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Report on the Grundtvig

Workshops MyMobile

“Mobile 2.0 to support visibility and job search”

Workshop 1 Dates: May 30th, June 6th and 13th Location: Novolab, Via Lelio Torelli 2, Florence

Workshop 2 Dates: December 16th 2011 Location: Junior Secondary School G. Galilei, Via Medici 1, San Pietro in Palazzi, Cecina (LI)

University of Florence, Department of Education Educational Technology Laboratory

Maria Ranieri – Isabella Bruni

Mailto maria.ranieri@unifi.it │ isabella_bruni@yahoo.it

Facebook www.facebook.com/ranierimaria

Twitter http://twitter.com/emmeran

academia.edu http://unifi.academia.edu/mariaranieri

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CONTENT

1. Design of the Workshops 1.1 Background 1.2 Aims and design 1.3 Learning and multimedia tools 1.4 Evaluation strategies

2. The first workshop: context, structure and products 2.1 The context 2.2 The structure and detailed agenda 2.4 Products’ analysis

3. The second workshop: context, structure and products 3.1 The context 3.2 The structure and detailed agenda 3.4 Products’ analysis

4. Evaluation References

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1. Design of the Workshops

1.1 Background The Italian workshops are mainly characterised by the use of digital storytelling. Digital storytelling is a technique based on narrative with digital content such as images, sounds and video, and oriented to the creation of stories with a strong personal component. Its use is gradually spreading across different fields from formal to informal education and in professional contexts. In particular, digital storytelling can be effective for job search. Indeed, considering the present scenario of the knowledge society and the flexibility of the current labor market, telling stories relating to their own professional experiences can become a useful tool to increase adults’ personal awareness and visibility. After all, choosing a career is often connected with a process of self-recognition. A specific application of digital storytelling in workplace is the creation of a multimedia CV (curriculum vitae). A multimedia CV is not a mere transposition of a traditional curriculum in a multimedia format, but a more concise tool for giving a reasoned presentation of a candidate in a few minutes to highlight in a creative and appealing way his/her own skills and personality. Briefly, the multimedia CV can be viewed as a business card for a person willing to let others know his/her services. As being a short digital movie, it is pretty easy to spread it through the channels of web portals and it is increasingly requested today by companies. Summarizing, a multimedia CV is a digital self-presentation aiming at promoting his/herself in the job market, using different media languages. This tool may have the following advantages: it helps promoting his/herself, highlighting qualities and experiences with the support of

images and sounds rather than only texts; it is a preview of a job interview, shortening the distance between job seekers and

employment/recruitment agencies; it can be used to integrate a traditional curriculum to allow employment agencies to

evaluate candidate’s behaviours and his/her capacity of self-promotion; it allows job seekers to demonstrate their language skills; it is more than a letter of motivation; it is innovative and captures the attention of the recipient (if well done).

1.2 Aims and design The main objective of the Italian workshops was to help young people and/or adult disadvantaged learners develop digital skills to promote self-representation and increase personal visibility for job searching and placement. The focus was on how to design, implement and disseminate a multimedia CV by using mobile phones and web 2.0 tools. Nowadays mobile phones are widely spread, even in disadvantaged contexts such as developing countries and among people in lower socioeconomic groups, as their costs are increasingly low. They have penetrated into our daily lives in very deep ways, so people now perceive them as necessary tools of their existences. Cell phones’ strength lies in their being always available to individuals during the day supporting multiple activities through a series of features such as personal organiser, calendar and alarm clock, multimedia functions and geolocation apps. All these features enable users to document and track their lives.

