"This article explores the links between transnational media flows and social and political change in authoritarian regimes through a conjunctural study of Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), a Burmese exile media organization. Drawing on observation and interviews conducted at DVB's Oslo studio during
...
the 2010 elections in Burma as well as documentary research, the article explores how diasporic media may contribute to democratization in a military regime where press freedoms and political expression are severely curtailed. The first section draws on Appadurai's theory of global flows to scrutinize transnational flows of people, capital, media, ideas and technology contributing to DVB's operations from 1992 to 2010. The next section engages with theories of media and democracy in order to examine DVB's innovative satellite television coverage of the 2010 elections. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the ongoing relevance of opposition media based outside of Burma amid liberalization measures undertaken by Thein Sein's nominally civilian government in 2011." (Abstract)
more
"Although many countries are aggressively implementing the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) program, there is a lack of empirical evidence on its effects. This paper presents the impact of the first large-scale randomized evaluation of the OLPC program, using data collected after 15 months of implementat
...
ion in 319 primary schools in rural Peru. The results indicate that the program increased the ratio of computers per student from 0.12 to 1.18 in treatment schools. This expansion in access translated into substantial increases in use both at school and at home. No evidence is found of effects on enrollment and test scores in Math and Language. Some positive effects are found, however, in general cognitive skills as measured by Raven’s Progressive Matrices, a verbal fluency test and a Coding test." (Abstract)
more
"Aktive Medienarbeit ist die zentrale Methode der Medienpädagogik und täglich werden in unzähligen Projekten neue und bewährte Konzepte angewandt. Gleichzeitig entdecken viele pädagogische Fachkräfte Medienpädagogik oder die Aktive Medienarbeit neu und suchen nach Grundlagen, Anregungen und K
...
onzepten – und finden diese verstreut an vielen verschiedenen Stellen, aber nirgendwo übersichtlich gebündelt. Das JFF – Institut für Medienpädagogik und der Medienpädagogik Praxis-Blog sammeln in diesem Buch theoretische Grundlagen und bewährte Konzepte und schlagen so eine Brücke zwischen engagierten Expertinnen und Experten und allen, die nach Anregungen suchen. So sind knapp 100 erprobte und übertragbare Konzepte aus den Bereichen Foto, Audio, Video, Web, Mobile, Games und Quer ausführlich beschrieben und durch Checklisten, Arbeitsmaterialien und Fotos hilfreich ergänzt. Zusätzlich sind theoretische Grundlagen für die Aktive Medienarbeit so aufbereitet, dass sie bei der alltäglichen Projektarbeit helfen. Einen besonderen Einblick in die Vielfalt der medienpädagogischen Praxis geben darüber hinaus die individuellen Tipps von Expertinnen und Experten und das Glossar, das Fachbegriffe verständlich macht und einen zusätzlichen Zugang zu den Projekten ermöglicht." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
more
"Zoroastrians are an ancient ethnic-religious community that goes back to the prophet Zarathustra. Today they number some 120,000 people, based in India/Pakistan and Iran; diaspora communities are settled in North America, the United Kingdom, Australia. On the Indian sub-continent, where Zoroastrian
...
s are known as ‘Parsis’, communities are ageing quickly, due in particular to a low fertility rate and massive outmigration. Projections show there will be virtually no more Zoroastrians in Pakistan in a few decades, and figures in India may drop to 20,000 individuals by 2050. For such a scattered community, the Internet represents a unique platform to discuss community matters and bring together far-flung groups. Zoroastrians use the Web and other digital media to organize themselves and remain connected to their homeland. This e-diaspora not only highlights some traditional characteristics of Zoroastrian communities, it intertwines with the apparition of a new leadership. It also accelerates the emergence of a universal conception of what it is to be Zoroastrian, transforming the Zoroastrian socio-cultural and religious identity and reshaping past and present divisions." (Abstract)
more
"This chapter examines how community radio in post-apartheid South Africa is playing an important role in the cultural citizenship of ethnic minorities. Using the case study of Radio Islam, a community radio station located in Johannesburg in South Africa, it explores how the radio station provides
...
