Since I’ve started at Sun I’ve been thinking a lot about how to best apply my education in anthropology to the projects we’re working on. It’s early, but so far I’ve been exploring the different ways humans interface with technology with the hope of designing effective educational content. The process of settling in has been great, I work with some very forward-thinking and intelligent people and I get to do a lot of research on all kinds of Web related stuff.

Along with reflecting on the ways anthropology merges with the Web and digital media, I’ve taken an interest in the potential of mobile computing. Sun has a development team which I hope to jump on board with soon that focuses on developing mobile learning initiatives. This is of deep interest to me since we live at a time when information is tremendously hard to contain and, as a result, we are forced to question how we conduct ourselves; in courtship, at work, at home, online, offline, in conversations with our parents, our children, our friends. This is not an exhaustive list, of course, and one more thing that could be tacked on is that we’re also forced to question how we conduct ourselves in the classroom, students and instructors alike.

The dominant model of education reinforces the idea that the classroom is the epicenter of learning, that you must be tethered to one in order to “learn” anything (since outside of the classroom humans quit learning?).  Now, I definitely respect the sanctity of the threshold and how this might extend to the classroom for some people, because, let’s be honest, some things are best learned in the classroom.  But, in many cases what doesn’t appear to be taken into account is how now, unlike any other time in known history, we are awash in information (although, you tell anyone this and they will, of course, nod their head and agree with you), in and out of the classroom. The idea of the teacher as the sole reservoir of knowledge needs rethinking since we no longer live in a world where information is scarce.  (Re)conceptualizing teachers as guides that direct students instead of talk at them will serve us better in this “information age” (not to beat an overused buzzword).  What may suit us better is an emphasis on developing the skills needed to skillfully and wittingly consume and produce information not solely within the classroom and during class time, but anytime and anywhere.  That way students can become agents of their own education.  Mobile computing is definitely one possible way to bolster this effort.  Now, I’m not saying the classroom is obsolete.  It just needs rethinking.  Just because information is readily available doesn’t mean we know what the hell to do with it, or what information is worth doing anything with in the first place.

So I see mobile computing helping expand the boundaries of the learning environment, but what can it do in places were pervasive digital technology isn’t a reality?  By pure chance I received a link to an article called Anthropology’s Technology-driven Renaissance written by Ken Banks who has a degree in social anthropology and development studies from Sussex University.  According to his bio on Stanford’s Digital Vision Program website, Ken “Over the past thirteen years has worked on numerous conservation and development projects in Zambia, Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique and for the past three has run his own consultancy – kiwanja.net – specializing in the application of mobile technology in the non-profit sector.”  His article is great, I recommend that you read it.  It briefly outlines some of the ways anthropology is used in the tech sector (in this case with mobile tech in “developing” countries) and, far from selling out, how it can be applied to help empower people and create a positive impact on their lives.