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Even the most basic models of cell phone incorporate the digital camera which is a powerful tool to document and archive their own experiences. Indeed, the practice of taking pictures and videos to remember important moments in their lives is very common. In a sense, mobile devices can be seen as sort of digital archive of life, a sort of always available memory that can be easily and quickly accessed, displayed, or connected with the outside world. The Italian workshops aimed at encouraging participants to use this huge archive of materials in a more reflective way: producing a multimedia CV as a personal digital story for job purposes helps people reflecting on their experiences and extract the main message to be transmitted through the new digital communication tools. The workshops were carried out in two steps: Pilot phase – First workshop In the pilot phase, a first workshop was delivered addressing adult learners in search for a first job or with difficulties in finding a new job in the marketplace. The workshop was based on a ‘learning by doing’ approach using multimedia tools and stimulating participants to reflect on their own practices. Second phase – Second workshop In a second phase, a second workshop was re-designed and delivered taking into account data and information gathered in the pilot phase. In this case, the focus was on testing a methodology to train multi-players such as teachers and trainers working with young and adult learners. 1.3 Learning and multimedia tools The multimedia CV can be implemented in various multimedia formats: - audio + images (photos) - audio + images (photos) + texts - audio + video - audio + video + texts The choice of the most adequate format depends on various factors such as its effectiveness, the difficulties that may rise during the production process, the features of the personal devices that people possess and their digital competences. In our case, we opted for a basic solution, where images, audio and written texts were simply integrated. Indeed, though reducing the complexity of instruments and skills required to implement a multimedia, it is still possible to create a good product. Mobile devices In both workshops personal mobile devices were used with some individuals owning basic models while others possessing more advanced features. For the implementation of the self-presentation and the multimedia CV, two different procedures were followed, depending on participants’ equipment and digital skills. When working with basic models, mobile phones were used as a digital archive of personal life and to digitize other materials, such as old pictures and certificates, while the multimedia implementation was made through the computer and specific software (Photo Story3). When working with smartphones, they were used not only as digital archives, but also for production, using digital storytelling apps.

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Software and apps In order to select the software to be used with basic mobile devices, at first, some online services to create slideshows have been reviewed, but they were excluded as they were in English, or because their free versions had limitations in terms of duration or layout of the final product. It was therefore decided to use offline software to design the products as well as to implement them. As regards the design, it was used a simple and widely diffused software like Office PowerPoint (or alternatively OpenOffice Impress, a free and open source software), which may help create a simple storyboard. As far as the editing and the multimedia production is concerned, the software recommended was PhotoStory3, a Microsoft software free of charges for Windows Operating System users. Although PhotoStory3 is a proprietary software, it was selected because it is an easy-to-use tool integrating in a single product all the features that were necessary for the implementation of the digital CV. In particular, it has an intuitive interface and production is based on 5 easy steps. Moreover, it allows users to: save their work files, so they can carry on the work even at different times, or easily make

changes and integrations; obtain images from movies and to incorporate motion effects and transition; record an audio commentary for each image; add soundtracks enabling users to import external audio tracks, or generate an original

audio composition; export the product in a proprietary format such as Windows Media Video (.wmv),

optimized for different distribution channels (web, phone, email). With advanced mobile devices, digital storytelling apps can be used to produce personal multimedia stories. Users may create new or draw on existing media contents, including images, stored in their personal mobile phones or their social networks, and then edit them and add their voiceover narrating, in order to obtain as a final product a brief audio-visual narration. For the iOS operating system, the following apps are recommended:

Storyrobe 1.0 (www.storyrobe.com Story by Robe Inc. LLC, € 0.79) - it is an easy-to-use tool to create a digital story in three steps: choose images/videos, record story and share it. It is possible to select images from the personal archive or taking new images/pictures. The maximum recording time is set at 3 minutes. The integrated sharing options allow users to send products via email or upload them on YouTube (only for iPhone);

SonicPics 2.1 (www.sonicpics.com by Humble Daisy, Inc., €2.39) – it allows users to add images from their personal photo library or snap new ones, to arrange photos and record voiceover narrating images as users swipe through them. It is possible to record up to 60 minutes per session and select audio quality. Final movies can be published on YouTube, shared via Wi-Fi to computers or sent by email (available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad).

Mobile and online services

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A blog1 was created to support content delivery and sharing, and to enable interactions between trainers and participants during the week. Mobile devices were used not only to capture and store multimedia materials but also to interact with students (Table 1): an SMS support service was set up during the workshop period with three different purposes: - providing motivational support; - reminding organizational aspects (scheduled lessons, places etc.); - giving some tips about content and specific tasks (examples of how to solve the task etc.). Table 1: SMS Support Service: Aims and Text

N° AIMS TEXT DATE h 19 pm

SMS 1 Motivation Ciao -------. Ripercorri la tua vita, i tuoi studi e lavori passati. E poi immagina il futuro che vorresti...così saprai come fare il tuo CV multimediale!