spaces for the celebration of the culture and identity of the Muslim minorities in the country. Although Radio Islam considers itself to be a community of interest station, it is actually based on a hybrid model that mixes the geographic and community of interest organizational norms." (Introduction, page 303)
more
"This article is an attempt to explore the issues of online representations of orphans in China and India in the intersection of power, voice, and placement. Textual and visual representations of orphans at www.homeofhopeindia.org and www.homeofhope.org are analyzed using the theoretical frameworks
...
of voicings, whiteness, and the colonial (technological) gaze. We examine how online networks are spaces for discursive reproduction of existing offline hegemonies. We pay particular attention to the reproduction and representation of the so-called voiceless Other in online settings." (Abstract)
more
"Entertainment-education interventions frequently include an explicit persuasive appeal, such as an epilogue, at their conclusion. This may help to overcome potential limitations of narrative persuasion by highlighting and clarifying the underlying message. Despite this potential, an explicit persua
...
sive appeal may also undermine the subtle approach that distinguishes narrative persuasion and thereby induce reactance and/or counterarguing. The purpose of this study was to experimentally test these two possible outcomes. In particular, the effect of an explicit persuasive appeal in the context of a dramatic television program about the dangers of drinking and driving was examined. Overall, results revealed that the narrative and explicit persuasive appeal interact to influence drinking-and-driving attitudes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed." (Abstract)
more
"How do students' online literacy practices intersect with online popular culture? In this book scholars from a range of countries including Australia, Lebanon, Nepal, Qatar, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States illustrate and analyze how literacy practices that are mediated through and influ
...
enced by popular culture create both opportunities and tensions for secondary and university students. The authors examine issues of theory, identity, and pedagogy as they address participatory popular culture sites such as fan forums, video, blogs, social networking sites, anime, memes, and comics and graphic novels." (Back cover)
more
"The gender-sensitive indicators for media (GSIM) is a non-prescriptive set of indicators, designed particularly for media of all forms. However it bears much relevance and usefulness to citizens' media groups advocating for gender equality, other non-governmental organizations, media associations,
...
journalists' unions and clubs, media self-regulatory bodies, civil society organizations, especially those concerned with gender and media, government ministries or entities, academic institutions and research centres such as journalism, communication, technology schools and universities and other training institutes. The purpose is to encourage media organizations to make gender equality issues transparent and comprehensible to the public, as well as to analyze their own internal policies and practices with a view to take necessary actions for change. The hope is that media organizations will, through their own mechanisms, decide to adapt and apply these indicators to enhance media development and quality journalism." (Page 16)
more
"Modern rich digital media (such as interactive systems with audio and video as well as text) have not been robustly deployed as a tool in the processes of peace-building, healing and reconciliation in nations emerging from civil conflict. This article studies the use of rich digital media in Liberi
...
a, a country that has only recently emerged from a protracted and intense civil war. The authors demonstrate that, when rich digital media are used to target processes of truth and reconciliation, they enhance Liberians’ feeling of self-efficacy – their self-assessed sense of personal competence to deal effectively with stressful situations. This increased self-efficacy was not present in a control group. The authors argue that self-efficacy is a critical component for forgiveness and truth-telling which, in turn, is a fundamental process in reconciliation and healing. These results are based on a survey of over 100 Liberians in Monrovia, the capital city. Participants interacted with a rich digital media system, took pre- and post-interaction self-efficacy inventories, and responded to additional questions. The findings suggest that rich digital media focused on truth and reconciliation can contribute to post-Conflict healing." (Abstract)
more
"Television is the most widely used media among this population: 9 out of 10 interviewed reported watching it at least once last month; satellite dishes are the dominant way of receiving television signal in rural areas (Cable more prevalent in urban areas). Chinese channels are largely reserved for
...
entertainment (Distrust the news on most Chinese television channels). Local dialect programming [is] important (Amke, Khamke, or Uke): No single dialect is dominant across all regions; Chinese and English broadcasting has limited audience." (Slide 30)
more
"Surveys enjoy great ubiquity among data collection methods in social research: they are flexible in questioning techniques, in the amount of questions asked, in the topics covered, and in the various ways of interactions with respondents. Surveys are also the preferred method by many researchers in
...
