Digital Reading: Inclusivity, Versatility, Engagement. Supporting underserved communities and emerging reading cultures in developing countries.
Lead Research Organisation:
Bournemouth University
Department Name: Faculty of Media and Communication
Abstract
Digital Reading programmes have demonstrated the potential for new technologies to provide solutions for developing countries where the logistics around access to and upkeep of print books may be hindering the growth of robust reading cultures. Programmes have also been designed to specifically target population groups 'left behind' because of cultural norms and stigmas specific to the local context. For example the Ana Soma project set up by Worldreader in Kenya aimed to encourage women to use a smartphone app to allow them to incorporate reading into their daily routines and duties. Nevertheless, most research and the main focus of digital reading initiatives in developing countries has been on classroom-based situations, meaning that the wider social impact of digital reading on readers' lives is barely discussed.
The proposed new network will bring together researchers, stakeholders and policy makers from multiple nations, academic disciplines and knowledge bases, to work closely with readers in some of the poorer parts of Kenya. Focusing specifically on promoting gender equality and social inclusion for people living with various kinds of disability, the network will examine current provision and best practice and work with readers and providers to identify gaps in provision and social and cultural barriers to engagement to ensure that future provision takes a more holistic and responsive view of the role technology can play in enhancing readers' lives.
The first workshop will focus on gender equality and digital reading, engaging with participants from the Ana Soma project from the Kibera slums outside Nairobi, and bringing together experts on gender equality in the region with stakeholders and policy makers to work on identifying measures to ensure that future provision is focused on sustainable solutions and building resilient reading cultures and communities. Following on from this, the second workshop will examine how assistive technologies already available can address the specific needs of readers with various kinds of physical or learning disabilities, minimising the risks of social isolation and enhancing their life opportunities. The workshop will include contributions from charities and organisations working with disabled groups in the region, as well as from end-users, and will reflect on the importance of an intersectional approach to gender and disability. Attendees will also be offered the opportunity to take part in a field trip to a deaf school in Mukuru which has been working with Worldreader to use digital devices to enhance provision for reading for its pupils.
In the final workshop, participants from the first two workshops will be invited back to work with DigiTales, a participatory media company, to create and produce short multimedia films reflecting on their experiences of using digital devices and the impact this has had on their lives. The stories will be produced over three days, and screened at an event on the final day which will be open to network members, the wider community of CUEA and friends and family of the storytellers to attend.
The proposed new network will bring together researchers, stakeholders and policy makers from multiple nations, academic disciplines and knowledge bases, to work closely with readers in some of the poorer parts of Kenya. Focusing specifically on promoting gender equality and social inclusion for people living with various kinds of disability, the network will examine current provision and best practice and work with readers and providers to identify gaps in provision and social and cultural barriers to engagement to ensure that future provision takes a more holistic and responsive view of the role technology can play in enhancing readers' lives.
The first workshop will focus on gender equality and digital reading, engaging with participants from the Ana Soma project from the Kibera slums outside Nairobi, and bringing together experts on gender equality in the region with stakeholders and policy makers to work on identifying measures to ensure that future provision is focused on sustainable solutions and building resilient reading cultures and communities. Following on from this, the second workshop will examine how assistive technologies already available can address the specific needs of readers with various kinds of physical or learning disabilities, minimising the risks of social isolation and enhancing their life opportunities. The workshop will include contributions from charities and organisations working with disabled groups in the region, as well as from end-users, and will reflect on the importance of an intersectional approach to gender and disability. Attendees will also be offered the opportunity to take part in a field trip to a deaf school in Mukuru which has been working with Worldreader to use digital devices to enhance provision for reading for its pupils.
In the final workshop, participants from the first two workshops will be invited back to work with DigiTales, a participatory media company, to create and produce short multimedia films reflecting on their experiences of using digital devices and the impact this has had on their lives. The stories will be produced over three days, and screened at an event on the final day which will be open to network members, the wider community of CUEA and friends and family of the storytellers to attend.
Planned Impact
The network explores the social impacts of digital reading particularly with regards to women and people living with disabilities in the poorer areas of a major city in Kenya. Through actively engaging with these communities, and consulting with providers and policy makers from the local area, the network will identify existing best practice and also map out areas for future development. Participants in the workshops will directly benefit from knowledge exchange. Participant readers will also benefit from training in storytelling and film making skills, and training in workshop facilitation.