2nd June

SMS 2 Tips Ciao -------, per il CV multimediale seleziona materiali su tue esperienze passate, come certificati e foto: non dimenticare di portarli al prossimo incontro!

3rd June

SMS 3 Organization Ciao -------, ti ricordiamo che domani lunedì 6 giugno ci sarà la seconda lezione su CV multimediale. Appuntamento al Novolab dalle 15 alle 17

5th June

SMS 4 Motivation Ciao -------, il tuo CV multimediale è a buon punto: cosa manca ancora? come può essere migliorato? Un ultimo sforzo e ci siamo!

8th June

SMS 5 Tips Ciao -------, per vedere il lavoro che hai realizzato durante il laboratorio, chiarire dubbi e fare commenti puoi visitare la pagina http://multimediacv.wordpress.com

10th June

SMS 6 Organization Ciao -------, ti ricordiamo che domani lunedì 13 giugno ci sarà l'ultima lezione su multimedia CV. Appuntamento al Novolab dalle 10 alle 12

12 nd June

1.4 Evaluation strategies The workshop has been monitored by researchers through a combination of survey instruments in order to evaluate the following aspects: 1) learning: participants’ outcomes in terms of technical and communication skills; 2) transfer and change: participants’ changes and transformations in their attitudes towards technology and the perception of themselves; 3) reaction: participants’ satisfaction. At this purpose, two questionnaires were administered, one at the beginning and one at the end, to obtain information about the uses and the levels of participants’ digital competence. Three focus groups were also carried out, one at the beginning, one at the end and one three months later, after the conclusion of the workshop, with the aim at exploring deeper dimensions such as: a) How do participants perceive the potential of technologies?; b) What are their expectations; c) Is there a relationship between narrative and self-esteem?. At the same time, during the workshop observations and discussions were conducted, and the final products were evaluated.

1 The weblog is available at: http://multimediacv.wordpress.com.

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The following table (Table 2) summarises the dimensions and the tools that were developed for the evaluation of the workshop.

Table 2: A multi-level approach to evaluation Dimension Description Tools When

Learning The focus is on the achievement of the specific objectives of the workshop. In the initial questionnaire participants are asked to self-evaluate their knowledge and skills. Data gathered through this pre-test are compared with a final test. Other information are gathered through the analysis of the products and the observations collected during the process.

Initial questionnaire, post-test, observations and products’ analysis

Questionnaire at the beginning on digital skills Post-Test and products’analysis at the end Observations and discussions during the process

Transfer and change

The focus is on participants’ change relating to the following dimensions, i.e.: -self-representation/self-esteem and social inclusion, with reference to previous job experiences (the past) and new expectations (the future); - uses and representations of the potential of digital technologies.

Focus group, questionnaire

Focus group at the beginning and at the end Questionnaire on benefits at the end

Reaction/ Satisfaction

The focus is on participants’ satisfaction about the different learning activities and the overall climate of the workshop, including relations with trainers and peers.

Participants’ Satisfaction Questionnaire

At the end

2. First workshop: context, structure and products 2.1 The context The first workshop, titled “Mobile 2.0 to support visibility and job search”, was led by researchers of the Faculty of Education, University of Florence, in collaboration with LinksUp’s2 research staff. The context for this workshop was characterised by a strong cooperation with local bodies operating in the field of adult education, particularly with a job centre linked to TRIO, the official e-learning platform of the Tuscan Region3 that provided support in the

2 LinksUp is an European project on digital technologies and social inclusion with a special focus on policies and

practices: http://www.linksup.eu. 3 TRIO stands for Technology, Innovation, Research and Guidance. It is a public Online Learning System managed by

the Region Tuscany. Created in 1998 through the European Social Fund (ESF), TRIO delivers innovative courses and training services. The courses are free of charge and the access to services distributed throughout the region (tele-poles) is open to all. The website of TRIO is available at: http://www.progettotrio.it.