the social sciences due to their ability to provide quick profiles and results. Because they are so commonly used and fairly easy to administer, surveys are often thought to be easily thrown together. But designing an effective survey that yields reliable and valid results takes more than merely asking questions and waiting for the answers to arrive. Geared to the non-statistician, the Handbook of Survey Methodology in Social Sciences addresses issues throughout all phases of survey design and implementation. Chapters examine the major survey methods of data collection, providing expert guidelines for asking targeted questions, improving accuracy and quality of responses, while reducing sampling and non-sampling bias. Relying on the Total Survey Error theory, various issues of both sampling and non-sampling sources of error are explored and discussed." (Publisher description)
more
"This toolkit is designed to help USAID projects and other implementing organizations use interactive radio to augment the traditional agricultural extension services they are providing. In addition, it aims to provide practitioners with a foundational understanding of what is needed to create compe
...
lling radio programming. It is important to stress that this toolkit does not assume that radio is the most appropriate solution for disseminating agricultural information. Rather, given the fact that radio continues to be the most readily accessible communication tool in much of sub-Saharan Africa, this toolkit aims to enable practitioners to develop a more systematic approach to using interactive radio as one medium through which they share information with farmers." (Introduction)
more
"This learning resource kit aims to provide an answer to the current gender gap in news content and lack of existing self-regulatory mechanisms to confront gender bias. It is organised in two books that may be read independently of each other. Book 1 discusses conceptual issues pertaining to gender,
...
media and professional ethics, while Book 2 presents gender-ethical reporting guidelines on several thematic areas [...] Book 1 also contains case studies of experiences in the adoption and implementation of gender-focussed media codes in 2 countries – Canada and Tanzania. A third case study profiles the experience of the Inter-Press Service in a groundbreaking initiative to cover stories on gender equality and women’s empowerment related to the third Millennium Development Goal (MDG3). All case studies distill lessons learnt through the processes. Book 1 will appeal to media decision makers as well as to civil society actors interested in gender media policy adoption or improvement." (Preamble, page 3)
more
"Examining the role of memory in the transition from totalitarian to democratic systems, this book makes an important contribution to memory studies. It explores memory as a medium of and impediment to change, looking at memory's biological, cultural, narrative and socio-psychological dimensions." (
...
Publisher description)
more
"An study among 1,564 children from Cambodia, Thailand, and the Philippines tested the increase of knowledge among viewers of the Southeast Asian programme "I Got It". Initiated by why the Goethe Institutes in Southeast Asia, this first regional knowledge programme for children was produced in 9 Asi
...
an countries (Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam). According to the conclusion, "the study shows that children get something out of the programme. They get more out of some episodes than others, but the tendency is clear: knowledge programmes enrich children’s lives, especially if they provide new facts and insights, give visual form to things which are not usually visible, and thereby foster a more complex understanding of familiar things." (commbox)
more
"Internews surveyed more than 120 Syrian refugees in Zaatari camp, asking a set of 30 questions about information needs, sources, and trust levels. Additionally, 20 in-depth key informant interviews were conducted with humanitarian workers and media professionals in Jordan and in Beirut, Lebanon. As
...
per the rapid assessment, many refugees in the camp are frustrated by their increasing ignorance of their current situation, the lack of adequate access to news and information about the situation in Syria, the quality of services available in the camp, and the lack of information about the very same services available. First and foremost, refugees demand news and information about Syria. This is followed by the need to know how to access basic services particularly with regard to water, food and new shelter (i.e. caravans). Residents also want to know information about their general situation in the camp. The overwhelming majority of refugees affirmed satellite TV was the source of information they trusted the most when there were at home in Syria – Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Arabiya being the preferred channels. In Zaatari, TV is the source refugees would like to access for news about Syria as well as for entertainment. After TV, mobile phones and Internet were ranked among the three most trusted sources." (Summary)
more