structural misalignment between a) roles of local actors in city activities and their data-related activities, b) provision of Open Data and information needs of local actors, c) expected uses of data in local actions and forms of support to the users provided by current city Open Data portals. The envisioned alternative approach to foster the use of Open Data at the city level rely on identifying the appropriate data to be produced for supporting local actions, instead than focusing on publishing data disconnected from real information needs of organisations working for local communities.","PeriodicalId":280460,"journal":{"name":"J. Community Informatics","volume":"47 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115717528","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An analysis of the policies of Information and Communication Technologies for Agriculture in Mali","authors":"M. Kante, P. Ndayizigamiye","doi":"10.15353/joci.v16i0.3489","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/joci.v16i0.3489","url":null,"abstract":"To harness the potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), developing countries need to develop national ICT policies that will serve as a framework for integrating ICTs at all levels of society. In the absence of that, different actors often engage in various actions for the same beneficiaries and in pursuit of the same objectives. That raises the need to define a national framework for the promotion and application of ICTs in the various production areas, particularly agricultural ones. It is for that reason that this study examined through qualitative methods (policy documents and semi-structured interviews) the national policy of Mali on the use of ICTs in agriculture. Data was analysed using the Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) method with the aid of NVIVO 12 software. The results showed that the country has two policy documents that articulate the country’s strategy towards the use of ICTs in the agricultural sector, that is, the Agricultural Orientation Law and the National Strategy for the Development of the Digital Economy. Further examination revealed that that these two policy documents are neither appropriate nor coherent in today's Malian landscape. This has resulted in an underutilisation of digital tools by agricultural extension officers which led to the low agricultural productivity in the country. This study recommended therefore the recasting of both documents to take into account the reported observations","PeriodicalId":280460,"journal":{"name":"J. Community Informatics","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133202965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editorial: a time to pause","authors":"Eduardo Villanueva Mansilla","doi":"10.15353/joci.v15i.3424","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/joci.v15i.3424","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":280460,"journal":{"name":"J. Community Informatics","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121339795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hossam Ali-Hassan, Vineeth S. Sekharan, Theresa H. M. Kim
{"title":"Internet non-use among the Canadian older adult population: General Social Survey (GSS)","authors":"Hossam Ali-Hassan, Vineeth S. Sekharan, Theresa H. M. Kim","doi":"10.15353/joci.v15i.3428","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15353/joci.v15i.3428","url":null,"abstract":"Benefits of Internet use for older adults include the ability to access informational resources, facilitate social connections and use online communication resources. Further research on identifying the characteristics of older adult Internet non-users is warranted. The present study aims to examine the prevalence and characteristics of Internet non-use among Canada’s older adult populations. The analysis was based on the 2016 General Social Survey (GSS)– Canadians at Work and Home. Analysis was restricted to Canadians of 65 years of age or older. The outcome was Internet non-use, which was defined as having not used the Internet in the 30-day period prior to survey data collection. Demographic, socio-economic, health related, and social support and relationship factors were considered for a multivariable logistic regression analysis. \u0000Overall, the prevalence of Internet non-use among Canadian older adults was 31.9%. Characteristics significantly associated with Internet non-use included: lower educational achievement, decreased socioeconomic status, poor mental and physical health, having a partner / significant other, and being a cigarette smoker. The province of residence was significantly associated with non-internet use with residents of Quebec being at increased odds of non-internet use compared to residents of British Columbia (OR =2.09, 95% CI= 1.51-2.88). Additionally, increased age among older adults was associated with increased likelihood of not using the Internet. The findings from this study can be used as the basis for future research and to aid in the development of effective policies and programs directed towards the needs of this unique population.","PeriodicalId":280460,"journal":{"name":"J. Community Informatics","volume":"27 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121830742","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}