Figure 1. Flyer of the first workshop

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provision of infrastructures, equipment, advertising and target group involvement. The target group of the workshop was adult learners, from 25 to 60 years old, in search of a first job or with difficulties in finding a new job, in particular immigrants looking for new opportunities in the Italian marketplace. As pre-requisites, participants had to possess an intermediate level of digital competence and skills, but actually their level of media related skills was low, particularly as far as mobile phones were concerned. 2.2 The structure and detailed agenda The workshop took place on May 30th, June 6th and 13th, and involved about 15 people aged 25-60, some coming from Italy, others from Romania, Morocco and Peru. Four people left the workshop before its end as two participants founded a new job, while two people had time difficulties. The workshop consisted of four phases: a) Phase 1: Getting started with Multimedia CV. The first phase was dedicated to the

presentation of the characteristics and the advantages of multimedia CVs. Different examples of multimedia CVs, depending on the aim, context and the individual’s profile, were also presented.

b) Phase 2: Brainstorming on their own CVs. In the second phase, participants guided by researchers started a brainstorming session on the possible subjects to deal with in the CV, the possible aims and targets, and also on multimedia content to be gathered or created;

c) Phase 3: Designing and developing a Multimedia CV. The third phase focused on methods and techniques to design and implement a multimedia CV, from storyboarding to the use of specific devices to implement it. At the same time participants started the creation of the storyboard;

d) Phase 4: Implementing and disseminating their own Multimedia CV. The fourth phase was devoted to the gathering of materials such as images and audio, etc., and to the creation of the multimedia CV.

May 30th, 2011 h. 15:00-17:00 Aim of the day: To introduce participants to the characteristics of Multimedia CV 15:00- 15:30 am Introduction and questionnaire administration

Trainers briefly introduced themselves while explaining the main purposes of the workshop.

Some minutes were left to allow participants to respond to a short questionnaire. 15:30- 16:00 am Participants’ self-presentation

Before going into the contents, participants were engaged in a discussion on their workshop’s expectations and personal aspirations and projects. All discussion was video-recorded.

16:00- 17:00 am Introduction to multimedia CV

Trainers introduced the key concepts relating to the Multimedia CV, explaining its functions, its technical and communicative features, its advantages and disadvantages, and also showing some examples.

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At the end of the first meeting, the trainers asked participants to collect during the week as much multimedia material as possible on their personal and professional lives to be used for the design and the implementation of the multimedia CV: old and new pictures, music, videos, letters, and so on.

After the first meeting

Figure 2. Presentation: “What is a multimedia CV?” Figure 3. Presentation: A definition of multimedia

CV

All the slides used by trainers during the first meeting were uploaded on the blog of the course: http://multimediacv.wordpress.com. Participants were invited to access the slides of the meeting and collect multimedia materials on themselves.

June 6th, 2011 h. 15:00-17:00 Aim of the day: To explain participants how to design a multimedia CV and show how to implement it 15:00- 16:00 am Designing a Multimedia CV

Trainers started with focusing on the relevance of selecting appropriate contents, deciding the sequence and writing the text. They introduced the notion of storyboard as a main tool to design a Multimedia CV.

16:00- 17:00 am Participants in action

Participants started to design their own Multimedia CV. With the help of trainers they decided at first what aspects and information should have been emphasised in their CVs and then they worked on the storyboard. It was a very engaging session.

After the second meeting

Figure 4. Presentation: How to develop a storyboard Figure 5. Presentation: An example of a multimedia CV Participants were invited to collect further multimedia materials and write texts.

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June 13th, 2011 h. 15:00-17:00 Aim of the day: To explain participants how to implement and disseminate a multimedia CV 15:00- 15:30 am Tools to implement the Multimedia CV

Trainers introduced some tools to implement the multimedia CV. In particular they focused on Photo Story 3 to show how to transform a multimedia presentation in a video presentation.

15:30- 16:30 am Participants in action

Participants completed their storyboard and started to create their own multimedia CV through Photo Story 3. During the process they discuss with trainers about the best pictures to be used in the CV and also they took some new pictures through the digital camera or the mobile phones.