Workshop activities have been carefully designed with impact in mind, facilitating dialogue and also ensuring that the network engages with participants from beyond the metropolitan centre by means of field trips to some of the most disadvantaged areas. Stakeholders and policy makers will learn from each other and by engaging with academic researchers and user groups. For the longer term, the digital stories will provide a valuable resource to be used in educational, public and commercial sectors. The digital stories will further help to disseminate the work of the network and inform audiences beyond academia, while the website will provide resources for researchers and stakeholders in the form of the curated blog and reports from workshop activities.
The work of the network will bring about new theories and methodologies for the study of readers in the context of developing countries, contributing to knowledge in ways that benefit both industry and academia. By collaborating across disciplinary, geographical and cultural boundaries, network members will produce innovative research disseminated via traditional routes such as conference papers and journal articles.
The work of the network will also have a long lasting impact on partner organisations, stakeholders and policy makers, both in terms of fostering new collaborations and capacity building, and by reinforcing the importance of consulting with and responding to user groups and their often complex needs. Longer term impacts will be the development of new content in local lanugages, and new apps and accessibility tools to reach new readers.
Workshop activities have been carefully designed with impact in mind, facilitating dialogue and also ensuring that the network engages with participants from beyond the metropolitan centre by means of field trips to some of the most disadvantaged areas. Stakeholders and policy makers will learn from each other and by engaging with academic researchers and user groups. For the longer term, the digital stories will provide a valuable resource to be used in educational, public and commercial sectors. The digital stories will further help to disseminate the work of the network and inform audiences beyond academia, while the website will provide resources for researchers and stakeholders in the form of the curated blog and reports from workshop activities.
The work of the network will bring about new theories and methodologies for the study of readers in the context of developing countries, contributing to knowledge in ways that benefit both industry and academia. By collaborating across disciplinary, geographical and cultural boundaries, network members will produce innovative research disseminated via traditional routes such as conference papers and journal articles.
The work of the network will also have a long lasting impact on partner organisations, stakeholders and policy makers, both in terms of fostering new collaborations and capacity building, and by reinforcing the importance of consulting with and responding to user groups and their often complex needs. Longer term impacts will be the development of new content in local lanugages, and new apps and accessibility tools to reach new readers.
| Title | Digital Stories |
| Description | Digital stories (2-3 minute films) produced by facilitators and participants. These were subtitled to increase access and feature local languages. Films were featured on the project website and are also available to view via YouTube. 12 films were produced in total. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | Creators of the digital stories benefited by gaining new skills in audio visual editing and storytelling. Several of the participants have gone on to produce further films and to showcase their films both within their local communities and more widely. One participant's story was included in the UN day celebrating people living with albinism in 2021. The films have also been shared by project partners via their websites. Impacts on audience are evidenced by comments left on the project website and on YouTube. |
| URL | http://www.drivenetkenya.com |
| Description | 1. There is a lot of energy and enthusiasm from stakeholders and individual readers for engaging with new technologies and their potential to address economic, social and cultural barriers perceived as inhibiting the growth of a vibrant reading culture in Kenya. 2. The use of co-creation and participatory methods for engaging readers allowed us to connect with left behind groups and empower them as content creators not just consumers. 3. Some barriers may be overcome by providing greater education and training about existing freely available or low-cost resources. 4. Libraries were identified as potentially providing an existing infrastructure across Kenya embedded in local communities that could provide the basis for driving and sustaining uptake of digital reading, including and engaging those left behind by the education system. 5. We need to be wary about assuming that technological solutions can by themselves provide solutions to deep seated social and cultural inequalities and of importing solutions from outside Africa without being responsive to local issues of language, culture and heritage. 6. We need to provide sustainable solutions and use a variety of methods to engage hard to reach groups. |
| Exploitation Route | Learnings from the project workshops and meetings were shared with NGOs and stakeholders in Kenya. These events provided opportunities for networking on a local (Kenya) and international basis. Access to all materials was provided for network members and resources were also shared more widely via the project website. The toolkit created as a result of the project has been used by digital storytelling practitioners in training events internationally and is available free to download from the website. The stories created as part of the project are also free to download. The project provided training for 12 individuals based in Kenya, including participants from rural and indigenous communities. The training and learnings they received will be shared with their communities. This training was targeted at women readers and people with disabilities from some of the remotest and poorest regions of Kenya. The project has initiated new networking opportunities both in the host country and internationally. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education |
| URL | http://www.drivenetkenya.com |
