Mediating community communication ecologies

Dr Peter Day & Zanna DearCMISUniversity of Brighton

Introducing 3 modules

Community project – level 3 under-grad– Students often do related applied research dissertation

Community media (informatics) – level 2 under-grad Developing community media – MA Creative Media

Community Media

Community owned and controlled, giving access to voices in the community & encouraging diversity, creativity & participation. Community media provides a vital counterbalance to the increasing globalization & commercialization of the media.

(Community Media Association, 2008)

Based on service learning principles

Working in partnership with community partners to solve real world problems

Active, reflective & challenging

Promotes citizenship, collaboration & ‘deeper’ learning

Meaningful, positive & dialogic

Community development

Helping local groups & organizations to achieve the objectives they set themselves, especially in disadvantaged areas or in sections of the population at risk of exclusion or facing difficult conditions.

(CDF, 2008)

Community media – approach to learning

Initial contextualisation in class

Fieldwork oriented Active problem solving Reader – online seminar

discussions & personal blogs

Previous student projects

West Hove News (community newspaper)

Community event planning – summer festival & spring fun day

Publicity & marketing Community video Photo stories

Children’s painting competitions

Participatory website design & build

Photography workshop Photoshop workshop –

posters, etc Summer holiday

volunteering

LM 267 Community Informatics – A Students View

LM 267 was a thoroughly enjoyable course. It taught the complex relations of ‘community’ through lived experience of participation and interaction, whilst demonstrating the important role media can play in supporting, and even creating, community networks.

LM 267 – A Students View

Good: Practice ‘in the field’ was grounded in, and

enhanced by, a high level of academic connectivity.

The experience of community interaction in West Hove was extremely positive and inspirational.

LM 267 – A Student’s View

Bad: The course was very full - not everybody was happy

with the availability of projects. Some students expressed a desire for more media projects or more substantial work on media projects in the West Hove area.

The Discussion Board Programming – The discussions that were held were fun and engaging but the programme used hindered the process near constantly.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Observations to date

Very rewarding and great fun Can have significant effects – student &

community learning (anecdotal) Time & labour intensive Requires institutional support & understanding Words need to be backed by actions….can be

problematic

Contributing to communicative ecologies

Community media as tools, spaces and processes – building social capital (esp. bridging & linking)

Stimulates community learningsharing of informationparticipation – e.g. in design of CCSengaging in dialogue – re-establishing weak tiesnetworking – process and structurecritical reflection and analysis

Communities generate content suitable for the social and cultural contexts they themselves generate

Community organisation, activities & action