During the meeting

Figure 6. Participants at work Figure 7. Participant’s self-presentation

Figure 8. Participant creating his storyboard

16:30- 17:00 am How to disseminate the Multimedia CV

At the end of the last meeting, trainers explained how to disseminate the Multimedia CV, showing tools such as social media or traditional specialized web portals, and also demonstrating how mobile phones can support the diffusion of this type of multimedia contents.

The last 10 minutes were dedicated to the administration of the final questionnaire.

After the meeting

Figure 9. Presentation: Technical tips Figure 10. Presentation: Disseminating his/her own

Multimedia CV through social network sites

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At the end of the workshop, all the participants created a first draft of their multimedia CVs to be shared in the blog (the presentation of some example of Multimedia CV will be presented in the next paragraph).

Follow up - October 18th, 2011 h. 15:00-17:00 Aim of the day: Social evaluation of the learning experience 15:00- 17:00 am Discussion

Focus group lead by the trainers/researchers to highlight the strong and weak points of the workshop, possible changes in the representations of web 2.0 tools and mobile phones and the availability to repeat the experience.

2.3 Products’ analysis At the end of the workshop about 10 multimedia CVs were realised, although in two cases time was not sufficient to finalise the product. To give an idea of the results of the workshop, we examine the multimedia CV created by Cristina Panichi (see below Figures 11, 12 and 13). Cristina is a 60 years-old woman who worked for years as an employee and is now going to retire. Since always, she wanted to work in the arts, especially as a model or as an actress, and currently she wants to attempt this new professional career. Cristina used her personal basic mobile phone to select some pictures from her digital archive, and also used the digital camera to easily scan some old photos. She selected three self-pictures, two referring to her physical appearance and one relating to her previous experience as an actress. Contents were transferred to the computer using the Bluetooth connection, the storyboard and the implementation of the personal multimedia CV were made with the computer, using respectively PowerPoint and PhotoStory3. Cristina also decided to add a graphic layout consistent with her professional expectations, but she did not want to use her voice and preferred to synthesise all the information into written texts. During the editing session, a soundtrack was added.

Figure 11. Presentation of participant

Figure 12. Professional experience Figure 13. Physical description

To get an idea of the other products, we provide a synthesis of participants’ demographics and their job expectations trying to underline possible associations between these aspects and their final productions (see Table 3). Unfortunately, we can compare all these data only in 5 cases. As regards other participants, we were not able to get all this information for comparison.

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Table 3: A comparison between participants’ background, expectations and products

Demographic data

Professional field

Expectations about multimedia CV

Digital competence and media equipment

Final product

Gianbattista

Male 64 years Italian

Small farmer

Promote his small farm demonstrating in a multimedia format his innovative techniques of oil production

Very low level of skills, basic mobile phone

The selected images refer to his daily activities in the farm and illustrate some of his techniques of oil production. He did not use a background voice but a music that recalls the countryside

Elisa

Female 27 years Italian

Events organiser

Express her creativity at work

Good knowledge of computer technology, basic model of mobile phone

Her CV is a mix of still pictures and videos of some events she organised. She used her own voice to explain her competences and added a soundtrack

Cristina

Female 59 years Italian

Employee, close to retirement

Be known in the field of entertainment and fashion industry for people over 50-years-old

Low level of digital skills, basic model of phone

She used only images and written texts, referring both to personal and professional experiences. She also added a soundtrack and used a graphic layout coherent with her expectations for the future

Tamara

Female 50 years

Romanian

Family assistant

Find a job in the specific field of personal care professions

Low level of digital skills, basic model of phone

She created a multimedia CV with images and texts referring to her past experiences in her home country. She did not use the voice in the background

Maria

Female 45 years Peruvian

Volunteering

Open an ice-cream shop and mix the Italian tradition with special Peruvian techniques

Good knowledge of computer technology, basic model of mobile phone

Images refer to her origins and expectations for the new entrepreneurial activity

3. The second workshop: context, structure and products 3.1 The context The second workshop, titled “Let’s create a portfolio through mobile phone”, was held in December in the Junior Secondary School G. Galilei in Palazzi, Cecina (LI). It was managed by researchers of the Faculty of Education, University of Florence, within the context of a wider project on media education and citizenship, promoted by a network of schools and supported by the Italian Association of Media Education (MED). The specific target group was made up of multi-players, i.e. teachers and trainers willing to learn how to innovate their teaching methods and

Figure 14. The flyer of the second workshop

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improve students’ skills of self-presentation and narratives, especially for the search of a first job. However, also a group of undergraduate students from the University of Florence was invited to participate in the workshop as young adults.

