This paper introduces an approach to allow English Language Learners (ELLs) to collaborate in the... more This paper introduces an approach to allow English Language Learners (ELLs) to collaborate in the Software Engineering field using their individual native languages. Natural-Language Neutrality (NLN) aims to bridge the Knowledge Divide in Software Engineering by providing tools and methodologies to allow speakers of different Natural Languages to learn, practice and collaborate in an environment that is Natural-Language agnostic. A Knowledge Divide in Software Engineering is constituted by the differences in the knowledge assimilation capability, between native English-speakers and ELLs, due to the English-language barrier. NLN intends to provide standardized methods to enable already-existing and new Programming Languages to be accessible to learners in their Natural-language context. The tools created to achieve this purpose, Glotter, Glotation and the Collaborative Model, are described.
This paper describes a community co-design approach performed in rural Mozambique. It discusses t... more This paper describes a community co-design approach performed in rural Mozambique. It discusses the experiences and experiments performed in a community multimedia center towards creating services with inherent values for daily community activities. The design approach pursues a holistic interpretation of community needs, and discusses emerging, new and creative applications for future community binding.
This paper introduces an approach to allow English Language Learners (ELLs) to collaborate in the... more This paper introduces an approach to allow English Language Learners (ELLs) to collaborate in the Software Engineering field using their individual native languages. Natural-Language Neutrality (NLN) aims to bridge the Knowledge Divide in Software Engineering by providing tools and methodologies to allow speakers of different Natural Languages to learn, practice and collaborate in an environment that is Natural-Language agnostic. A Knowledge Divide in Software Engineering is constituted by the differences in the knowledge assimilation capability, between native English-speakers and ELLs, due to the English-language barrier. NLN intends to provide standardized methods to enable already-existing and new Programming Languages to be accessible to learners in their Natural-language context. The tools created to achieve this purpose, Glotter, Glotation and the Collaborative Model, are described.
Proceedings of CIRN 2013 Community Informatics Conference: Community Archives meets Community Informatics., 2013
This paper outlines an analysis of an action research initiative undertaken within the research a... more This paper outlines an analysis of an action research initiative undertaken within the research and development project RE-ACT (Social REpresentations of Community Multimedia Centres in Mozambique and ACTions for Improvement) on Community Multimedia Centres (CMCs) in Mozambique. The project sets out to study the perceptions about CMCs held by different social groups and consequently to assist local stakeholders in the design of small projects for improving the performance of CMCs. The paper focuses on the second part of the project, in which nine CMCs with a representative coverage of Mozambican regions were involved in the co-design of development actions for the provision of new services with inherent relevance for the communities. Actions were designed through the cooperation of the CMC directors and staff, the affiliated communities, and the RE-ACT team. The implementation was entirely managed by the CMC staff, with remote assistance from the RE-ACT team. The nine cases had different rates of success, ranging from successful ones to failure in achieving the objectives set. The paper focuses on one of the most successful cases, involving a CMC located in Quelimane, which provided ICT training addressing particularly underprivileged youth. Through the project, 79 youth were trained over one year in using ICTs and managing radio programs. The paper offers an analysis of this case and outlines the most important factors underpinning its successful implementation.
Proceedings of the 13th Participatory Design Conference on Research Papers - PDC '14, 2014
This paper engages with issues of universality and locality in the context of community-based par... more This paper engages with issues of universality and locality in the context of community-based participatory design (PD), and focuses on the challenges and opportunities associated with incorporating local views and forms of participation in the design process. The notion of 'designing for participation' is advanced as a quintessential perspective for approaches in which design practices are re-configured from a community-centric standpoint. Building on insights from PD and community development studies, as well as on empirical evidence from two community design studies, we argue that designing for participation appears to be located in a space between the designer's and local views of participation, which are at times both ambiguous and conflicting. To overcome these tensions, we argue for the importance of engaging critically and reflectively with PD in community contexts, and in this process capitalising on disciplinary dialogues that can expand the viewpoint from which PD projects are negotiated and evaluated.
CIRN 2014 Community Informatics Conference: Challenges and Solutions, 2014
Participatory design and research frameworks in community informatics seek to condense experience... more Participatory design and research frameworks in community informatics seek to condense experiences taken from accumulating practice in field work to describe and theorize processes for data generation, analysis, and stakeholder involvement in the design of programmes, activities or technology. This paper focuses on a particular aspect of participatory research and design processes in community-based projects: the transition from an analytical stage, characterised by observation, reflection and knowledge construction, towards designing action. Despite the wealth of conceptual and methodological literature on participatory research and design with communities, we gathered upon noticing that the topic of transitioning from exploration to designing action in community-based participatory research is relatively obscure, and merits more reflection and discussion. The paper offers a view into the processes that underpin this transition, in response to the questions: How is community-generated knowledge infused in design? What are the processes that unfold during this transition, and what roles do various stakeholders play? What are the key enabling factors and what challenges are associated with these processes? Guided by these questions, we shed light on various issues related to this transition by recounting cases taken from field experiences within different community projects in Syria, Brazil and Mozambique. By reflecting on these cases, we highlight how designed actions came into being, the roles of various stakeholders in making design choices, how constructed knowledge informed those actions, and the compromises that had to be balanced.