| Description | The DRIVE network held a number of meetings and workshops between September 2020 and March 2021. These provided networking opportunities for academics and stakeholders in the DAC country (Kenya) and also internationally. Workshops also included participation from people with disabilities and women readers from some of the poorest regions of Kenya. Part 2 of the project provided training for 3 Kenyan based facilitators in digital storytelling methods. They then went on to deliver 3 workshops in different regions of Kenya (covering urban, rural, pastoral communities) for 9 participants. All benefited from being given training in audio and visual editing, use of iPads and storyboarding and storytelling techniques. Additional training in subtitling was also provided for the facilitators. The project team and network was organised with gender equality in mind. The majority of network members were female and key partner organisations (DigiTales and Worldreader) also had female leadership. An evaluation report based on the project was made available via our website. This details how every aspect of project management and delivery was designed with gender equality in mind. Reporting on individual events and activities reflected on inclusivity, both in terms of gender and in terms of accessibility. DigiTales provided gender equality ad safeguarding for facilitators, and one of the facilitators is a gender activist based in Kenya working with women and girls from an indigenous pastoral community. Many of the stories produced as part of the project provided insights into ongoing issues affecting gender inequality and stigma towards people with disabilities, raising awareness of these issues not just in relation to the metropolitan centre, but also how they affect rural and indigenous communities. Several of the stories produced touched on issues of gender equality. One story dealt with FGM. Any negative consequences of making this story public were mitigated by fully briefing the participant and ensuring she is given ongoing support from the local facilitator. A risk assessment and ethics checklist were submitted prior to the project start date and any issues raised were addressed before these were approved. Project outcomes have been used by project partners and featured on their websites. Collaborating organisations have implemented learnings into their activities and programmes and network members also reported how skills and insights gained from the workshops have impacted on their professional practice. The project toolkit free to download from the website has been used by digital storytelling practitioners in training and dissemination events. The project team have presented at international conferences on the outcomes of the research. In 2021, one of the stories produced in the workshops was screened as part of a UN day celebrating people with albinism. The project primarily addressed the following SDGs: Quality Education; Gender Equality. Beneficiaries included women and people with disabilities from some of the poorest and remotest regions of Kenya. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Description | Training for digital storytelling facilitation |
| Geographic Reach | Africa |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | 3 facilitators from Kenya were trained by project consultants DigiTales. Two of the facilitators are male, one female, they are based in Nairobi, Western Kenya and Narok County. The facilitator from Narok is from an indigenous group often left behind in discussions of gender equality and inclusivity in the region. The training, delivered by the female Co-director of DigiTales, involved introduction to storytelling techniques, audio visual editing using iMovie and Audacity, use of Creative Commons. Training also included advice on conducting a risk assessment and methods for facilitating workshops with members of the general public, including ensuring gender equality and inclusivity of activities. Benefits include enhanced digital literacy for facilitators and employability. Once trained, the facilitators will be able to pass on skills to those in their communities. They will also be delivering workshops for the final phase of the project. As part of the training the 3 facilitators each produced a short film reflecting on their experience as readers and storytellers within their communities which will be displayed on the project website and on a dedicated channel on YouTube where members of the public will be able to engage with and react to the stories and find out more about the trainees and their communities and the part that reading plays in their day to day lives. These will help to provide insights into current practices, as well as educating and informing the public and challenging misconceptions. |
| URL | http://www.drivenetkenya.com |
| Title | Methods for online delivery of digital storytelling workshops |
| Description | Digital storytelling is a method that has been developed for working in community, face to face settings. Due to the impact of COVID we had to redesign these methods to accommodate online training of facilitators and delivery of workshops remotely. A toolkit was developed based on the new methods for use by other researchers and practitioners. The new methods reflect the shift to online delivery but will also include aspects of story design that are responsive to storytelling customs and traditions from the DAC nation and from indigenous communities outside of the main metropolitan centres. The toolkit is freely available via our website ensuring the sustainability of these new methods and providing a legacy for future practitioners and researchers. The toolkit has been shared with digital storytelling practitioners as part of an Erasmus Futurability training programme involving 9 countries and also via international conferences. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The new methods will facilitate the use of DS in remote or hard to reach areas. They will address the need for these methods to be responsive to the cultures and traditions of DAC nations and to underserved communities within those nations. This will benefit other researchers and practitioners across multiple disciplines. It will also have benefits for participants in DS workshops. |
| Description | Digitales |
| Organisation | Digitales |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | DigiTales benefit from new collaborations with academic partners and stakeholders and also from the development of their working methods responding to the pandemic. Participation in the network has expanded the international reach of the organisation and further enhanced their track record of delivering inclusive and impactful projects. |