3.2 The structure and detailed agenda The workshop took place on December 16th, and involved about 15 teachers aged 35-50 and a 5 undergraduate students. It was structured as a full-immersion of 9 hours, articulated in the following steps: Phase 1: Exploring mobile devices. The first phase was dedicated to the exploration of the functionalities of participants’ personal mobile phone, particularly referring to smartphones. Phase 2: Approaching digital storytelling techniques. In the second phase, digital storytelling was introduced as well as the notion of multimedia CV. Different examples of multimedia CVs were presented. Moreover, participants started reflecting on possible subjects for their CVs. Phase 3: Using mobile apps to design and develop a Multimedia CV. The third phase focused on methods and techniques to design and implement a multimedia CV, by using specific digital storytelling apps. Phase 4: Implementation and dissemination of a Multimedia CV. The fourth phase was devoted to the creation of the multimedia CV and the presentation of the digital channels that can be used for dissemination. December 16th, 2011 h. 9:00-18:00 9:00- 11:00 Exploring mobile multimedia functionalities

Trainers introduced themselves while explaining the main purposes of the workshop.

Some minutes were left to allow participants to introduce themselves.

Trainers asked participants to start exploring their own cell phones focussing on four main actions: touch, watch, collect, record, and more advanced features available in smartphones.

11:00- 13:00 Approaching self-representation’s techniques

Trainers presented digital storytelling underlining its educational value to improve self-representation and self-esteem, especially with disadvantaged people.

As an application of digital storytelling, trainers then explained what is a multimedia CV pointing out its advantages and showing some examples.

14:00- 16:00 Designing a Multimedia CV

Trainers described how to design a multimedia CV, asking participants to start reflecting on possible content for CV and collect multimedia materials for its implementation.

Trainers also showed some apps to create digital storytelling and explained how to use them by using the smartphone.

Participants started to familiarise with digital storytelling apps and collects videos, pictures, audio etc.

16:00- 18:00 Producing and disseminating a Multimedia CV

The last session was dedicated to the implementation of a multimedia CV. Participants collaboratively created a first prototype to be improved later. At the end of the workshop,

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participants had an idea of: a) the benefits of digital storytelling, particularly of multimedia CV, for self-esteem, b) the possible apps that can be easily used to create such type of products and c) an insight on how to articulate an effective digital product to communicate themselves.

During the meeting

Figure 15. Participants at work Figure 16. Participant’s self-presentation

Figure 17. Digital storytelling app

3.3 Products’ analysis Due to the full-immersion structure of the workshop, participants were organised in groups of 4-5 people for the production phase, in order to allow them to exchange knowledge and skills, save time and optimize the resources available at school. One group created a presentation on a fictitious character, another group worked on a ironic multimedia CV and the last one produced a presentation of their own school. All the teachers seemed quite interested in the possibility of using mobile phones for production, but they were not confident with such devices and preferred to use traditional computer and software to design and implement their production. However, within the group of undergraduate students there were some participants who were willing to use their smartphones to create the digital story. To give an idea of this type of products we will focus on the multimedia presentation of Xu Kai, a Chinese student attending a course at the University of Florence. She used her personal device, an iPhone, to create the story by downloading the suggested app Sonic Pics. Kai mainly selected already existing pictures stored in her mobile phone or in her social network profile. Interestingly, she also obtained some new pictures by taking a shot of her phone screen, in order to catch a map of her home country and the webpage of the University she was attended in China. She imported all the contents in the digital storytelling app, ordered them on the timeline and edited the final result by adding her narrating voiceover. In a few minutes, she obtained a complete audio-visual product.