This paper introduces an approach to allow English Language Learners (ELLs) to collaborate in the... more This paper introduces an approach to allow English Language Learners (ELLs) to collaborate in the Software Engineering field using their individual native languages. Natural-Language Neutrality (NLN) aims to bridge the Knowledge Divide in Software Engineering by providing tools and methodologies to allow speakers of different Natural Languages to learn, practice and collaborate in an environment that is Natural-Language agnostic. A Knowledge Divide in Software Engineering is constituted by the differences in the knowledge assimilation capability, between native English-speakers and ELLs, due to the English-language barrier. NLN intends to provide standardized methods to enable already-existing and new Programming Languages to be accessible to learners in their Natural-language context. The tools created to achieve this purpose, Glotter, Glotation and the Collaborative Model, are described.
This paper describes a community co-design approach performed in rural Mozambique. It discusses t... more This paper describes a community co-design approach performed in rural Mozambique. It discusses the experiences and experiments performed in a community multimedia center towards creating services with inherent values for daily community activities. The design approach pursues a holistic interpretation of community needs, and discusses emerging, new and creative applications for future community binding.
This paper introduces an approach to allow English Language Learners (ELLs) to collaborate in the... more This paper introduces an approach to allow English Language Learners (ELLs) to collaborate in the Software Engineering field using their individual native languages. Natural-Language Neutrality (NLN) aims to bridge the Knowledge Divide in Software Engineering by providing tools and methodologies to allow speakers of different Natural Languages to learn, practice and collaborate in an environment that is Natural-Language agnostic. A Knowledge Divide in Software Engineering is constituted by the differences in the knowledge assimilation capability, between native English-speakers and ELLs, due to the English-language barrier. NLN intends to provide standardized methods to enable already-existing and new Programming Languages to be accessible to learners in their Natural-language context. The tools created to achieve this purpose, Glotter, Glotation and the Collaborative Model, are described.
Proceedings of CIRN 2013 Community Informatics Conference: Community Archives meets Community Informatics., 2013
This paper outlines an analysis of an action research initiative undertaken within the research a... more This paper outlines an analysis of an action research initiative undertaken within the research and development project RE-ACT (Social REpresentations of Community Multimedia Centres in Mozambique and ACTions for Improvement) on Community Multimedia Centres (CMCs) in Mozambique. The project sets out to study the perceptions about CMCs held by different social groups and consequently to assist local stakeholders in the design of small projects for improving the performance of CMCs. The paper focuses on the second part of the project, in which nine CMCs with a representative coverage of Mozambican regions were involved in the co-design of development actions for the provision of new services with inherent relevance for the communities. Actions were designed through the cooperation of the CMC directors and staff, the affiliated communities, and the RE-ACT team. The implementation was entirely managed by the CMC staff, with remote assistance from the RE-ACT team. The nine cases had different rates of success, ranging from successful ones to failure in achieving the objectives set. The paper focuses on one of the most successful cases, involving a CMC located in Quelimane, which provided ICT training addressing particularly underprivileged youth. Through the project, 79 youth were trained over one year in using ICTs and managing radio programs. The paper offers an analysis of this case and outlines the most important factors underpinning its successful implementation.
Proceedings of the 13th Participatory Design Conference on Research Papers - PDC '14, 2014
This paper engages with issues of universality and locality in the context of community-based par... more This paper engages with issues of universality and locality in the context of community-based participatory design (PD), and focuses on the challenges and opportunities associated with incorporating local views and forms of participation in the design process. The notion of 'designing for participation' is advanced as a quintessential perspective for approaches in which design practices are re-configured from a community-centric standpoint. Building on insights from PD and community development studies, as well as on empirical evidence from two community design studies, we argue that designing for participation appears to be located in a space between the designer's and local views of participation, which are at times both ambiguous and conflicting. To overcome these tensions, we argue for the importance of engaging critically and reflectively with PD in community contexts, and in this process capitalising on disciplinary dialogues that can expand the viewpoint from which PD projects are negotiated and evaluated.
CIRN 2014 Community Informatics Conference: Challenges and Solutions, 2014
Participatory design and research frameworks in community informatics seek to condense experience... more Participatory design and research frameworks in community informatics seek to condense experiences taken from accumulating practice in field work to describe and theorize processes for data generation, analysis, and stakeholder involvement in the design of programmes, activities or technology. This paper focuses on a particular aspect of participatory research and design processes in community-based projects: the transition from an analytical stage, characterised by observation, reflection and knowledge construction, towards designing action. Despite the wealth of conceptual and methodological literature on participatory research and design with communities, we gathered upon noticing that the topic of transitioning from exploration to designing action in community-based participatory research is relatively obscure, and merits more reflection and discussion. The paper offers a view into the processes that underpin this transition, in response to the questions: How is community-generated knowledge infused in design? What are the processes that unfold during this transition, and what roles do various stakeholders play? What are the key enabling factors and what challenges are associated with these processes? Guided by these questions, we shed light on various issues related to this transition by recounting cases taken from field experiences within different community projects in Syria, Brazil and Mozambique. By reflecting on these cases, we highlight how designed actions came into being, the roles of various stakeholders in making design choices, how constructed knowledge informed those actions, and the compromises that had to be balanced.
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Papers by Salomão David