| Collaborator Contribution | DigiTales have contributed to project planning and meetings throughout. They provided facilitation for workshops and skills training for participants, and devised training programme for facilitators based in Kenya. They have also contributed by liaising with existing partners in Africa. They have developed online toolkit for the delivery of digital stories specifically for the network, but also as a toolkit to be used by other researchers and practitioners. They have also contributed blog posts and devised activities for network meetings, and provided transcription for one meeting. |
| Impact | DigiTales collaborated on the preparation for meeting reports and blog posts. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Ruh Global |
| Organisation | Ruh Global Impact |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | We hosted two sessions delivered by Ruh Global to the network and were involved prior to this in briefing Ruh about the background to the project, requirements etc. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Ruh Global is an organisation that provides consultancy on training on accessibility and inclusive design. They delivered two workshops on assistive technology and reading, involving participation from 5 members of their team, three of whom are persons with disabilities, two of whom are women. The speakers came from the US, Syria and the Philippines. Their presentations provided network members with valuable insights into the latest technologies, issues of policy and rights for people with disabilities. They also made resources available to network members including previously published reports and studies. |
| Impact | Full reports and recordings of these meetings are available on the project website. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | University Partner |
| Organisation | Catholic University of Eastern Africa |
| Country | Kenya |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have expanded the organisation's local and international networks and raised the profile of the institution in terms of its research internationally. |
| Collaborator Contribution | CUEA have provided general admin support for setting up the network and for network meetings. Due to COVID, travel has not been possible and meetings based in Kenya have moved online, but CUEA have helped to ensure continuity and provided support where necessary. |
| Impact | The main outcomes will be delivered in the final quarter. The project website features Reports of meetings and blog posts by network members. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | University partner 2 |
| Organisation | Chuka University |
| Country | Kenya |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Chuka university's participation in the research network will further develop their international and local networks and raise their profile internationally as a research institution with expertise in issues around digital reading. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Chuka university contributed by providing research time and resourcing for the Co-investigator who moved from the Catholic University to CHUKA in May 2020. They have also provided some administrative support. |
| Impact | The Co-I has contributed by participating in and organising meetings and workshops all of which are reported on the project website. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Worldreader |
| Organisation | Worldreader |
| Department | Worldreader East Africa |
| Country | Kenya |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We have contributed to augmenting and expanding the organisation's national (Kenya) and international networks. We have worked with WR to develop a programme of activities that build on their ongoing work in Kenya around accessibility and inclusivity and digital reading. We have also contributed by expanding the organisation's understanding of issues affecting people with disabilities and available assistive technologies, not previously a major focus for their programmes. Our project has also expanded the reach of WR's existing activities in Kenya, particularly through our engagement with indigenous groups. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Worldreader have given us access to their promotional materials and research. They have provided valuable support in organising network meetings and providing speakers. They are also key to the project in providing us with links to local networks and introductions to potential project participants. The Ana Soma project based in Kenya which focused on gender and reading has provided a key underpinning for the focus of the new network, and WR has provided us with access to materials and participants from this project. |
| Impact | Reports of meetings attended by and hosted by Worldreader appear on the project website. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Accessibility and Inclusivity Workshops |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Ruh Global delivered two workshops introducing network members to the latest innovations in reading related assistive technologies, issues of policy and rights, and some hands on demonstrations of the impacts of assistive technologies for people with disabilities. 60% of attendees were based in Kenya, 70% of attendees were women. Ruh Global speakers were from the US, the Philippines and Syria, 2 of the 5 speakers were female, 2 of the 5 speakers were people with disabilities. Many of the illustrative examples included projects based in Kenya. After the session, several network members and some of the speakers reported on the impact the discussions had had on them, and reported interest in learning more about the rights of people living with disabilities and the role digital technologies could play in enhancing inclusivity. The sessions were widely reported across social media, disseminated by the project Twitter account, and on Ruh Global's social media accounts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://www.drivenetkenya.com |
| Description | Being Human - the future of storytelling |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The PI took part in an event on The Future of Storytelling as part of the Being Human festival organised by SAS and the AHRC. As part of this talk she presented on the work of the DRIVE project, reflecting on the positive impacts of the digital for developing nations but also raising awareness of the importance of recognising indigenous ways of knowing and working with local communities to address existing inequities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://beinghumanfestival.org/events/future-storytelling |