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Figure 18. Three screenshots from a multimedia presentation made

by one of the participants through her personal mobile device

4. Evaluation The data collected through questionnaires, observations and focus groups were subjected to thematic analysis and subsequently organized into two categories, strengths and weaknesses, respectively divided into three sub-categories: for the strengths, the main themes that have emerged are: a) mobile devices such as cultural resources, b) inclusion and participation, c) link between formal and informal, while for the weaknesses relevant issues are due to: a) persistence of the technology gap, b) motivations and expectations, c) digital skills. In the light of the results emerged during the evaluation process, conclusions and implication have been grouped in two main categories, i.e. strengths and weakness. In terms of strengths, the following aspects can be highlighted: 1) Mobile devices as cultural and learning resources. If we recognize that mobile devices are

individuals’ cultural resources (Pachler, Cook, Bachmair, 2010), they prove to be a significant learning tool, particularly with disadvantaged people. Indeed, mobile devices can provide multiple learning opportunities such as: (1) supporting exploration and widening learning context; (2) enhancing self-expression and self-representation; (3) enabling media production; (4) supporting social networking and connections. We experienced the affordances of mobiles for learning in more than one workshops with learners acting as “experts in their everyday world” through the use of digital cameras and geo-location services.

2) Inclusion and Participation. Mobile devices, and mobile phones in particular, are highly individualized, and always available in the physical proximity of the subject. Such a rate of penetration as well as this highly individualized form of appropriation can make mobile technologies a factor of inclusion and participation, enabling access to social network and cultural resources and supporting forms of self-organized personal learning. Obviously, as personal styles of appropriation and diverse affordances for different devices enable different uses, it is rather common that people have very different levels of mobile expertise. However, as emerged from one of the workshop, these different levels of expertise should encourage discussion and exchange of knowledge and skills both among peers and generations.

3) Bridging formal and informal. A further strength of using mobile devices is that it enable to link different learning contexts and capitalize on the skills acquired by individuals in their daily lives. The boundaries usually drawn between formal and informal contexts become discontinuous, making possible the exchange of knowledge and skills, with positive effects on motivation and involvement of individuals. However, it must be recognised that the success of

Personal picture Home country University

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this bridging effort cannot be taken for granted. To propose to learners to use their personal media within formal educational contexts may be of interest for them, but arouse forms of resistance. Bridging formal and informal means re-interpreting spontaneous forms of appropriation and media use in a more explicit and reflective way, and this effort requires high levels of involvement and attention.

In terms of weaknesses, they can be summarized as follow: 1) Technological divide. Despite mobile devices and the internet being widely spread, people

preserve very different levels of access to technologies. Mobile phones come with many different levels of complexity, some are characterized by very basic functions whilst others support multimedia applications and internet navigation. Obviously, people who have the latest models of mobile phone can access different services and undertake different activities through their tools. On the basis of our experience we cannot state that there is a correlation between an individual’s socio-economic background and the type of mobile phone they own (see e.g., Bachmair, 2007), but in the workshops we carried out the possibility of multimedia communication through mobile phones proved to be sometimes lower than our expectations. It seems that at the moment not everybody can afford such a solution.

2) Motivation and expectations. In so far as motivation and expectations have a high impact on people’s agency and self-esteem great attention must be put on such dimensions. From this perspective, through the national workshops two very important aspects relating to motivation, attitudes and expectations towards the use of mobile technologies have emerged. On one hand, it seems that in the case of individuals with low level of digital competence (particularly with disadvantaged adults) the use of new technologies is often accompanied by a high level of expectations. So, training program promoters need to try to manage these expectations promoting gradual media appropriation processes to develop socio-technical skills and monitoring cognitive overload. On the other hand, young adults tend to use new technologies with high levels of enthusiasm and a strong interest in exploration, but they seem to lack the capacity of reflection and taking a distance from them. A strategy to deal with this difficulty consists in explaining the benefits of the unfamiliar media practices suggested, thus bringing young adults to a more flexible use of digital media.

3) Digital skills and competence. As well known, digital inequalities between people depend not only on having or not having access to ICTs, but also on their ability to effectively use them. From this perspective, one of the issues that emerged during the workshop of the MyMobile project was the contrast between participants’ expectations and their real technological skills. Indeed, even though all believed in the great potential of digital technologies, it seems that current gaps in knowledge and skills make technologies a barrier rather than a driver for democratic access to communication and information. More has to be done in the field of adult education in order to empower people and enable them to participate in the knowledge society.

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