| Description | Decolonising Digital Storytelling Conference Paper |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The PI and the Director of DigiTales presented a paper on Decolonising Digital Storytelling at the International Visual Methods Conference hosted by the University of Cape Town. The talk was presented virtually due to ongoing travel restrictions due to COVID. The paper reflected on lessons learned from the adaptation to virtual delivery of digital storytelling workshops, and featured the views of the three facilitators trained by DigiTales all of whom are based in Kenya. Q&A focused on some of the practical issues arising from the delivery but also relating to the impact on the participants and facilitators. As a result of the paper, the project toolkit has been downloaded and used in training by digital storytelling practitioners as well as ongoing discussions about issues relating to decolonisation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.visualmethods.info |
| Description | Digital Reading and Inclusivity |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The PI and Co-I organised a panel for the SHARP Conference in 2021 (held virtually) featuring one paper on the DRIVE project and the role of libraries in Kenya and one paper by colleagues from the US and Nigeria on an online literacy project based in a war torn region of Nigeria. The panel was one of the first to feature academics from African nations at this international conference. Discussion centred on the impacts of the two projects and lessons learned, and on the implications of engaging with readers and academics from developing nations for challenging and interrogating existing theories and assumptions about digital literacy practices. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.sharpweb.org/movingtexts2021/ |
| Description | Gender and Digital Reading |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This session was facilitated by Worldreader and reported on their Ana Soma project which aimed to reach women of diverse ages, educational levels and backgrounds in developing new digital programmes based on mobility and accessibility. The session involved 6 speakers from WR East Africa, 5 women and one male participant from the Ana Soma project. Attendees were primarily from Kenya (75%) and primarily female (65%). The session provided valuable insights into current literacy practices and reading cultures in Kenya and how these may disadvantage women. This directly addresses current imbalances where literacy rates in Kenya are said to be around 15% lower for women, and where women are often discouraged from reading once they have left formal education. The session also identified areas where further research is needed, particularly in reaching women from underserved communities, rural parts of Kenya and older women. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://www.drivenetkenya.com |
| Description | Intergenerational Research and Working with Families |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This session involved 2 speaker, one from the UK and one from Kenya. One paper focused on an academic study based in the Uk working with families to explore the impacts of digital media technologies. This introduced some cutting edge theory and also provided some criticality in discussing how technological solutions to social problems are sometimes perceived. The second talk focused on outreach work with families taking place in Kenya, and the potential impacts of digital technologies on improving access and engagement from local communities. Following the talks, several participants asked for further information and expressed an interest in exploring the issues raised further. 60% of attendees were female, 65% of attendees were based in Kenya. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://www.drivenetkenya.com |
| Description | Introduction to digital storytelling |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This session provided some background to digital storytelling, led by DigiTales. This included reporting on a previous project led by one of the network members in Kibera, an informal settlement outside Nairobi, and the work of Insight Share working with indigenous tribes in Kenya. This was followed by an interactive session where network members shared stories of reading, which were later included in a blog post on the project website. For many of our network members based in Kenya, this was their first introduction to participatory methods, and many members reported that they were inspired by the use of storytelling, and eager to explore further opportunities to be involved. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Libraries and Inclusivity |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | The session involved 3 librarians from Kenya, two male and one female. 65% of the audience were from Kenya, 70% of the audience was female. The session provided insights into the library system in Kenya, including in underserved communities. Discussion of libraries included university libraries, public libraries and community libraries. One of the speakers was a librarian from Kibera, an informal settlement in Nairobi, who reported on the initiatives they have developed around digital technologies and reading. After the meeting, we invited the librarian to join the network, and she is now helping to recruit participants for the digital storytelling workshops. The session had a major influence on discussions about future research directions for the network. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://www.drivenet.kenya.com |
| Description | Reading Cultures |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This meeting brought together project partners and academics with 75% of attendees based in Kenya and 80% of attendees were female. 2 of the 3 speakers are from Kenya, 2 of the 3 speakers are female. The presentations focused on reading cultures in Nigeria and Kenya, with one speaker focusing on contemporary media cultures in Kenya. The main purpose of the activity was to share existing research expertise, explore how this could be developed collaboratively. The meeting also provided an opportunity for project partners from outside of the academy to contribute their own insights. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://www.drivenetkenya.com |